AusBonsai

Hi Neil as you know i am Interested!!

Hi All,

My Green hoods are just starting to flower. Thanks again Neil!

Well ahead of mine Joe. One pot of Pterostylis nutans has a few flowers out but still a week or so away from P. curta flowering.

Hey fellow terrestrial nuts!

I've got Pterostylis nutans, curta, baptistii, longifolia, concinna and another unidentified species in flower right now. I also have a few Corybas aconitiflorus in flower too. I'm trying a few Thelymitra graminea as well but don't have high hopes for their survival.

Happy to provide pics of any of them.

Joel

In full flower at the moment!

Joel, photos would definitely be appreciated. Also a quick-and-dirty guide to growing - mine all failed. Maybe snailed. I haven't seen many used as accents, but it seems like they could be very useful.

Thanks,

Gavin

A quick guide to growing terrestrials Gavin So many species, many with different growth patterns and cutivation needs

Easiest species are the colony forming greenhoods - Pterostylis nutans, P. curta, P. pedunculata. Chiloglottis and diuris species are relatively easy to grow as well. Caladenias are difficult, Dipodium and Gastrodia cannot be kept in pots.

Use a very well drained mix. Craig W came up with the idea of growing his pterostylis in used bonsai mix which has appropriate properties and the orchids do well in it. Terrestrial orchids rely on fungi to convert organic matter into food for the orchid so terrestrial mixes have had wood shavings etc to provide nutrition for the fungi. I am not sure whether they will manage in a completely inorganic mix.
I add a spoonful of blood and bone to the mix when potting up the tubers for nutrients to help the fungi start breaking down the pinebark.

Most of our terrestrials are summer dormant. They sprout in autumn then grow through winter, flower and then die down in summer. Most are adapted to dry summers so culture reflects this - keep the pots quite dry over summer or dormant tubers will rot. start watering around March or when new leaves appear.
Repot when dormant over summer. The dormant tubers are roundish (or oval in some species) and white - a little like pearls. Tip the mix out in a sieve to locate the tubers. A mix with large white gravel makes it much harder to sort out the tubers when repotting. Replant tubers about 3 cm deep in fresh mix. Colony forming pterostylis can form 3 or 4 tubers from each plant so they will get crowded very quickly and should be repotted each year.

Native orchids are all protected and should not be collected from wild populations. Many species are critically endangered and taking some could push the species into extinction. Native terrestrials can be obtained from orchid shows, especially ANOS (Australian Native Orchid Society) shows. ANOS also runs a tuber bank where members swap or give away excess tubers after repotting in summer.

Enough for a start?

Damn fine Neal. Will do.

Gavin

Great summary Shibui thanks for the info

A few of my Pterostylis are flowering. The flowers hanging down like this identifies this common species.Pterostylis curta is another common species. Flowers are a bit bigger than nutans. It is dentified by the labellum ('tongue' inside the flower) which you can just make out inside this flower. It always has a 1/4 twist. Pterostylis come in a wide range of flower shapes and arrangements. here is Pterostylis melogramma which has multiple flowers on a tall stem. This species has an 'irritable' labellum. When an insect lands on the 'tongue' hanging down ( you can just make it out on le upper left flower) it snaps shut inside the flower (labellum on the upper right flower has triggered for this pic) forcing the insect to crawl past the anther and stamens to pollinate the flower. Unfortunately P. melogramma does not multiply like the other 2 species so it is a bit harder to get hold of. These can be multiplied by removing the new tuber halfway through the season and the plant will grow a second one.

Pterostylis baptistii has the largest flowers. mine have buds but won't open for a few weeks. Pterostylis bicolour is at the other end of the size spectrum with tiny flowers. It has just started to put up a flowering spike.

I'm leading a short walk near Yackandandah on Saturday afternoon to look at some of the local orchids and their place in the ecology of our bush.

I was surprised this year when I discovered one in a Ficus pot,just in the right place too

It is summer and many of the native terrestrials are dormant Except for a couple of swamp loving species the pots should be kept on the dry side over summer or tubers can rot.

Summer is also time to repot. and pick out all the tubers you can find. There will be bigger ones and some quite small ones. Does anybody want some Pterostylis nutans or P. curta tubers I have a few to spare again this year.

note that not all species multiply like this. many only produce 1 replacement tuber for each plant. there are ways to make them multiply but that's advanced potato cultivation. This tute is just basics.

Part fill the pot with mix. I'm using Craig's suggestion of sieved used bonsai mix. It has excellent drainage and enough organic particles to feed the fungi which will feed the orchid. I add about a dessertspoon of blood and bone to each 15 cm pot. Place the tubers about 4 cm deep Then top up with more mix. Casuarina needles as a mulch helps protect the mix and will stop the leaves sitting on damp mix and rotting when they grow next year. There's no need to water them in. They will only need an occasional water until the weather starts to cool down in autumn or they grow new leaves. Tubers will rot if kept damp while they are dormant.

Shame I'm in the wrong state shibui, otherwise I'd definately take you up on that offer. This thread has really stirred my curiosity with the native orchids, would love to get my hands on a couple

Hi Jason,
You are in the right state for growing terrestrial orchids. Just can't get any of these from me.

Look up Australian Native Orchid Society and join a local group or get to a show. Most ANOS groups have tuber swaps at this time of year where members contribute excess like this to get other members started. They also have pots of plants for sale at the spring shows.
WA terrestrials are awesome

shibui wrote:Hi Jason,
You are in the right state for growing terrestrial orchids. Just can't get any of these from me.

Look up Australian Native Orchid Society and join a local group or get to a show. Most ANOS groups have tuber swaps at this time of year where members contribute excess like this to get other members started. They also have pots of plants for sale at the spring shows.
WA terrestrials are awesome

Thanks for the tip Shibui, looks like we have quite an active group over here Going to have to pop in to a meeting I think, I never realised we had such a variety over here!