Pterostylis baptistii 'Green Point'

[Marni]

Cool grower, summer dry period. The plant looks so out of proportion that I included a tape measure for reference.

[Karen]

I love these!

[harrywitmore]

That is just too cool. Thanks for the full shot, I would have never even thought to look it up.

[Jon]

That's pretty sweet. Love it!

[Pontus_Sweden]

Impressive! Never seen this species before! Thanks for sharing!

[Ann]

Wonderful, informative photos, Marni. I love that thing!

[Andrew]

Nice from of the species. How long have you been growing it?

[Brant]

very pretty flower and such the long stem..wow

[Marni]

Thanks, glad you like it.

Originally Posted by Andrew

Nice from of the species. How long have you been growing it?

I got in 2002.

[xmpraedicta]

Marvelous!

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Marni

I got in 2002.

Have you gotten much multiplication out of it? They'll usually give you 3-5 tubers each year. The Green Point baptistii is always popular on the show bench in Australia (On the odd occasion it is shown). It probably plays second fiddle to the Gosford form but the plants from Green Point are still one of the better forms of the species. We're still in the early stages of the growing season in Australia so it's nice to see photo's of flowering plants (much better than empty pots).

[Marni]

Yes, I do get multiplication. I have learned to keep the old mix and see what sprouts, there seem to be a good number in there that I can't see when sorting through. I think that I get better multiplication with a deeper pot though I am told that I should grow them in a shallow pan. I am also told not to dry them out much when dormant (which I do). The people giving me this advice are some of the same ones wanting to get tubers when I have some extra since they killed theirs.

Perhaps you can give me some advice. Some of the spikes are quite long and tend to fall over when starting to bloom. I have recently tried growing a few brighter when they were starting to spike and seemed to get stronger spikes. Another persons suggested that the stem would be stronger if I had them in stronger air movement. Any thoughts on this? Would there be any nutrients that they might be lacking that would cause weaker stems?

[Craig]

Hi guy’s
I thought I might stop by and give my 2c while I had a spare 5 minutes. Spike length is definitely a light factor. Being a terrestrial the spike rises up through the surrounding flora until the bloom sits in the best position for it to have a chance at it being pollinated. The shorter the surrounding (say) grass, the shorter and stronger the spike. An interesting side note is that colonies of this species are only ever found about 5km from lakes or ocean shoreline. This species forms colonies very quickly; producing from 2 to 5 new tubers each growing season from every old tuber (you do the math). Each (for lack of a better word tendril the white root like thing growing from the tuber) should produce at least one tuber While I am far from being a good grower of these species (even though I do grow a few of them) I do know quite a few exceptional growers. They always grow in deep pots; they repot them every year and at most every second year into fresh mix. Sieving the tubers out of the mix and placing them all at the same level for the next growing season usually 1 to 2 inches below the top of the mix. A nice pot full would be 10 to 15 tuber in a 4 to 5 inch pot 15 to 20 in a 6 inch pot and so on. Unfortunately they are susceptible to being blown over in the wind; having such large top heavy flowers this is inevitable. Growers here keep these in a well protected area with good light. They will stake these with a thin wire stake to help alleviate this problem. Don’t keep the plants very wet during the dormant season. An occasional watering just so the mix doesn’t become rock hard is all they need. A light layer of leaf litter or sheoak needles on top of the pot is a must, as the rosettes form the will sit on the top of this instead of the mix(cheap household potting mix with added sand) this will help stop any fungal problems that may occur. In general Australian Terrestrial Orchids do not like fertilizers, if any thing only a very light application of some organic matter to the mix.
Anyway I hope this helps. Cheers Craig

Catch ya next time I'm around

[Marni]

Well, that's the best 2¢ I've seen in a long time, thanks very much. Hope all is well and you're too busy having a great time to hang around here. You are always a welcome.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by Marni

The people giving me this advice are some of the same ones wanting to get tubers when I have some extra since they killed theirs.

LOL


Hi Marnie,

I grow a baptistii from a few locations + a few related species like procera and anatona. Craig's post summed baptistii up pretty well. I grow mine in 6" standard pots with up to ~15 tubers/pot. I find the growth and multiplication rate of Pterostylis can suffer a little if I put much more in the pot, especially with the larger leafed species like baptistii. Smaller pots can be used but the water content fluctuates more in smaller pots, which in turn affects growth and multiplication. I find 5" pots are OK and while I know some people use 4" pots, I can't keep the water up to them. Over potting is not a problem. 1 tuber in a 6" pot will grow just as well as 15 tubers in a 6" pot. I repot colony forming Pterostylis each year mixing half the old mix with half the new mix. I do this habitually for all my terrestrials as it helps re-establish the fiungi in the pot better. However, I find that Pterostylis will deflask into a pasteurised potting without with none of the setback that you'd normally encounter with more fungal dependant species like Caladenia so I'm not 100% confident that maintaining fungi for an easy species like baptistii is essential. The mix I use is a bit more complex than Craig's suggestion of potting mix + sand but I've seen other people growing the easy Pterostylis in potting mix so, given the paucity of Australian terrestrials in the US, I don't think it's worth considering one of the more specialised terrestrial mixes. In saying that, your plant seems to be growing well in the mix you're currently using.

During the growing season I water so that the mix is kept somewhere between moist and damp. The potting mix should remain pretty dry in summer. In hot weather you can give them a light sprinkle of water to wet the top 1/4"-12" of the mix to prevent the tubers from desiccating. You don't wan't to keep them at all damp in the summer as the dormant tubers tend to rot if kept wet during hot weather. They're more forgiving than Thelymitra or Caladenia but they still don't appreciate being warm and wet. Craig, mentioned about them growing near water. Compared to other terrestrials I find they do perform better in a sheltered, more humid spot. It's not just about the flower not being blown about, the plants themselves grow and multiply better.

I give them about 50-60% shade. I don't know what 50% shade in Melbourne equates to in Santa Rosa but it's probably around Catt light. It's certainly my experience that stonger light leads to shorter flower stems, although the Green Point form does seem to be a taller form than other baptistii I've seen in cultivation. Regarding fertiliser, I include a bit of blood and bone meal into the mix when I repot but during the growing season I've been foliar spraying with a very dilute (1/10) low P fertiliser for the past couple of years and have noticed better tuber size and multiplication which, in turn, leads to stronger plants the following season.

I'll have to post some of my terrestrials to the forum as they come up. I presume a lot of the US members rarely get to see them (a lot of the "common" species in cultivation are largely unknown to lot of orchid growers in Australia!).

[Marni]

Thanks, Andrew for the great information. Please do post as your plants bloom. We see very few species here. I have recently been given a number of different Pterostylis species. I managed to kill a Pt. erecta last year so hoping I do better with these.