Spathoglottis

Spathoglottis is a Genus of orchids, represented by around 45 species, native to India, South East Asia, Borneo, the Philippines and Australasia.

The plants are evergreen terrestrials with crowded multi-node pseudo-bulbs halfway below the surface of the ground.

All species grow in moist or wet areas (grassland, swamps, etc.), but do require light. At home, the plants are fast growing, do require frequent fertilizing and must be watered frequently; however, overdoing it may cause fungal diseases, like rot, etc. Spathoglottis plants will not tolerate low temperatures.

The root system is fast growing and therefore, when grown at home, do require extra deep pots (Cymbidium pots).

Spathoglottis species and hybrids are easy to grow. Basically the plants require light, sun for part of the day will be nice, a well-drained mulch containing sandy loam soil and water. New shoots appear mainly during the summer’s wet season.

The leaves are few and up to 30 cm long and 3.5cm wide (my plants), the flower spikes rise from a basal node and can be up to 75 cm tall.

The un-branched inflorescence carries numerous colorful flowers (white, yellow, red, etc), arranged in a terminal cluster. The flowers are usually self-pollinating, but insect-pollinated variations do exist. It is common to observe flowers and seedpods together side by side, simply because after pollination the capsules do develop very quickly.

The plants are susceptible to numerous pests (snails, slugs, spider mites, etc); however, I found rust to be a serious problem. Botritis, anthracnose causing fungi and bacteria, crown rot, etc are also common problems..