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  • From: marcus <marcusadriana@mls.com.br>
  • To: pleurothallid-l@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [pleurothallid-l] Re: breeze/wind & humidity/ rain
  • Date: Mon, 20 Oct 2003 22:35:33 -0200

To Linda and other afficcionados:
I would like to help you to understand why and what are my natural conditions that make my ranch so prolific in native Pleuro, Octomeria, Isabelia, Barbosella, Oncidium, Leptotes, Masdevallia, and other micro and macro ones, up to 50 different species in a 20 acres ranch.
1. diversity of vegetation, light, humidity in a hundred of feetdistance: low trees, medium to bright light favors the small ones that are quickler to occupy devasted land and low trees (that normally occurs when an old big tree falls, clearing a lot of other trees in its way down). During the period of forest regeneration, tens of years, that is the time for Pleuros. Some big orchids that come with the fallen tree survive and even become terrestrial  species, but not the small ones.
Big, high, old trees do not have orchids from the roots up to medium, high branches that are on a region of winds, rocking thin branches, living in consortia with cactii, bromelids, ferns, fungus, insects and small animals and birds. Under the forest dim light there exists big treeferns and terrestrial orchids that only bloom for a short period of time and then disapear.
2. wind or breeze along days, chiefly during noon to evenings in order to dry the thin roots of Pleuro. Mine do not like constant rain or 100% humidity that occurs only about 10% of the year and during hot summer (max temp 28ºC). Daily temperature difference is from 15 to 25ºC along the changing weather, be it spring, summer, autumn or less than 10ºC during winters.
3. the winters are cold (-3ºC to 15ºC), as normal range, without precipitations for 15 - 45 days - this year: for 30 days without rain, BUT, constant morning mists from 6 up to 10 o'clock in mornings. Dew occur every day that doest'n rain be it spring or autumn. Half of my trees loose half to totally their leaves during winter (semi-decidual trees), letting more light to the forest floor and lower branches plants.
4. annual precipitation: > 2500mm, chiefly in dec/jan/febr.
5. altitude: plateau of 1000m above sea level.
6. 30 km distant from the sea, separated by a sierra.

So, there is no constant temperature, humidity, light, wind conditions for those plants. As every living organisms they need ciclic annual conditions. They have to store water and food for dry periods, have a dormancy period, a flowering season (some blooms in winter others during spring, but the majority of my ones is during autumn). Others bloom all the year round, for years - the same branch produces flowers after flower till one is polinated, the capsule begins to grow and the branch do not produce any other flowers. The plant, instead, produces  another flowering branch.
You may consider absurd, but if I were to create an artificial greehouse for some equatorian, colombian, brasilian orchid, I would control my greehouse climate by the CNN weather information on the climate-of-the-day of the nearest city my orchid came from: wind, rain, humidity, min/max temp.

I would like to append some photos of different light situation, humidity along the year, but I think it would not be possible....and I would post some Pleuros I would ask for help to classify.
Sorry about these long considerations.
Marcus Rezende

Goldorchid@aol.com escreveu:


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