R. digbyana is generally a slow growing orchid compared to many others. My two different cultivars started new leads in September.

Have patience. I know.....easier said than done!

--Stitz--

Regardless of the current discussion about the cons of s/h, all of my Rhyncholaelia's have done fantastic in it!!
My 'Mrs Chase' selfing not only has three new growths, but it even bloomed for me in early Sept.
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My original division of 'Mrs Chase' is full of new roots after finally planting it the same way as the first.
That's after a very worrying summer of losing the only new growth(down to only two) and absolutely no sign of root growth.
Although I don't see any new growth yet, the roots are spreading out like crazy! :~)

Although I've said before that my methods are very personalised for my needs and micro climates, I should probably bring it up again.
Some of them use the "traditional" s/h method, while others stand in deep water most of the time.
Some use pellets only, some use a light layer of sphagnum as a top coat and some use a 50/50 mix of both.

The Rhyncholaelia's are in pellets with a very light layer of sphagnum and is allowed to dry out w/o worry.
Enough moisture is kept in by the sphag cap to let me do a lot of benign neglect! ;~)
So...I wouldn't say that they're all that wet.
With several exceptions, my s/h has always been more on the dry side than one would think.

Sort of cool...while looking for one of these, I found several orchids in bloom that I wasn't aware of!
My Lc Warneri and a couple of others! :~)

Scott

my digbyanas are all in teak baskets planted in osmunda. They seem to be doing well. They do require plenty of light.

and I have mine mounted...They grow dry. They sometimes are found on tumbleweeds. Catt light or better and a little torture does it :-) I also see that they like to grow at this time of year.
They are like Brassavola, slower

Clara

From no roots to this in less than two months! :~)
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I wanted to have a look anyway.
I could see roots, but didn't know what they were up to.
I think that I did this sometime back in Sept.
I don't really remember.
I figured that if my other one would grow and bloom, then I might as well give this one a try.
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I just watered this, so it's more wet than usual.
Otherwise, I haven't watered it in probably a few weeks. (?)
The sphag is just a light top coat and drys out quickly.
Everything is more for humidity, than actual watering.

Clara, I thought about it, but I'm fresh out of tumbleweeds.
Now torture, that I can do!;~)

Mine is on a cork mount. Andy of Andy's Orchids told me most people kill them with too much water. I have read that the key to watering is: wait until you see new growth, then bring it on. Before that happens, it should be grown on the dry side. You can water fearlessly while it's growing, but then ease off when it slows down.

I have mine in a gh, and have been following these instructions. Now have three new growths in different areas on the mount. (Last year I had one new growth, which I broke off trying to soak the mount...but it seems to have gotten over this.)

As a matter of interest, I saw a post on another forum yesterday which states that these "grow like weeds" in Mexico, and that the leaves should be a dark maroon in color for it to be happy. (Pictures were supplied, looking radically unlike any other picture of it I have come across.) I don't give mine that much sunlight, but have read that it needs "as much sun as it will take, short of burning".
Ann

While all of your zones 5-6 are wildly different from my Z9 (and toyo's 10), this plant still likes the same conditions (my opinion only, of course): very high light, heat and water if mounted, which my digbyanas are...see it here a few years ago when it was a bit smaller. The foliage is almost eggplant color, leathery, with some sunburn; but that rascal can really put out some blooms.
This could be one of the most spectacularly scented orchid, as well.
My recipe for a 'soak' for non-thriving orchids: to a gallon of water, add 1/4 cup sugar, a tsp. or so superthrive, a dash of liquid seaweed, and squeeze in a few vitamin E ampoules. I soak for a few hours or overnight; it helps encourage roots and growth and rehydrates plants after shipping. I give the newly mounted plants a spray of diluted seaweed every few days until roots are well-visible. Dust the mount with fungicide (sulphur or rootone-type) before setting the plant on it.
In my climate, most things have a better chance on a mount; 4" rain/day for 60 days tends to turn potted orchids into liquid horror.
Cheers - Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Petite Rhyn. digbyana

Petite nice plant. Good info. Right on. Scott -Kudo's on the 'Mrs'. Yah they are grown a lot like catts.
Mike

Nancy,
I noticed on your linked site that there is another "Digbyana with 13 blooms" picture, in which the leaves are light green. Is that the same plant as the one with "eggplant" colored leaves?
Ann

