Monday, May 6, 2013

EPIC "Charlie Brown" (LC. Rojo x Epi Atro purpureum)

We got Charlie Brown from a local guy who specializes in Bulbophyllums, but grows lots of other things too. He has a sale at his house once per year. When we got it, it was filling a plastic 4in pot. The new roots on the new growth were growing over the edge of the pot and they were all dying after a couple weeks from dehydration and getting touched every time we picked up the plant. We decided it would be better off repotted into something bigger where the roots could grow in medium. We put it in a 6in basket, and it loved it. It put on multiple new growths. It was doing really well until we over sunned it. We didn't catch on to the clue when the pseudobulbs turned really dark purple red (a plants natural sunscreen). Several leaves turned yellow and fell off. It took us way too long to figure out what was wrong with it. We thought it had a fungus or something. Charlie Brown seems to prefer lower light, more similar to an Oncidium than a Cattleya. We moved it back out of the sun a bit and it quit turning yellow. It didn't flower for us this year since we stressed it out so much, but we are hopeful for next year. It is putting on new growth again, so I feel good about it's recovery. I water it only once it has dried out and fertilize every time I water while it is in active growth.

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