One look at a photo of a stangopea was enough to imbue the charm of it, to succumb to the desire to see this unusual orchid in its collection. And digging began in reference books, in encyclopedias, in forums, to be honest, not only to collect information about it, but in search of any information about the possibility of acquiring this wonderful flower:
Stanhopea tigrina The tiger or bull orchid, the most beautiful of all 25 species of the genus Stangopea, was discovered to the world in 1838. She has oblong-elongated leaves with noticeable longitudinal veins. There are about three flowers on a long peduncle. Flowers average 14-15 cm in diameter, but can grow larger (up to 17 cm). The petals are yellow with reddish or brown speckles and spots .
In nature, Stangopeia grows like a half-epiphyte - in crevices of rocks, on fallen trees and forks of branches. At home, you need to choose the appropriate conditions.
And in May, the dream came true, and I turned out to be the happy owner of the Tiger Stangopea - a small young family of 4 sprouts. They were planted in a basket of wooden slats filled with a large fraction of pine bark (of course, baskets can be any, but the main thing is that future inflorescences, usually growing down, to the side, but not up, freely pass through the substrate and gaps baskets).
I will not describe how painfully a place was chosen for the long-awaited beauty. The fact is that they are advised to be kept in the summer at a temperature of 20-25 degrees, abundantly moisturizing and shading. It was the temperature that bothered me - the apartment is sunny, all the windows and the glazed loggia face the south side. In summer, the temperature on the loggia goes off scale far beyond the 30-degree mark (looking ahead, I will say that my excitement was in vain).
I hung the basket in a slightly shaded place (you yourself understand that on a loggia flooded with the sun all day, partial shade, as advised in encyclopedias, is impossible to find ).
Every morning I sprayed leaves and substrate through the gaps of the basket. Once every 10 days, I lowered the basket completely into a basin of water, into which fertilizers were added (alternated Pocon for orchids with Kemira lux). I immersed only to the height of the basket, trying not to fill the plant itself. This continued throughout the summer.
Stangopeya clearly liked the care, the bulbs were noticeably poured, the leaves grew, fully opened. Then two new growths appeared, similar to miniature funnels. Here it was necessary to arrange morning sprays a little more carefully, to make them so that the water did not get inside these "tubes" and did not cause decay.
And then the moment came when, to my great surprise (but rather, indescribable joy), a sharp tip of a peduncle appeared from below the basket, in the gap, growing vertically down - God, I did not expect flowering this year!
How long for me the time of its growth dragged on, although the peduncle developed quite quickly, gained strength, growing two buds.
Flowering lasted only 4 days. But the aroma did not weaken over these days for a minute (the door to the loggia had to be closed). After flowering, I again continued watering through soaking with the addition of fertilizers. In addition to flowering, the stangopea intensively continued to increase its family, to grow new sprouts. And about two weeks later, a second peduncle appeared - and everything happened again. All the same aroma, huge, surprisingly colorful flowers and delight at the sight of this miracle .
Flowering is over, the basket is increasingly filled with growing sprouts and not only up (as it should be), but even in the side, perpendicular to the basket. Moreover, these sprouts are directed not towards the window, towards the light, but quite, on the contrary, towards the shadow.
With the onset of autumn, with a decrease in the temperature on the loggia to 18-19 degrees, I reduced watering to once a month, but I spend spraying with warm water every morning, and once every 10 days the stangopea receives root fertilizer so that new sprouts gain strength and next year again please me with their flowering.
Author of the article: Lyudmila Popova (Buttercup)