Hi Ann - Yes, probably the same plant; flash indoors tends to give a lot of overexposure with shadows, so I fool around with the editing program (shallow me: I only care for the flowers!).
I would describe the foliage as somewhat 'woody'.
Interesting: AOS judges *supposedly* only look at the flowers when judging, but one of my pals said that at our last show, they were talking about this very plant, and how they'd have given it a trophy except for the sunburn.
Guess that's why I like Catasetinae - if the foliage is chewed, spotted, etc., you get all new leaves next year!
Cheers - Nancy

I've found mine do better if allowed to dry out and I mean dry, after blooming and while waiting for new growth to initiate. I actually bring mine inside during the summer so they don't even get rained on until the eyes wake up. They grow faster this way and actually bloom. Previously, I'd water them all summer, whether growing or not, and they did grow but slowly and they would develop sheaths but wouldn't bloom. These plants come from arid areas, so even when growing, I only splash them with water, rather than soaking them good. Albeit, they do get nighttime dew and when it rains, they get a good soaking. I grow mine either mounted or in baskets with lava rock. Laura

Regarding the bud sheaths on these - I've found that if I get impatient and 'peel' them, or even split them open on the seam, the buds invariably abort. I think they like to do it on their own! I do grow mine hot/bright all year. They're on mounts, so get watered whenever it rains, or by the orchid fairy if it doesn't...

Thanks for the great info everyone. I ended up getting a transparent plastic container w/ lid and putting the whole root-less plant in there with some moist sphag at the bottom, off to the side. I've had the container closed, under my t5's and took a peak at the plant today. One of the eyes has swollen up and pushed through the sheath. So once I see roots going, I will probably end up putting the digbyana in semi-hydro (scott361).
Thanks all!

Ideally, I'd love to have both of mine mounted.
That was the main reason why I delayed all summer trying to get roots otherwise.
It just wouldn't happen, for me.

"...transparent plastic container w/ lid..."

Not to be negative(I'm pretty unconventional, myself!), but do you think that the lid is a good idea?
That could be a little too much.
Sort of a killing them with kindness.
Just a thought, but I'd maybe baby the root area and temper the top part.
That might encourage it to put out roots w/o the worry of rot.
It sorta feels like too much, to me.
I like to harden off the new growths somewhat more.
But, you do know your own conditions better! ;~)
Still, keep a close eye out for problems with that much moisture.
My root area is kept quite moist because my grow area is pretty dry.
...and my watering tends to be Monsoonal! ;~)
ie: feast or famine!

I know that my use of the sphagnum, as a cap, is either unusual or frowned upon.
I started doing that after during my first summer of s/h.
(3 or 4 years ago, I think!)
As I've mentioned, I'm on a ranch and can go for many days/weeks unable to thoroughly check on things, let alone care for them.
Even standing in rather deep water, things were drying out too much.
The sphag cap gave me more of a safty net for those times.
I had every intention of removing it, from most of them, for winter.
Instead, I seriously bumped up the light and the winter heating.
Initially, I used a seed starting heat mat and then just heated the room more, as I had too many for it to be practical.

As yet, I haven't watered those two since the photo was taken. (I might in a day or so!)
Most of my s/h does sit in standing water when practical.
The difference being, I think, is that I generally use tall pots.
Although the bottom layers are wet/very moist, the upper pellets are far dryer.
My Bulbos, in s/h, really must have the sphag and I actually use far more sphag than I do with any of the others.
(With the exception of the Pleurothalids!)

This seems to encourage the roots to dig, looking for water, but not really be in it.(Unless they find it and most seem to like that.)
The only way that I've ever been able to get roots this time of year is with a lot of heat and very bright light.
To be more specific, root warmth looked to be a major factor for me.
Regardless of the amount of light, s/h in my (specifically) winter experience requires warm roots!!
I'm not sure about other opinions/experiences, but that made all the difference in the world for me.
I first noticed it during my heat mat stage.
The ones on the mat did so much better than not.
They kept growning, while the others either started to fail or kept static.
The water did evaporate quite fast and likely bumped up the humidity.

What ever I do, is the result of taking knowledge from where ever I can get it and playing with it.
Plus, a little feel for things.
Maybe! ;~)
That really does help.

"Regarding the bud sheaths on these "

Not only did I not mess with the bud, I didn't even know that it was there until I saw the flower.
We were doing some construction and against my wishes, the power had been off (to my orchids) for days. :~(
After I threw a fit, I got power back on and found the flower during an inspection.
I wonder if the nearly week long semi-darkness was a factor in getting a bloom?
I have heard that sometimes they need a shock or nudge to bloom.
No idea if that's true.

Good luck on however you end up doing it and I look forward to your blooms! :~)

Scott