# Bulbophyllum plumatum (jacobsonii) Care?



## KarmaPolice (Apr 25, 2012)

Hello All,
I am curious if anyone has some tips, hints or suggestions for care for the Bulbophyllum plumatum (jacobsonii) orchid. Purchased from Andys of course, but I didn't see it listed on the site.

Tag notes:
Water: Moist / Daily Watering
Temperature: Watm / Intermediate
Light: Shade / Bright

I currently have mine in a plant only grow tank. All glass lid, no ventilation and it is about 6 inches directly below the end of a Jungle Dawn 17" 20W Grow and Glow along with 2x 15w T8 bulbs. 

I water every other day or so, stay pretty humid in the tank.
I would love for this orchid to bloom, has some amazing looking flowers but I haven't seen them yet personally.

Note: The grow and glow is new (about a week) and was previously just under a 13w jungle dawn bulb along with the 2x 15w T8.

Here is the picture of when I purchased it: I know it lost the bottom two leaves, Pretty sure that was because of the first tank I had it in.









Here it is today: Don't mind the Restrepia up top









Looking to put this in a future tank and would like to know more about it before I do.
Thanks.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

sounds like youre taking good care of it


I grow this orchid, and love it a lot. You can let it dry out a bit between waterings, but not bone dry.

medium light is fine, and it doesnt NEED ventilation, but it does appreciate it


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## hydrophyte (Jun 5, 2009)

Cool plant!


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## KarmaPolice (Apr 25, 2012)

I'm guessing you are having luck with blooms on yours?
Wonder if its drying out too much between waterings... and also being stubborn since it's not getting any circulation.



frogparty said:


> sounds like youre taking good care of it
> 
> 
> I grow this orchid, and love it a lot. You can let it dry out a bit between waterings, but not bone dry.
> ...


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## hypostatic (Apr 25, 2011)

Some more information I found, but basically what frogparty said lol

Keep plant in cool to warm temperatures. Keep moist in summer seasons and do not allow mix to dry, in winter keep the mix slight dry and reduce watering. Keep good air movement to avoid fungal growth. Keep plants in shade. Pot plants in sphagnum moss, fine bark, or mounted. Keep medium well drained.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Oh yeah- Bulbophyllum plumatum ABSOLUTELY needs a winter cool/drier period to bloom reliably


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## KarmaPolice (Apr 25, 2012)

frogparty said:


> Oh yeah- Bulbophyllum plumatum ABSOLUTELY needs a winter cool/drier period to bloom reliably


Hmm... maybe when I set it up and can just move the lights around and water it less in the winter. I will have to keep track of this one and try a little harder to get this one to bloom.
Do you think I should move it to more 'medium light' instead of right below the bulb?


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## Alexmenke92 (Nov 19, 2013)

I would move it down more. Almost all of my bulbos that I have appreciate moderate light. They certainly dont need to be directly below one. I don't have this sp, but all of my bulbos do really well when they are mounted in a Viv. It lets them dry out a little around the roots but the constant humidity keeps the bulbs nice and thick. I have not had many bloom in my tanks because as mentioned above you may need to initiate a winter cycle for them. 


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Bulbophyllum is one of those genus that really rewards the patient grower. Your 1st year in a viv, youll likely get it to bloom, but repeat bloomings can be tricky. 

Its really easy though, actually. In the winter, cut your misting cycle back, to maybe 2 days a week. Ambient temps in your house, or at least night time temps shouls already be lower, and youll get them to rebloom again

one of my nice plumatum clones



Bulbophyllum hybrids, however, usually bloom multiple times a year and need no special attention to do so. I recommend "kalimpong" as a hybrid that does amazingly well in vivs. Here it is in my old leuc viv


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## KarmaPolice (Apr 25, 2012)

frogparty said:


> Bulbophyllum is one of those genus that really rewards the patient grower. Your 1st year in a viv, youll likely get it to bloom, but repeat bloomings can be tricky.
> Its really easy though, actually. In the winter, cut your misting cycle back, to maybe 2 days a week. Ambient temps in your house, or at least night time temps shouls already be lower, and youll get them to rebloom again
> 
> Bulbophyllum hybrids, however, usually bloom multiple times a year and need no special attention to do so. I recommend "kalimpong" as a hybrid that does amazingly well in vivs. Here it is in my old leuc viv.


I didn't know these Bulbophyllum hybrids were less temperamental and could bloom more often. Are the hybrids labeled as such or do you have to know which 'species' (hybrids) are crosses between two normal species? I'm assuming a standard 'winter cycle' is 3 months'?
Thanks for the assistance FrogParty


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

a lot of times they are named after people, so theyre easy to spot. Ebay always has a bunch, as Bulbos are now getting more popular to hybridize


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## KenP (May 6, 2014)

Not that I can add much more than was already said but when I obtain an orchid specie l find it useful to go to the Internet Orchid Species Photo Encyclopedia. Being new I hope it is allowed to reference this site. Valuable free information on 17000+ orchid species. 

Hybrids are generally more vigorous than the parents; ie. the term hybrid vigor. The orchids hybrids that are available usually have bigger flowers, more flowers and flower more often. Sometimes all three attributes. In addition the growing conditions are often more general than specific as in the original specie. 

How do you know if an orchid is a hybrid? A specie plant will carry the binomial genus, specie on the tag. The Genus name is capitalized while the specie name is lower case. The hybrid carries the Genus name in caps with Hybridized name in also in caps. The Hybridized name will not be the usual Greek/Latin name but something common or fanciful like 'Blue Bird' or 'Cosmic Delight'.

Hopes this helps.


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## SDRiding (Jul 31, 2012)

I just got back from Andy's open house with one of these in hand. Any recommendations on how to remove it from the tree fern pot?


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

Soak the whole thing in luke warm water for 15 minutes to soften the roots- then use a chopstick to tease it apart as gently as possible


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## SDRiding (Jul 31, 2012)

Took a while, but I managed to do it with minimal damage to the roots. Thanks.


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

Thats some nice moss growth on that mount!

How do you guys manage to keep orchids alive in tanks with little ventilation? I put a Bulbophyllum flabellum-veneris in such a tank and it promptly rotted out a few pseudobulbs. Killed a few bits of Stelis hirtzii as well but that may have been a temperature issue. I'm guessing mounted up high on a dry part of the background and not hit with misting just let the high humidity take care of them?

So far I've had great luck with full screen top tanks without circulation fans for a variety of orchids.


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