Dear Nancy and OGD,
Sophronitis cernura comes from the Atlanticcoastal forest and
surrounding mountains. I have seen it close to sealevel as well as at
about 700 meters. The sealevel plants grow hot to warm and the higher
altitude plants grow at warm to cool. I have seen them on cloud forest
ridges at 700 meters where it is 50 degrees in may [their fall] in the
day time and all day drizzle and mist down to the ground. Visibility the
day I was there was from 2 to 25 feet so the mist was fairly heavy. If
your plant was seed grown in the US it was most likely raised warm to
cool, or intermediate. I grow mine here in Key West outside in 60
[winter low] to 90 [summer high] degrees on a cedar wood shake mount
with some sphagnum over the out side of the old roots. I leave the
newest growth with just wood so the new roots can attach to the cedar
wquickly. I find that sphagnum totally encircling Sophronitis can cause
more fungus problems if the rains come heavy. I grow outside so I have
no control over water. I give it 4 hours of first morning [8 to 12]
direct sun and the rest of the day in good shade. I water every morning
and mist in the afternoons now and throught the early to mid summer. I
fertilize weekly with a balanced fertilizer. By late August I switch to
a low nitrogen fertilizer for 3 weekly applications . After that I
fertilize once a month and water less often until new growth starts in
mid winter and then resume regular fertilizer and water. They bloom in
the spring and early summer. Mine puts on 2 to 4 pseudobulbs a year so
it is an average grower. Being a miniature more care and attention is
nessasary as disease and infections can take their toll quickly. If it
is raining often I spray captan once a month and if it is exceedingly
dry for a period I spray with Orthene II a couple of times to alleviate
scale attacks.
Good Luck
By the way the IOSPE has now been totally revamped and I am back to
adding new speceis. I am now at 4518 species in 520 genera. I will be
putting up a lot of Brazilian species and information as I spent 3 weeks
in Brazil on an orchid adventure with Dalton and Marcos. Expect to see
beautiful ensitu photos of many of the rupicolas Laelias
[Hoffmannseggella]. I am inclined to remove these species to
Hoffmannseggella as they are quite different in their natural habits
from all the epiphytic Laelia. They all grow in rock crevasses on rock
outcroppings in treeless areas. Just a little sand and dust for media in
the bottom of the cracks. Full sun, xerophytic consitions through the
winter and a spring rainy season. The temps range from upper 80's in the
summer to mid 40's in the winter. Winter brings lots of cloud cover and
mists but little rain. I also spent time in the coastal rainforest areas
and saw hundreds of Cattleya intermedia and guttata growing within 50
yards of the salt water beach in just a 30 acre area. There were miles
and miles of good habitat in all directions. This was good to see as
many references are made to C intermedia being mostly extinct throughout
its habitat. I can assure you that it is far from extinct and as long as
they don't condoize [sorry] all the coastline it should survive fine.
I saw thousands of Laelia caulescens in bloom on a hillside in Minas
Gerais. It was quite a site. There was scrub forest around the low rock
ridges where they were in bloom, 100 yards from the main highway.
Jay Pfahl
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