Coelogyne Burfordiense, cultural note, growing it on a wire column

My plant of Coelogyne Burfordiense (Coe. asperata x Coe. pandurata) gives me very little problems except for the fact that it has a very vexing trait.  It will escape, sometimes in less than a year, from most pots.  Planting it in a large pot is a problem due to the large quantity of media that has to be used and the almost sureity that the big mass of media will become anoxic and kill the roots.  So I decided to grow this plant attached to a column of wire, this would allow me to train the growth ups and keep the plant tidy, or as tidy as it could be.  I made a 36 inches tall wire column, I used the sturdiest, strongest wire I could find.  Then I attached the column to the side of a 12" pot.  I attached the column using wires threaded through holes in the pot.  I made sure that the column was very firmly attached to the pot, this is essential as I often move the pot by pulling the column.  I started growing this plant this way in October 2007.  My plan was to keep adding media as the plant climbed up the column.

By May 2010, the plant was producing impressive bloomings with several inflorescences opening at the same time.  Most of the growths were close to the column, but some has grown out toward the sides, those were cut out when they had two pseudobulbs or more, only those pseudobulbs that kept close to the column were allowed to remain.  However it is important to keep a close watch when the plant is producing new growths so that they don't become tangled in the wire or try to grow into the column. 

This is the plant as it is now December 2013.  It has a considerable weight and had to be moved to a location where it gets full sun for part of the day because it had so many leaves it was self shading.  The growths have reached the top of the column.  The plant stands about four feet and a half tall at the tip of its top leaves.  Last year it produced nine inflorescences during a several months blooming season.  Next year I will probably have to cut the top growths which by then may be jutting out into space.  But I expect that by then I will have another pot and column ready for them, and who knows, I might even try to make an even larger one.

As you can see the plant can send inflorescences every which way, not ony toward the side that gets the strongest light.  To the left you ca  n see a string of pseudobulbs growing away from the column with their roots all exposed.  Note that the inflrescences are at several stages of development, from just emerging to losing their flowers.

Rainfall supplies the water needs of this plant, only at the height of the dry season is there a need to water it.  Here are approximate values for rainfall in the Rio Abajo area.

                             J       F      M       A       M       J       J       A       S      O      N      D

Rainfall (mm)      99    76     84      165    283    155   141   216    237   233  176   135

(inches)               3.9   3.0    3.3    6.5    11.1    6.1    5.5   8.5      9.3    9.1     6.9   5.3

My Coelogyne Burfordiense and Coe. mayeriana and their differences (I originally thought my Burfordiense was pandurata)

Coelogyne Burfordiense 

Coelogyne mayeriana pseudobulb

Coelogyne burfordiense pseudobulb

Lip of mayeriana

Lip of Burfordiense

I have three types of tropical Coelogyne, in this post I compare my plants of Bufordiense and mayeriana.  Originally this article listed Burfordiense as pandurata because this was what was in the label when I brought my plant.  Since then I have talked with many orchid growers and I have come to the concludion that my plant is the hybrid Bufordiense (pandurata x asperata)  Key to this understanding was a group in Facebook named Coelogynes e afins in which flowers of pandurata were shown, they clearly lacked the yellow warts that come from asperata.  I thank them for sharing their knowledge.

Coelogyne Burfordiense is a huge plant with pseudobulbs and leaves that are far larger than the other related species or hybrids. As you can see in the photo a well cultivated plant can produce five to six inches tall pseudobulbs, since they are also wider than the pseudobulbs of the other species a Burfordiense pseudobulb at five inches is far more massive than a mayeriana that tops out at two.

The denomination pandurata makes reference to the fiddle shape (pandurate) of the lip of the flower. Coe. Burfordiense has inherited this lip shape.  The mayeriana I have produces smaller flowers that don't have a fiddle shaped lip. Nevertheless I have seen mayeriana with lips that approach the shape of pandurata, which muddles the issue a bit.

In both orchids the color of the lip is black. Hybrids with other species can look pretty similar to pandurata but the brownish color of the flowers on some of them, and the presence of the warts from asperata is trait that can be used to identify hybrids.

The lip ornamentation on my Burfordiense is quite elaborate with black spines, yellow warts, and keels along the long axis of the flower. The flowers of my mayeriana are similar but the warts are white.

The inflorescences of Burfordiense can produce up to 17 flowers at a single time and are large and robust. The mayeriana inflorescence is much shorter than that of Burfordiense, the stem of the inflorescence is thinner, my mayeriana plant only produces four to six flowers per inflorescence.

The Coelogne species mayeriana, pandurata and parishii and their hybrids are relatively simple to cultivate if you live in the tropics and have the space to accomodate their rambling growth. Coelogyne Burfordiense is particularly bothersome in respect to potting as a plant can outgrow a pot in just a few months because of its long internodes between pseudobulbs and the large size of the plant.