Thursday, October 21, 2010

Peristeria elata, the Holy Ghost Orchid


Peristeria elata is one of my favorite orchids because of its beauty and the tiny mimicry of a dove that is created by shape the column and the lip of the flower. I tried to grow Peristeria elata a number of times in the past and every time my plants would grow to a tremendous size, but then they would fail to bloom even after years of devoted care. I would eventually lose the plants mostly to neglect once it was clear they would not bloom ever. This was very frustrating for me since the culture of this plant is not that difficult. I Eventually found out why I never got flowers from my plants, the key was provided paradoxically by a plant that would not bloom for its previous owner.
I was at an orchid show a few years ago and in a vendor's stall I spied the largest Peristeria plant I had ever seen. The pseudobulbs were enormous, each significantly larger than my clenched fist. I asked the vendor for the plant and heard a familiar story, in spite of excellent care, the plant would not bloom. I asked for the price in a distant, not very interested way and the vendor told me that since he was tired of devoting bench space to a non blooming plant, I could have it for $20.00. In a second I had brought the plant.
But this time around I did things differently with the culture of the plant. When the dry season started I stopped watering it. Even though the pseudobuls became wrinkled I resisted the temptation to water. Also no fertilizer was given to the plant. In addition to these measures, now I was living at a higher elevation than when I had my previous plants and every night in the dry season the plant would experience a 10F to 15F degrees temperature drop.
Nothing happened with this plant and for months on end it showed no sign of blooming or growing.
Then in the summer of 2007, I saw two green tips coming out of the base of one of the bulbs. One was clearly a new growth but the other appeared to be an inflorescence. As the weeks went by I was delighted with the fact that the plant appeared to be on its way to produce a very large inflorescence. The inflorescence topped out at four feet and a half and produced the largest Peristeria flowers I had ever seen. Impressively large and opening more widely than any Peristeria flowers I had seen previously, the flowers were a delight to the eye. They were also powerfully fragrant. They were so fragrant that the fragrance started getting a but cloying. The plant bloomed several years in a row and then I had to repot and divide it because it had filled its pot. I expect the divisions to start blooming next year.
So what is what I learned about this plant? I learned that for this plants I need to emulate their natural seasonal cycle to trigger blooming. In my case giving the plant year round watering and fertilizer will produce amazing plants but no flowers.
This orchid is the national flower of Panama and it is sadly endangered in the wild from overcolletion. But it is easily available in the market. If you have the time,the space and the appropiate growing conditions this is a good plant to grow and on the plus side it is also a handsome foliage plant that when well grown resembles a seedling coconut palm.

14 comments:

Armi Pagan said...

I just purchased one and hope to be as lucky as you!


can't wait to smell it.

thanks for the article.

-Armi

edub9 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edub9 said...

Would you be interested in selling a division?

ericwalton9edub9 at gmail dot com

Ricardo said...

I don't sell plants. This plant is not difficult to find in the market. However most plants for sale are seedlings. Sending a fully mature plant throught the mail would be prohibitely expensive. Even if shipped bare root, these plants are pretty large when fully adult.

edub9 said...

Thought i'd give it a shot and ask. No matter I recently purchased a very large bulb with two active eyes and in the past 2 days one of the eyes have doubled in size. So i don't think growing this one will be a problem for me. Thanks anyway and happy growing!

Eric

Ricardo said...

This plant is faily easy to propagate from back bulbs. Perhaps the most important thing you need to watch is that no slug or snail damages the new roots as they start sprouting from the new growth.

Unknown said...

Love your blog!
I got one of these dove orchids around may as a birthday gift (with other +- 10 orchids). It has some inflorescences with buds that are dormant waiting for the right temp drop. I live in Bayamon, PR, so for some weird reason one of the buds opened around July (only one bud opened, but I could smell it 20 feet away). It's been growing keikis since 2 months ago (got 6 already). I cut back watering and fertilizer, but u know, weather here is kind of crazy- since it's mounted I can't be moving it around). It still has lots of buds waiting for the temp drop, so hopefully i'd be getting to enjoy the Yaucono coffee and Dove's scent soon (they actually smell like grape jolly ranchers). Sad, and really sad, thing is the flower of my type of dove only lasts for 1-2 days- still love em'.

Anonymous said...

A huge thank you from South Africa for your sharing - it is very caring and thoughtful of you!
Regards
Elna

Tropicalgardener said...

Someone tried to sell me this plant on the side of the road in Levittown today for 35 bucks. That was the most anyone has ever tried to sell me an orchid by the side of the road for...so I balked. However, I did not realize it was so highly scented. Note: The bulb WAS huge! and caught me attention right away. I also think I saw this on sale at the Plaza las Americas farmers market the other day for 20 bucks. Ricardo, I have some plants I would like to trade...Frank :)

Anonymous said...

So, basically treat it like a Lycaste?

Ricardo said...

The way this orchid should be cultivaded is indeed very similar to the way a Lycaste is cultivated.

Unknown said...

if you dontt mind, I've shared some of the content of your blog in my fb. and I clearly stated the source/ provide link to your blog. but if you do mind, i'll duly delete it. tqvm

Unknown said...

I have two the white and the pink, they are big, but not flower. What is the time here in Miami to stop water and what potting mix?

Unknown said...

Hello, hopefully, you still write in this blog because I was wondering how tall does the Peristeria Elata grow, and what are some features of its family. Please respond by tomorrow. (sorry for being pushy but it's for a project). Thank you.