"Spider" wrote

Bob Hobden wrote:
"Spider" wrote

My Pleione formosana are growing in clay pots. I have stopped watering
them and brought them indoors. Should I leave them as they are, rooted
in compost, or lift them all from the compost and store them loosely
within a tray of fresh dry compost? Also, should I (gently) break away
the old, yellowed backbulbs, or leave them to their own devices? The
old leaves are already starting to fall away, so they are no problem.

Secondary question: will the several tiny new pseudobulbs survive to
grow on next year, or will they shrivel too much to be of any use?

Thanks for your time and brain power.



I've grown them for years including some of the hybrids and they stay
out all year (even during the last two winters).

My method for growing is to repot every two years, sometimes longer,
during the dormant period in late winter** the old back bulbs are left
in place until repotting, the pots are brought right up against the
house under our bench so they stay just frost free as if they were under
snow as they would be in the wild. In colder parts of the UK then a cold
greenhouse might be better but indoors would be too hot unless you are
very hardy souls. The very tiny new pseudobulbs that grow on top of the
old bulbs (not the ones that replace the old bulbs) take some years to
reach flowering size but just push them into the compost and let them do
their thing. Or you can push them into any deep moss covered pot or log
(Bonsai pots in my case) and forget about them and they will gradually
get bigger and eventually flower.

** Some hybrids flower very early and no Pleione will stand growing
roots being disturbed at all so repot the early flowerers that bit
earlier, a few weeks after the leaves completely fall, say mid December.

How did yours do this year Rod?



Thanks for that, Bob. Very helpful. I will leave them as they are for now
then. I can't leave repotting for two years this time because they're
filling a small pot to capacity now, but potting up is not really a worry.
I even have a suitable clay pan just begging for that job. I shall
certainly pot up the tiny top-growth pseudobulbs separately and grow them
on. This year was the first time I'd grown them and I love them to bits, so
I'm not wasting any! When I've built up my collection, so I'm not quite so
paranoid about them, I will try planting a few in a sheltered part of the
garden to see how they cope.

Although I said I had brought them indoors, which was rather misleading, I
have merely brought them into my garden room which is a single brick
extension to the house, which is chilly enough in winter to require a fan
heater with a frost stat for really bad weather. If I thought it was
getting too warm in there for the Pleiones, I'd move them to my
mini-greenhouse outside, but I think they'll be all right where they are.

With regard to the very tiny pseudobulbs, use a clay pan as normal and top
the compost with live sphagnum moss and push the little bulbs into that. If
you can keep the moss growing the bulbs will be fine. I always top my pots
with a bit of moss around the the plants, they seem to like snuggling in it.
You will eventually have so many bulbs you will find it difficult to even
give them all away.
Others I have grown successfully outside are "Shantung" (stunning large
yellow), "Eiger" (similar to the species but smaller/earlier), "Tongariro"
and "Vesuvius" all obtained from Ian Butterfield at his suggestion.

This site might be of interest... http://www.pleione.info/
--
Regards Bob Hobden
Posting to this Newsgroup from the W. of London UK