"tbell" wrote in message
.com...
On Sat, 25 Nov 2006 19:14:12 -0800, Eric Hunt wrote
(in article ):

Tom,

Yup, it is. BUT - the flower is a little less than an inch across, about
2
inches counting the tails. BUT BUT - a well grown plant can be covered in
flowers.

It is a cool grower and will drop leaves if the nightime temp is too
high.

There are more and more warmth tolerant Masdevallias out there - you'll
have
fun growing them!

-Eric in SF
www.orchidphotos.org

"tbell" wrote in message
.com...
Great series, Eric. Is the M. glandulosa as nubbly as it looks? I have
to
learn how to grow Masdevallias.

Thanks for the response. I'm fine during the cool months, and at night
most
any time of year, but Summer afternoon and evening temps in my GH can at
times get up to 90s F. Does that preclude Masdevallias?

Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
Nikon D70, D200


Well, now, this is a subject. Two DVOS members grow their masdevallias
outside. They both live within a few blocks of me. (I'm near Hidden Lakes
Park at Morello and Chilpancingo in Pleasant Hill, if that helps). We are
not in any sort of a protected area. It gets hot and dry here, just like
the rest of CC County, and our water just comes out of the tap. (CCWD)

Dennis has a large wooden tub of Masdevallia coccinea outside on his front
doorstep. Its micro climate is that the front doorstep is 4-5 steps of
solid poured concrete, so it is always the coolest part of the house (it
just takes too much energy to heat up that rock of concrete) and (he says
the door faces south, I think it faces east) the area is mostly shaded, plus
becasue os the shade the area is a bit moist (teh automated sprinklers don't
actually reach the steps/sidewalk, but the yard is always nicely green and
groomed, so there's a bit of ambient humidity. Now, he's not growing award
quality coccineas, but they grow large and bloom large flowers. Coccineas
come from peru near Macchu Picchu - cool growres.

Diana lives in a condo with a west facing patio that burns up just about
everything, but she fashioned some sort of a slat house and has managed to
get her phals togrow and bloom well. Her entryway is where she grows her
masdevallias and some bulbos, too, IIRC. Again its protected and a heat
sink but the light bounces around in the entryway just enough to get the
masds to bloom their fool heads off. She brought in one that Dennis and I
were sure would have gotten a culture award. She's doing *great*.

So, my point is that if you can find/create the right space you can bloom
some of these outside. My friend Barbara has been growign her L purpuratas
outside in a slat house she has on the north side of her house. She also
has her bonsai collection there, so she's always outside watering them and
just adds a bit for the laelias.

Where there's a will there's a way. Makes me feel like a dang fool for
spending the bucks on a GH.

K Barrett