Epidendrum nocturnum is native to Florida, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Windward Islands, Leewards Islands, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico...
Epidendrum nocturnum also called as Night Scented Epidendrum, Amphiglottis nocturna, Auliza nocturna, Epidendrum bahiense, Epidendrum carolinianum, Epidendrum carpophorum, Epidendrum discolor, Epidendrum latifolium, Epidendrum leucarachne, Epidendrum nocturnum var. angustifolium, Epidendrum nocturnum var. latifolium, Epidendrum nocturnum var. minor, Epidendrum nocturnum var. tridens, Epidendrum nocturnum var. tumuc-humaciense, Epidendrum oliganthum, Epidendrum tridens, Epidendrum tridens var. briegeri, Epidendrum tumuc-humaciense, Epidendrum tunguraguae, Nychosma nocturna, Nyctosma nocturna, Phaedrosanthus nocturnus, is a species of the genus Epidendrum. This species was described by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in 1760.
IDENTIFY EPIDENDRUM NOCTURNUM
Epidendrum nocturnum is native to Florida, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Windward Islands, Leewards Islands, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Trinidad & Tobago, Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Fr Guiana, Surinam, Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. They usually grow as epiphytes on trees and rocks, but sometimes they are ground orchids. They are found both in wet and dry areas, growing in high, evergreen lowland forests, in open spaces and in fallen forests at heights of 100-1000 m, but they were also found at an altitude of 2000 m.
It is a large sized, reed stem, hot to cool growing epiphyte, which reaching up to 100 cm in height, with a leafy, compressed, erect, at least 50 cm long stem enveloped basally by a few tubular, scarious, acuminate sheaths and carrying leathery, linear-oblong to oblong-ligulate, sessile, acute, variable size, ranging from narrow and small (6 cm long and 0.5 cm wide) to very large (17 cm long and 7 cm wide) leaves held towards the apex of the stem.
Night Scented Epidendrum blooms in the summer through fall with a terminal, to 3/4" (2 cm) long, occasionally branched, 1 to few flowered raceme which can produce flowers for more than one season, giving rise to large, showy, successively opening flowers occurring over months on newly mature and older pseudobulbs. The flowers are 7.5-12.5 cm in diameter and smell intensely, especially at night, their outer whorl petals have internal greenish-brownish surface, the inner whorls are whitish at the time of opening, but quickly change color to greenish-yellow, the white lip has a yellow thickening, the rod is white.
EPIDENDRUM NOCTURNUM CARE AND CULTURE
Cultural information should only be used as a guide, and should be to be adapted to suit you. Your physical location; where you grow your plants, how much time you have to devote to their care, and many other factors, will need to be taken into account. Only then can you decide on the cultural methods that best suit you and your plants.
Light:
Epidendrum nocturnum needs a light level of 20000-30000 lux. The light should be filtered or dispersed, and the plants should not be exposed to direct sunlight in the afternoon hours. Strong air movement should be ensured all the time.
Temperature:
It is a thermophilic plant. Similar throughout the year - the average temperatures on day is 25-27 ° C, average night temperatures is 16-17 ° C, with an amplitude of daily fluctuations of 9-11 ° C.
Humidity:
Night Scented Epidendrum needs the humidity of 85-90% throughout the year.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Epidendrum nocturnum can be grown in shallow containers with good drainage or on tree rootstocks, which require high humidity, and during hot and dry weather, they should be watered several times a day. They can also be grown in shallow pots or baskets filled with a very loose, fast-drying substrate with excellent drainage and good aeration that allows for quick drying after watering. You can use medium granulation of fir bark or pieces of tree fern fiber with the addition of coarse pearlite and / or chopped sphagnum moss, which simultaneously increases the permeability of the substrate and allows moisture retention. The addition of charcoal helps to ensure permeability and prevents soda.
These plants should be repotted immediately when the substrate begins to decompose, or when growing out of pots. It's best to do it when new roots start growing. This will allow the plant to adapt to the new substrate in the shortest possible time.
Watering:
Epidendrum nocturnum should be frequently watered during intensive growth, but the outflow of water must be facilitated and the substrate around the roots should always be loose, with easy access of air. The substrate around the roots can never be desiccated or soggy.
Fertilizer:
During the active growth of the plants should be fertilized every week 1/4-1/2 of the recommended dose of fertilizer for orchids. From spring to mid-summer you can use fertilizer enriched with nitrogen, then switching to phosphorus-enriched fertilizer in late summer and autumn.
Rest period:
Epidendrum nocturnum, although they adapt to drier conditions in winter, do not really require a dry winter rest. Watering in winter can be somewhat reduced, especially in the case of the plants cultivated in darker conditions of a short day typical of higher latitudes or lower temperatures, but they will certainly be healthier if they are not deprived of water for a longer period of time.
Maureen Grant
ReplyDeleteI'm having a challenge with mine...leaves look withered for the longest time...bloom buds form but yellowed at maturity.....no new roots... I've tried everything I can to get it going...
ReplyDelete