Wel, I don't have experience with Phrags, I grow my orchids in Rio de Janeiro, sea level, too warm for them, but I have read that Prag. vittatum is from our rainforest site (http://rockboat.co.uk/riotrust/out_and_about.html). In Upper Macaé, believe me, you never have fire, and, as the link says, Phrags come from damp areas.
Maybe Prag. vittatum could come from Central Brazil, close to Brasilia, there are some habitats that seems to have them occuring, but, in those places, the fire occur during dry season, i.e., the winter. During the summer you have a lot of rain. The Cyrthopodium from central Brazil are well known as non flowering in greenhouses, since we do not "torture" them enough. They (Cyrts) are deciduous plants, so during winter they loose the leafs and after the fire, when starts to rain, they grow very fast and new bulbs come with an even more fast inflorescence that will boom before leafs get mature. I would like to remember you that winter, in Brazil, means temperatures around 42 - 55 F, in the regions we are talking about. In Rio, we never go lower than 60 F. I would reccomend you to place ash right before summer. I hope it helps you. > >I received a Phragmipedium vittatum last March from Ray Rands as a substitute >for a besseae he was out of stock on. I read somewhere that this is a >difficult plant to bloom and blooms after a fire in its native habitat. So I >gathered a sandwich bag full of ash from a roadside grass/brush fire and >applied some to the pot last summer, during the hottest part of summer, >guessing that this is when a fire would be likely. No blooms yet, but most of >the plants from Ray are resent imports, so I would expect that this plant is >still making the adjustment to the northern hemisphere. If any one wants to >suggest any details on how and when to apply the ash, it would be appreciated. > Cynthia, Prescott, AZ > > > > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.0.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.9/216 - Release Date: 29/12/2005 _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [email protected] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
