Mystacidium capense is the most widespread species in South Africa and is the most common in cultivation. It is found in southern and eastern Cape Province from west of Port Elizabeth, with heavy concentrations near East London.
Mystacidium capense also called as Cape Of Good Hope Mystacidium, Aeranthes filicornis, Angraecum capense, Epidendrum capense, Epidorchis longicornis, Limodorum longicornu, Mystacidium filicorne, Mystacidium longicornu, is a species of the genus Mystacidium. This species was described by Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter in 1914.
IDENTIFY MYSTACIDIUM CAPENSE ORCHID PLANT
Mystacidium capense is the most widespread species in South Africa and is the most common in cultivation. It is found in southern and eastern Cape Province from west of Port Elizabeth, with heavy concentrations near East London. Distribution continues northward near the east coast with plants found in KwaZulu-Natal Province from near Durban northward into Swaziland. Plants usually grow in dry savannah regions at low elevations near 100m, but may also be found in evergreen forests at elevations up to 700 m.
It is a miniature sized, clump forming, shade and humidity loving, cool to cold growing epiphyte with a short stem covered by sheathing leaf bases each carrying spreading, obovate to oblanceolate, unequally roundly or obtusely bilobed apically leaves that are articulated to the basal leaf sheath bases and all held in one plane.
Cape Of Good Hope Mystacidium blooms in the late spring and summer on an axillary, pendant, 5 to 10 cm long, 6 to 12 flowered, racemose inflorescence with ovate to obovate, acute or apiculate floral bracts and carrying nocturnally jasmine scented flowers.
MYSTACIDIUM CAPENSE ORCHID PLANT 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:
Mystacidium capense needs a light level of 20000-30000 lux. Light should be filtered or diffused, and plants should not be exposed to direct midday sun. Strong air movement should be provided at all times.
Temperature:
Summer days temperature at average 26-27°C, and nights temperature at average 19-20°C, with a diurnal range of 7°C.
Humidity:
Cape Of Good Hope Mystacidium need the humidity of 70-75% most of the year, dropping to near 65% for 2-3 months in winter.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Mystacidium capense should be mounted on cork or rough-barked slabs. These plants grow well when mounted on slabs of cork, tree fern, or hardwood without showing a preference for any of the media used. Mounted plants need high humidity, however, and during hot, dry weather they may need several waterings a day.
If it is difficult to keep mounted plants moist enough, they may be grown in a shallow basket using a very open, fast-draining medium that has excellent drainage, is well aerated, and allows the medium to dry rapidly after watering. Using large chunks of cork and/or charcoal in the way that vandas are grown should produce satisfactory results.
Watering:
Rainfall is light to moderate throughout the year, with a somewhat drier period in winter. Cultivated plants should be watered often while actively growing, but drainage should be excellent and conditions around the roots should never be allowed to become stale or soggy. The plants should be allowed to dry out thoroughly between waterings.
Fertilizer:
1/4–1/2 recommended strength, applied weekly when plants are actively growing. You can use a high-nitrogen fertilizer from spring to midsummer, then switch to one high in phosphates in late summer and autumn.
Rest period:
Winter days temperature at average 22°C, and nights average 11-12°C, with a diurnal range of 10-11°C. The night temperatures in winter can drop to 6°C without any noticeable harm to these plants. Water should be reduced for Mystacidium capense, but they should not be left completely without water for long periods. Occasional early-morning mistings between infrequent light waterings should provide sufficient moisture in most growing areas while also providing the dry winter rest necessary to promote blooming. Fertilizer should be reduced or eliminated until new growth starts and heavier watering is resumed in spring.
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