Pleione 2012

[Maren]

Hi Ulrich,

Pleione maculata definitely needs warmer conditions. I grow mine with my tropical orchids. Never colder than 12 degrees Celsius at night, higher in the day.

[Sempervivum]

Hallo Maren,
thank you for this advice. In the next season I will try to find a warmer place for them.

[JPB]

On the windowsill of my kitchen Pln. praecox is now in flower. Besides Pln. Shantung 'Silver Anniversary' this is the most vigorous among all my pleiones. I had less success with tow bulbs of Pln. maculata I bought last winter: The new bulbs are small and will not flower. I kept them in the garden in the shadow of a hedge and when temperature fell below 10 degrees I brought it into the house. Was it too cold for her in the garden? Somewhere I read someone saying that he keeps this species together with his tropical orchids.
Any hints for a more successful culture are welcome.
Regards - Ulrich

Ulrich, P. maculata clones do differ. Some are easy and some are difficult to get into flower. I have two clones that haven't flowered for five years and the pseudobulbs are quite small. Another clone, kept under the same conditions, grows large and and flowers every year.

A ''good'' clone would grow well and flower under the conditions as you describe above. At least that is how I used to grow them.

This variation within species is generally overlooked, but I have seen it in other Pleione species too. For instance, some clones of P. formosana I find hard to grow while others are easy...

[JPB]

Also, like Maren said, they will grow better if you keep them warmer...

[Sempervivum]

Hallo Hans,
thank you for this additional explanation. That's possible, that different clones are different in culture. Maybe the reason why my P. praecox does better is that it is a more vigorous clone. I got it form Bernhard Röllich; he selected it and named it "Berggarten".

[Alex]

A few Pleione pics from today. The first three are P. X lagenaria, I am told the true plant of wild collected (Bhutan) origin and not Confirmation. The last is P. Liz Shan 'Pretty Girl'.

Cheers,

Alex

[karel_t]

Nice x lagenaria Alex. Do you know who and when collected them?
Here is one small clump of my P. maculata.
K.

[sottych]

hello !
These is my P. praecox

[Sempervivum]

Currently flowering with me: Pleione Barcena

[krisderaeymaeker]

Pleione praecox in flower .

[karel_t]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Growing Season to all friends and Pleione lovers.
Thank you for your fantastic pictures and see you next year.
Karel.

[ThomasB]

Hello Pleione growers,

I have a question connected to sowing and seed raising of Pleiones - maybe there is another thread on this topic?
What size are Pleione seedlings 2 years out of flask? About the size of regular bulbils, significantly smaller, larger? I'm thinking about ordering some crosses which are offered as 2 years out of flask but do not have any clue what size the small bulbs might be.

Thank you in advance. 
Thomas

[erf]

Hello Thomas
David from Koolplants have a very informative homepage that I can recommend. He describe the way of breading pleiones from seeds. There are a lot of photos that give you an idea of the size of bulbils in the different stages.
Here is the link: http://www.koolplants.co.uk/Pleione-Orchid-Flasking.html
Regards Erling

[karel_t]

Thomas, if they were grown 2 years in normal compost, they should be as big as regular bulbils after 1 year. However depend how long they were grown in flasks - 1 or 2 years?
K.

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Thomas,
I find seedlings deflasked after 2 years can be very variable in size because inevitably some will grow more vigorously than others. See the picture below. But in general, especially if you are buying, I would expect to get ones that the size of an average bulbil.
Paul