Prosthechea chondylobulbon - Cone-Like Bulb Prosthechea flowers are fragrant, 5 cm in diameter, white-yellowish, with purple nerves on the lip...
Prosthechea chondylobulbon, also called as Cone-Like Bulb Prosthechea, Anacheilium chondylobulbon, Encyclia chondylobulbon, Epidendrum chondylobulbon, is a species in the genus Prosthechea. This species was described by Wesley Ervin Higgins in 1998.
DESCRIPTION OF PROSTHECHEA CHONDYLOBULBON - CONE-LIKE BULB PROSTHECHEA
Prosthechea chondylobulbon is native to Mexico to Central America. It is found growing on trees and on cliff faces and large boulders in moist but seasonally dry pine-oak forests in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Nicaragua at elevations of 1000-2600 meters above sea level.
It is a medium sized, cool to cold growing, cockleshell epiphyte or lithophyte with widely spaced, slightly compressed, fusiform, deeply longitudunally sulcate, 15 cm long, light green with olive green patches pseudobulbs that are partially enveloped basally by a few imbricate, scarious sheaths. The leaves are 3 to 5, apical, linear to narrowly linear-lancaolate, acute or subobtuse, basally clasping, green, 24 cm.
Cone-Like Bulb Prosthechea blooms in the summer and the fall from the to 13 cm long, apical, 2 to 8 flowered, racemose inflorescence that arise on a newly forming pseudobulb. The flowers are fragrant, 5 cm in diameter, white-yellowish, with purple nerves on the lip. Sepals are green yellowish, acuminate, carinae on the underside. Petals are lighter than the sepals, without carinae. Lip is white background with purple nerves, somewhat concave, with curved lateral edges. Disc with a white, elevated and surcate callus. Column is bilobed at the apex, with a dorsal carinate that ends in an apicule between the lobes, green yellowish with purple patches at the base and the dorsal part.
PROSTHECHEA CHONDYLOBULBON - CONE-LIKE BULB PROSTHECHEA 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:
Prosthechea chondylobulbon needs a light level of 25000-35000 lux. The light should be filtered or diffused and the plants should not be exposed to direct midday sun. Strong air movement should be provided all the time.
Temperature:
In summer, the average day temperature is 21-24 °C, and the night 13-15 °C, with a daily amplitude of 8-10 °C. In winter the average daytime temperatures are 20-23 °C, and 12-14 °C during the night, while the daily amplitude is 8-11 °C.
Humidity:
Cone-Like Bulb Prosthechea needs the humidity of 80% in the period of growth, in winter and spring it falls to 60-70%. Too dry air has a negative effect on the development of the plant: its growth is inhibited, and the leaves begin to turn yellow and dry out. The higher temperature, the higher the humidity should be, and the higher the humidity, the more often and longer it is necessary to ventilate the room where the plants are contained, otherwise the probability of rotting and various kinds of fungal diseases. Good air movement is essential while the plants are in leaf and growing.
Substrate, growing media and repotting:
Prosthechea chondylobulbon grow well mounted on pieces of tree fern or cork, but in summer this requires high humidity and daily watering. In the period of extremely hot and dry weather, fixed plants may require even several watering times a day.
However, since most growers find it too difficult to maintain sufficient moisture with this growing method, these plants are usually grown in pots using an airy, fast-drying substrate that contains substances such as perlite to keep moisture out and charcoal to keep it airy and prevent acidification. Plants should be repotted at the end of winter or early spring, when new root growth begins.
Watering:
The plants should be watered abundantly during active growth, but their roots must dry out quickly after watering. At the end of autumn, the amount of water should be gradually reduced.
Fertilizer:
Cone-Like Bulb Prosthechea should be fertilized every week 1/4-1/2 of the recommended dose of fertilizer for orchids. A fertilizer with a high nitrogen content is beneficial from spring to mid-summer, and a phosphorus-rich fertilizer can be used in late summer and autumn. Higher phosphorus content stimulates better flowering in the next season and promotes hardening of new growth before winter.
To avoid the accumulation of mineral deposits during periods of strong fertilization, it is recommended to rinse the containers approximately every month.
Rest period:
Prosthechea chondylobulbon needs a dry rest period in winter. Allow the plants to dry a bit before the next watering, but do not let the remaining ones dry for long periods of time. In most cases, light watering every 2-3 weeks and occasional morning misting between waterings are sufficient. Fertilization should be limited or should be abandoned altogether until spring, when stronger watering resumes.
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