I recently wrote: "I do not know of anyone who is successfully propagating P. susannae on any scale (either commercial or hobby-level). (snippety) PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS SPECIES ( 'cos you'll just be contributing to it's extinction) !!!!!!!"
I did check around before writing that statement. No-one in this part of the world offers seed-grown P. susannae, and a Google search didn't produce any of the usual nursery listings. In fact, the Google search produced a measly 2 results for cultivation (rather than images/conservation listings/etc). One of those was a request for help from a flask-holder, and the other was an AOS provisional award for Pecteilis susannae 'Lafayette' (9/20/04), exhibited by Michael Gallagher. The AOS plant had only 2 flowers and one bud, and other on-line illustrations show plants with 1-3 flowers. This is consistent with my posted statement that "Plants in cultivation usually survive for 1-2 years, then die." 2-3 flowers indicates a weak plant that is struggling to survive. A healthy plant should carry 7-11 flowers. My statement was true .... I didn't know anyone who was successfully propagating P. susannae. However, there appears to be some good news on this front. Both Nick Plummer and George Anderson have told me that Hoosier Orchids sometimes offers seedlings of this species. Murray Shergold has also contacted me, stating that he has it growing fine in his lab & nursery. Murray also said that he is aware of other nurseries raising this species in both Australia & South Africa. That is obviously excellent news. I'm happy to be able to amend my sweeping statement to: PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS SPECIES UNLESS THE SELLER CAN SHOW YOU THAT THE PLANTS ARE SEED GROWN ( otherwise you'll be contributing to the extinction of this species). Since Murray has had success in growing this species for longer than the usual 1-2 years, maybe he'd oblige Viateur & others by telling us all the best conditions for successful cultivation. I know some people in this part of the world who need this advice, and I'll be happy to pass it on to them before they kill yet more plants. Cheers, Peter O'Byrne
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