This orchid has been reported
from Thailand, Sumatra, Java, Malaya, Bali, Borneo and the Philippines.¹ My experience with this plant was very
positive, it grew very well under the climatic conditions in my locality in the Rio
Abajo forest in Puerto Rico. This orchid
bloomed in its season and give me no problems.
Sadly, I lost this plant, for the same embarrassing reason I lost a few
other Bulbophyllum over the year, but
more about this later.
I planted this orchid on medium
bark, in shallow dish, so it would have ample space to roam as it grew. And grew did, it filled the dish with its
growths and started spilling out of the sides.
Since the plants seemed to be all right, I was not concerned. Much to my distress the pieces that grew out
of the sides failed to grow once detached from their old stems. I found out that all the pseudobulbs and
stems in the dish were old and would not produce new growths.
Although I could not perceive any
fragrance, it was clear the orchid was producing something that attracted
flies. The flies would perch on the
flowers and stay there for long spells of time.
One surprising thing was that the flies would fight over the flowers and
some flies would fiercely defend the flowers they were sitting on from other
flies. The flowers were successful in
attracting flies, but the flies were apparently the wrong size and shape to
pollinize the flowers since I never found any seedpods.
What is the lesson here? It is that you need to keep a sharp eye on
where your plant is producing new growths so that you don’t end with a mass of
old growths incapable of regenerating.
It is also important to make divisions of the plants so you have more
than just a single one. Sharing a few pieces with friends can also be
a good strategy.
¹Siegerist, Emly S. 2001. Bulbophyllums and their allies: A
grower’s guide
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