But I also take the point about it being a seed grown plant, and so used to whatever conditions it gets.
So I have hedged my bets and moved one of my 2 S. cernuas to the warmer side of the GH and left the other where it was on the cooler side. We'll see what happens.
I also like Jay's point - also mentioned in his response to me about A modesta - that his get AM sun. Just a few hours. Not much. I was reading in an old AOS Bulletin about the benefits of early AM sun - such that the plant gets some light before the stomata close. Rebecca Northen and others used to make comments about the benefits of brief AM sun for good growing. Interesting. Thanks Jay. Food for thought.
K Barrett N Calif, USA
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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