Dendrophylax Lindenii - Cultivation

Cultivation

Plants can be successfully grown in a terrarium-like environment mounted bare root on a decay resistant, untreated wood stock in which the wood is laid horizontally on top of a bed of living spangum moss, as the plants require high humidity and stagnant air, or in a wardian case or greenhouse which approximates these conditions. Plants should not be allowed to cross pollinate and set seed unless the plant is very large, at least 10 inches across, as plants without sufficient biomass will transfer all of their stored reserves into making a very large seed pod and the plants behave much like an annual and die after seed set. These plants should be given 1/4 strength fertilizer in distilled or other low salt water sources weekly.

The plants are intolerant of water with high levels of dissolved salts and will result in the roots dying off from the tips. Continued exposure to chlorinated tap water will usually kill these plants, with the tips of the roots yellowing and rapidly dying back to the reduced stem. It is normal for the plants to periodically consume and dehise older roots, but this process does not yellow the roots, they simply shrivel and turn gray then dehise completely. Healthy plants will exhibit vigorous lime green root tips which are in an active state of growth. The plants root tips will grow continuously provided they receive bright light and regular fertilization and watering, with only a short resting period in late fall/early winter. Water should never be allowed to remain standing in the roots nor should any portion of the plants roots to be immersed in standing water for any significant period of time. The key to getting these plants to grow quickly is to keep the roots moist all the time when they are small without water standing in the roots, and regular fertilization. When the plants are small and their roots become dry these plants cease to grow appreciably. They like to be kept moist but not wet to stimulate increase in biomass and active root growth when small. The roots of these plants will also tend to produce new plantlets in a starfish like manner from broken or damaged roots or from roots which have grown longer than 12 inches, a growth habit shared with other members of the genus Dendrophylax.

Although plants in habitat occasionally experience light frost with some root tip damage, as a rule, the plants should not be subjected to freezing temperatures. Freezing temperatures except for very short periods will kill these plants in cultivation. Blooming is triggered by subjecting the plants to a cool, dry resting period with only very light misting every few weeks and lowering the humidity in the growing environment for a period of several months in late fall and early winter when the plants are large enough to support flowering, typically with a root mass of 7-8 inches across.

Newly forming flowers will appear from the highly reduced stem from the center of the root mass and are difficult to distinguish from aerial roots until the flower starts to develop. When new growth is apparent after giving the plants a resting period, resume normal watering. Plants which are large and have set seed pods should be given more frequent fertilizing and should limit only a single seed pod per plant by removing all but one seed pod from a plant. When attempting to produce seed pods from one of these plants, if the plant has multiple flowers all of them should be hand pollinated with pollenaria from a different plant if available, and only one seed pod allowed to remain on each plant, since not all of the flowers may successfully take. When mature, the pod contains thousands of microscopic dust-like seeds.

In habitat, successful pollination of this species appears to be an infrequent, but not rare, event. The plants also flower irregularly in habitat, and some years do not flower at all.