Thanks so much for the information. Fascinating orchid. I checked J&L orchids, they had several Dracula's but not simia or gigas, will try Ecuagenera next.

Kathy (Skippy is my dog's name, I had to re-register).

Hawk Hills Orchids in Pacifica, California has gigas but not simias. I have them both, gigas cannot be divided yet, I have a division of Drac simia, 5 old leaves, making 5 new ones. I wasn't kidding about the conditions, I have been unsuccessful with Dracula until I got the cold green house. Could keep some of them alive but did not enjoy good blooms. If you want that division e-mail me.

Nick

If you find the dark gigas that Ecuagenera is out of, please let me know.

Nick

Would that be Dracula vampira?

Kathy

Go to the Hawk Hills Orchids home page and look over their Dracula, you'll see pictures of all of them. Vampira is one of them, gigas and simia are 2 more. They have a page devoted just to vampira, one of them is either $500 or more, then check under gorgona, they have a yellow one for $850. Most are more reasonable.

Nick

I looked at Hawk Hill's site and all I can say is Wow. Outstanding. If I had your knowledge and greenhouse I would give them a try. Now you just need to win the lottery.
Thanks again for the offering of a division of simia.

I'm glad you looked at the site. They also have n outstanding collection of Masdevallia coccinea which are more adaptable. Of the Dracula, D lotax is flat out warm growing. Of the rest you'll notice that for about 1/4 to 1/3 he states: 'suitable for warmer conditions'. These are intermediate growers which, if given humidity and clean water, should do well under a variety of conditions. The others who don't rate that comment are cold growers, don't waste your money.

A very rewarding genus, give one of them a try.

Nick

You are enabling. lol.

Kathyl

Check out this one, a warm grower that should be happy anywhere as long as you water it with bottled water every 2 days. While you're there, check out his other offerings, a good site.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dracula-lotax-species-Orchid-Plant-/310636118932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item48535b0394

I know you took the bait, I'm just trying to firmly set the hook.

Nick

I think I'll stick with something easier, like a paph. I just do not have the growing conditions necessary. Thanks for all the information.

Kathy

I bought some monkey orchid seeds from ebay, and after looking at some of the pictures of the monkey faced orchid seeds, they do look very similar, so I'm assuming that these are in fact the correct seeds.Unfortunatly i did not look carefully at the zone range that they need to thrive in and apparently, florida is not even close lol. But Im going to give it a shot by placing the seeds in a wet paper towel (using distilled water) and placing them in a plastic baggy to germinate in my fridge. That should be cold enough i hope!! Afterwards, hopefully my home will be cool enough to continue growing them (77 degrees) but should i keep them near a window? how much light will they need and should i continue to grow them in a container to keep them more humid? I really would love to try and succeed with these by whatever means. Any advise out there to help me successfully get these to flowering stage? we do get some very cold weather during the winter months here. so I'm also wondering how they would fair outside in the winter.

There is a problem with most orchid seeds, they have nil or very little in the way of starch reserves and they depend in the wild in landing on a suitable fungus for survival and growth.

Most orchid seeds are grown in sterile conditions in flasks which contain a gel which has the correct nutrients.

"Monkey Orchid " I assume is referring to a Dracula.

77F is way too warm. In 40 years of orchid growing I have only ever seen one in bloom and it was visibly wilting exposed to "warm" temperatures.

ahh ok, so i may need to keep them in an even colder room near a window sill. so maybe these are not going to fair very well in my home, unless i can find a way to grow them in an air conditioned greenhouse if i were to try it. they sell all kinds of inexpensive small greenhouses online, the question remains is, if i can find a very small cooling system to place in it to keep them cool enough. Although i have never been to south america like costa, it is my dream one day. But I've never heard of it getting and staying cold like that year round. But if these grow in the higher elevations like mountains areas, then i could understand that. sorry if I'm gibbering off here, just trying to educate myself here lol. Think its time for a trip to south america!! lol

Your other problem is that the seeds may not be genuine. A typical orchid seed pod

contains an enormous number of seeds....they are tiny!

Did the packet have a scientific name or just Monkey Orchid?

Why not try something easy to grow, there are some wonderful orchids that thrive in Florida.