That is too awesome...thanks for posting. What a fantastic angraecum! How do you grow this one? Mine gets black leaf tips and I'm never really sure how long to keep it wet for...it looks about the same size as yours but shows no sign of blooming so maybe it's a light issue..

Thanks for showing it, Mr B. It's one of my favourite Angs too, next to sesquipedale. Does it need low night temperature?

Carol

That last photo blows me away........how did you capture it so beautifully?

Stunning.

Thanks for posting this! In spite of magdalenae being common and readily available, it is challenging to maintain vigor and get it to bloom consistently if your conditions aren't "just so." I bought another small one this spring to replace the larger one I lost in the move here in 2005. They sure are slow growers!

I'm wondering if you use SuperThrive? If you have, that would explain the deformity.

-Bruce

Thanks y'all, it really is totally freaking awesome, i cannot deny. I just hope i don't kill it.

Cal: high fl. light in front of a south window for the first year and less light in the last since it got too tall for the previous space. Daily misting, soaking at the roots every 3-14 days.

Carol: I think it does prefer a good drop of temp at night which is difficult to provide indoors. It's the one time i'm happy to have old leaky windows.

Bolero: thanks! I was shocked to get such a nice photo. The key was that it was taken outside in actual sunlight. Black towel behind the plant, manual mode with macro setting on my old Canon A65 point and shoot camera. I probably used a tripod. It really is amazing how capable those little cameras are/were.

Bruce: no superthrive. But, truth be told, I suspect this flower was a last attempt at reproducing before death bloom. :( It has had some issues with black tips on the leaves and not long ago I noticed the black was spreading a bit and had some orange mixed in. I cut those tips off and sprayed the ends with peroxide. Around that time the spike started and it grew incredibly fast for an Ang. I didn't know one was growing and literally two or three weeks later the flower was opening. So i don't know if the fungus issue is responsible or not but I think it could be. Any tips on dealing with fungus? I've sprayed captan and in the past, triflourine (sp?) aka Orthenex. Air flow isn't a problem, but stale air flow might be.

Let me just throw out a couple of ideas, as I sit here and think...

I've never had to deal with malevolent fungus, and can't give good advice to treating it. Knowing what conditions fungus likes, however, may offer some clues as to your problems.

Green moss is a GOOD thing, and I try to cultivate it wherever and whenever I can in my gh. However, the fact that yours is grown indoors (in an otherwise close-to-perfect orchid chamber) may indicate that you are too damp, and light not bright enough. Magdalenae is the only ang I have in a pot, but if it did get a healthy clump of moss on it like yours, I would be concerned.

Is the moss influencing you to water, rather than what might be present further down in the mix? I mention this because from what I've seen of the stuff, it's rather difficult to grow unless it's pretty damp all the time.

Also, is the ceramic pot just for the photo, or is it grown in it all the time? (My computer monitor is dying, and I can't see the darker parts of the photos too well.) That may not be a good choice. It must have lots of drainage holes, though, or you wouldn't be using it. I know you're on top of stuff like that.

If I ever had fungus on an orchid, I'd probably use Daconil. It's mostly for fruit trees and stuff, but it's a broad-spectrum fungicide and would be generally unhospitable for just about any sort of nasty unwelcome guest. I suspect, however, that once fungus gets inside an orchid leaf, things are pretty much over unless you remove leaves and/or treat with a systemic.

Lastly, magdalenae in particular can get unattractive leaf tips easily, without being infected. The leaves are thin but leathery, and too much warmth especially can affect them. Odom's used to have a few that were jumbo plants with multiple growths, but they looked...well...not so hot. They bloomed well, but in a 95F gh it was just too much to ask. I would say 88F is about the upper limit for them, but I doubt if you go any higher than that.

That's about all I can think of. Good luck!

-Bruce

I'm glad to learn that this leaf blackening thing is not too uncommon with this plant. I ordered some phyton which is a systemic fungicide - hopefully it halts the blackening (I'll report back the results). It's weird...mine was getting black tips for a while, then it stopped, and now it's starting again.

Just another question - should these undergo some sort of slow down in watering during the winter? I have mine under lights and I can probably keep temperatures intermediate throughout the winter, but I'm not sure whether the plant wants that or not.

Thanks for the tips Bruce.

It has been growing in that pot since I got it. You can't tell but it is *slightly* Japanese Neof. style with a bit of an air cavity in the middle of the pot. The pot is covered with holes on all sides and has a hole in the bottom so i'm not worried about it being glazed. I actually have a theory that certain Angs will grow well potted like Neos and i'm kind of testing it here and there. Time will tell.

You're the second person to mention the moss as a potential concern. The plant used to get a little bit of overspray from the misting system but not so much anymore. I poked around in it and under it and there are nice white healthy roots underneath and the sphag still looks fairly fresh. I tend to use the moss as a barometer of overall conditons. If moss suddenly dies in a pot or on a mount, something aint right!

Daconil, i've heard that recommended before and have been looking for it and captan for awhile now. I actually ran across both the other day and ended up getting captan. I *think* I recall hearing that it is recommended for carnivorous plants and so i'm deducing that it will be less likely to have any toxicity on Angs.

