Hi, Larissa,

How exciting. Mine grows well - 3 spikes that sometimes bloom together. My conditions:

- 5'x 5' E/SE window
- Psychopsis is 2 rows back from the window and just beyond the 2 T8 bulbs.
- winter minimum temps - right around 60F
- daytime winter highs - mid- to high 70s
- 20%-40% humidity
- small fan going during the day
- I underwater, and plant gets dry between waterings - maybe not ideal.
- medium bark in a plastic pot, which is in a clay pot for stability

Summer outside:
- E/SE exposure, but no light gets to the top because the lathe house is right under the deck, which also means light gets mostly to 3 sides.
- Light cut 50%.
- Plexiglass on the top so rain doesn't get on the plants unless they need it.
- Psychopsis is 3 rows back from the front.

Hope this helps, Whitecat8

Mine are also making growths and one is budding on an old spike and sending up a new spike. Busy plants.

Most West windows second row from the glass. No lights. I also grow them dry. 60-70 F the day, 55F night.
18-25% humidity. No fans.
Plastic pots, root bound, very little media (they desperately need repotting).

Outside - Summer
East/SE sun, gets some shading from deck railing and mid-day shading from trees.
Stays outside in rain, no cover.
Same light as Oncids, Intergens.

They like higher light than recommended.

Jane

Thanks WC8 and Jane! This info helps!

Larissa

My Psychopsis Mendenhall 'Hildos' finally came today and I was pleasantly surprized to find that it has mottled leaves! There is also a small spike about 4 inches tall. How fast do the spikes grow and how toall will it need to be before it actually blooms?

Larissa

Jane and WC8, can I send my psychosis to one of you?. Mine gets a hecka lot of light- no spikes yet! May be it gets too wet to its liking from the rain, who knows.

Larissa,

The spikes get somewhere around 16"-30" before blooming. They're not all that fast growing; you've probably got a month or two minimum before your 4" puts out flowers. Pyp. Mendenhall is Pyp. Butterfly [sanderae x papilio] backcrossed onto papilio. Papilio's spikes start out round in cross-section, then flatten out like a crab leg at the top as they near blooming-length. This is one way to gauge how close you are to flowers.

Sambac, I'm a barely-reformed underwaterer, so less water would be the first variable to test - if the bark is staying damp.

Even when mine dried out completely and stayed that way for a couple of days, it still sent up spikes and bloomed. All other conditions were the same.

Hope this helps, WC8

While my experience is admitteldy very limited, from what i have read and understand, psychopsis like to get completely dry betwee warerings.

I keep mine in a southwest facing window that gets sun from aprox. 8 am until about 2pm.

It is in very free draining soil (what it came in and gets watered about once every 4-5 days (it dries out after 2-3 days).

I have now had it for 3 months. When i got it at the end of november it came with the bud broken off - it rebloomed two weeks ago, or so. It also came wiht a new growth about an inch long which is now almost as long as the mature growth, a second growht thta was just a little nubbin is now about three inches and a new growth emerged about three weeks ago.

So, mine seems to like lots of sun with not a lot of water.