Good luck on your medusae - that one's a stunner when in bloom! Hope you find out exactly what it needs, although the fact that it's growing probably means it's pretty happy where it is!

The same thing happened to me with a sedirea japonica that was declining after a repot. Tried sphag and bag, repotting in chc..high light, low light, nothing. So I ripped it out of it's pot after it lost nearly 3 leaves, and threw it into an old margarine container with some sphag at the bottom that I occasionally remember to water. Boom - new leaves, new roots, and two spikes are now growing. It's still sitting in the plastic container, and it's new roots are now digging into the sphag. I don't think I'll touch it for a while :P

I think your medusae is growing from the light it received prior to you moving it. This is the season they grow. They grow in "bright" shade, much more light than is needed to grow a phal. Mine grows in an area that gets 2000-3000 fc's during the course of the day and lots of air movement.

You found the secret to their growth with the sphag culture. They want to be very moist and I'm sure your coir mix was not keeping the roots moist enough. Don't worry about your humidity in the surrounding area, the moist sphag will provide enough humidity around the plant.

Are the white bugs the size of a grain of rice? If so, they are fungus gnat larvae. On occasion you will find the fungus gnat just prior to emerging that is still all white instead of their fly around color of black. Try to eliminate them from the mix if it is fungus gnats. The small roots on the medusae are the favorite size for them to have a good meal.

Brooke

I don't understand the foot candles thing.

I should put it back under the light then?

I've had it in sphag when it was sitting on the dish of water and pebbles when it was getting air movement but my house is very dry and it was dying. Also, when I had it outside and it was raining everyday and it was over 90 fahrenheit, it still didn't survive. I did all the wrong things with this one and it's responding.

Sorry minnamouse, I could only respond to the info you gave me.

Foot candles are a means of measuring light intensity.

I knew nothing about your plant growing outside in the rain and 90 degree temps - was that recently or last summer? Most any plant shuts down growing in 90 degree temps - it is their way of preserving their moisture.

Very few orchids are capable of growing without light - so yes, to putting it back into the light.

I assume you mean the "leaf" it is growing is a new pbulb. It is the time of year for this plant to be making new growths.

Yes, the sphag and extra moisture would make this plant happier. No growth during the winter is not unusual for this plant - even in a g/h, it does not grow during the winter with stable temps and lots of humidity. As long as the roots have the moisture, humidity in the atmosphere is not necessary.

Are you sure the pbulbs are dead? Are they brown or just leafless? If it were my plant and it had been struggling but is now growing new pbulbs and roots, I would not disturb it. This plant is trying it's best to grow so I would just let it grow.

Good luck, this is not an easy plant to grow and bloom.

Brooke

Lol. I know how to pick them. I can't settle for easy for some reason.

I had this plant since last year and it's been through the summer with me, never doing anything.

I'll put it back under the lights after I scrub out the box and treat the plant with Scanmask for the bugs.

I'm sure the other pbulbs are dead. But the plant isn't rotting. Or at least I see no rotting, I'll peek at the roots when I fix it up.

Just an update if anyone is interested, I removed the dead parts, it's still in the exact same growing conditions, still getting light from the window, I didn't put it back under a lamp and it's doing very well. It actually has a fat, white root now, whereas it didn't have any roots at all before.

The insects are still there, even after I tried to get rid of them but they're obviously not harming the plant. They don't turn into flies or anything. They're just extremely tiny and tannish colored. I think they might be feeding on the algae that grows in the container.

Interesting that your medusae has a fat, white root, the roots on mine are quite small. Did yours bloom?

{{gwi:141630}}

Brooke

Ms Minnamouse,
Your explorations into the culture of Bulbophyllum medusae attest to the toughness of orchids and determined orchid growers. Hooray for you, and thanks for sharing the Interesting details!

It is hard to know without seeing your bugs, but my guess is that they are Globular Springtails--tiny oval wingless critters, which are dull, translucent and about the color of unbleached flour. They scurry when disturbed and "hop," when approached, by means of a spring mechanism under their tail ends. Most sources (google) say that they are a nuisance in numbers, but otherwise harmless eaters of decaying/decayed matter. One source said that they might feed on very fine/tender plant parts on occasion.

Having lived in your area, I know that globular springtails can be found there (here in CA, too). They like damp micro-climates, so plant drip trays and pot bottoms are favorite haunts.

I've always been suspicious of globular and other springtails and am careful to wash drip trays periodically where I have found these crawlers and to spray the containers with alcohol or a mild plant soap. I would NOT, however, advise that you spray your precious medusae with anything, since it could be sensitive to such treatment. If the buggies have not hurt it thus far, they are(as you concluded) probably harmless.

Sweetcicely

Thanks for the encouragement Sweetcicely! I do the best I can with what I've got. All I can do is hope that one day I'll get the greenhouse I dream of. Or orchid growing case atleast. And I think your identification of those insects is on the spot.

Brooke, I don't mean fat roots like Epidendrum roots, I just meant fat for Bulbo roots. Fat and healthy.

I'm going to see if Giberellic Acid does anything for my Bulbo. What I do now is I feed it irregularly with weak dilutions of fertilizer, chelated zinc and iron, Epsom salt, and Superthrive.

Which one of these would be best for it?
24-8-16
6-30-30 (urea free)
or 10-52-10