On another topic....how much watering would you suggest for my Sobenikoffias during the rest stage? They're both resting with no active root growth, but they are growing leaves still. One robusta and one humbertiana. Thanks again, your expertise is priceless.

Gorgeous bloom!~Charm

Hi again --

That's good news that you found white roots. Also, sphag is a good choice -- better than fine bark which many growers use. I DO like moss, because it's the perfect host for mycorrhyzal fungus...which is destroyed when you spray for BAD fungus. The mycorrhyzal fungus has properties which act as a natural protectant for the orchid. The only potential problem with a glazed pot is the lack of "wicking action" through the pot, but the slots in yours cancels that problem.

I'm actually growing my magdalenae in arcillite, which is an irregularly-shaped leca. Given the conditions in my gh, I think it's the best choice. With the large quantity of water I must use to keep my mounts properly hydrated during the summer months, if I used sphagnum for this guy, he'd be too wet.

Uh, oh...are your sobennikoffias still resting????? Like Rip van Winkle! ;-) Mine are in full growth mode right now, with the newest roots 1/2" in diameter and root tips almost 2" long. The roots are packed so tightly in the 6" baskets that there's barely any space in-between the bark, and they're flying off into space in every-which direction. A couple of roots have even grown through the holes in the tags, so forget about fixing the ink on the label that's worn off! The pods are developing well, too.

I do have one sobennikoffia that was a bit pokey until this season. It was the smallest, and had suffered the most through all the "trials and tribulations" to get to Miami. It's now growing at the same pace as the others (although still smaller), throwing out 1/2" roots.

It's difficult for me to describe the light they're in. As the sun moves through the sky, they range from "shady" to almost "cattleya bright." For a time when I lived in Vero, they even received a few minutes of direct sun, although that was an accident waiting to happen as sun intensity can vary so much throughout the season.

If they're in a basket, I don't think it's possible to make them too wet during the warmer months. I water every two days, only because I must balance my watering such that I don't get my other potted plants too wet. Temps have been better in my gh this season since adding the air chiller, but where they hang they're still in the 90s from May through September (temps are in the mid to upper 80s on my cool wall). Last year, they handled daily temps around 105F without blinking.

Getting to your question about "winter" watering, since your humidity is good, I would go 10-14 days. But that's only from December through March. Pot versus basket also has bearing...I can't remember how you have yours. You may err on the longer side of things if it's in a 6" plastic pot, for example.

I know you try to maintain a good average in your chambers such that *most* of your angs are in a comfortable temp range. But I think the preference of sobennikoffias (at least robusta, maybe not humbertiana) is much higher than other angs. What I'd suggest is moving one of your digital thermometers around inside your case to find the hottest corner, which would also probably be the brightest. I know this will be a compromise, because the leaves of the sobennikoffias will shade the other plants.

Another thing I would strongly suggest is adjusting your light timers throughout the season. Maybe quarterly? Those cues are important to seasonal growers like angs...not so much for other species and hybrids.

I think you know where this is heading...Time to build that gh!! LOL!!!

Calvin -- Yes, I would back off on the watering during the winter, but as I mentioned above, only for three to four months. Don't base the winter you give them the same as what you see out your window. I'd start "forcing" it awake before the end of March. Light is a good tool to use and manipulate. Doesn't take much -- varying it by fifteen to thirty minutes can cause big changes to start happening.

That said, I know there are hobbyists and nurseries that grow this species with no variation in watering schedule throughout the year. Generally the magdalenae readily available now is a much more forgiving and adaptable plant than, say, a wild-collected one. IMO, however, whatever you can do (within reason) to stack more chips in your corner to ensure success, is effort well-spent.

I take light for granted since I grow in a gh, but I recognize the huge impact it has on my collection. Granted, tropical species near the equator have relatively little variation in light throughout the seasons, but it's still there.

About the leaf-tip blackening, I don't want to give the impression that it's "OK" -- only that it is reasonably common with this species. It's still telling you that something is wrong, although most likely not critically so. Mine has been in the lower 90s occasionally this year, but has no such necrosis going on, so, I assume it's otherwise happy. I would draw a similarity with the leaf spotting that's common with Onc. Sharry Baby. It makes for a lousy-looking plant, but it will still bloom and perform. Sharry Baby stock from Hawaii generally won't display this symptom, but plants grown stateside will. I think this provides an important clue to its preferences, which also has relevance to magdalenae.

-Bruce

MrB -- one more thing. I was just looking at your photo again that includes the leaves, and realized they don't look quite right. I compared it with mine, and also opened up Angraecoid Orchids (did you ever get yourself a copy?). Turn to page 14, and look at the specimen shown. See how the leaves are tightly together along the stem? Yours is more "leggy," which might indicate a light problem. You're obviously getting enough light to bloom, but low light could allow a malevolent microbe or fungus to gain foothold if it's present in your growing area.

Just an idea...

-Bruce

Thanks for the amazing advice, Bruce. Mine looks like Mr. B's so maybe I should also increase light...with the rate at which these grow though, I'm wondering whether I'd even be able to notice a change in growth habit. And hopefully the fungicide will get rid of the black spots (although I never thought of it also killing the symbiotic fungus....)

I'll take your advice with the short-ish winter rest in November when I decrease light duration, and resume in march.
Thanks again!
-Cal