Ludisia discolor

      Syn: Haemaria discolor

  by: Aaron J. Hicks


      Ludisia discolor is a popular "Jewel" orchid; it is truly
terrestrial. Culture is rather simplistic. Most orchid fanciers grow it
as they would any other houseplant.

      Most recently, I have seen this sold at the supermarket; two plants,
or rooted cuttings, per pot, both in bloom. I always thought that plants
had to be rather large to bloom, but these were only 4-5 inches tall, with
large (to 10") spikes. Very appealing plants, overall.

      Ludisia (Haemaria) discolor: my fave terrestrial orchid, outside
of the Cypripediums. :-) Grow it in dirt. Grow it like any potted plant.
When the leads start looking threadbare and have only 2 or maybe 3 healthy
leaves at the ends, it needs repotting. Pot in dirt; I prefer a light mix,
with lots of vermiculite, perlite, a handful of sand per liter of mix... 
everything thrown in. :-) With luck, it blooms in spring with a stem of
pretty white flowers, with yellow centers. Not exotic, but very appealing. 
Most people raise it for its ease of culture, along with the colorful leaves.

        This species can be propagated by cuttings. Oddly, I've never
seen roots when I repot or unpot a plant; I've never known why, but it
does not seem to be a species with roots. Rather, the stem appears
similar to the "rootstock," which presists through the core of the
pot, and is the water- and nutrient-gathering portion of the plant. It
_seems_ semi-succulent, but has little drought tolerance, particularly
when young or underpotted. Stems should be rooted in moist potting media.

      Commonly, these stem cuttings can be had when longish stems
tend to rot out between the mother plant and the ends; for some reason,
they will form a localized patch that shrivels, then dies. The wound
heals over, and the end of the stem slowly starts to perish. These can
be cut off with a sterile blade, and rooted. It is not known if it is
best to plant it with the wound healed over, or left "open," but it
is probably less liable to rot if it is healed over.

      Pests are rather limited. Hard scale will tend to manifest itself
by finding its niche at the base of the leaves, in the most difficult-
to-reach places of all. It will also be found on the undersides of the
leaves, on the main veins. It is almost *never* seen on the top surface,
and, as with most any plant, it is a good idea to check the plant from
below in order to make certain no pests have been established.

      The plant does not seem to be injured by pyrethrin-based
pesticides.


      -AJHicks
      Wonk
      For the orchid cultural sheets
      5/24/96
      I'm not as nuts as you think I am


>The easiest way to root Ludisia cuttings is to stick the broken end in a
>glass of water.  You should see roots growing from old leaf nodes within a
>couple of weeks.
>
>One person in our local society has been growing a Ludisia plant in water
>for more than a year.  The plant looks great and has bloomed.
>
>cheers,
>       Nick
>
>Nicholas Plummer
>nplummer@umich.edu
>http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nplummer/homepage.html



Message 56:
From tarrall@plutus.Colorado.EDU Fri May 31 11:30:03 1996
To: Sheri Musil <smusil@ag.arizona.edu>
Subject: Re: [8816] Ludisia discolor
Cc: Aaron Hicks <ahicks@mailhost.nmt.edu>
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Sheri Musil wrote:
->
-> I've tried to start cuttings in the past with no luck.  AJ, do you have a
-> successful technique for this?
->

I'm not AJ, but I'll reply to this anyway since I've had some success so
far with this.

I haven't ever actually taken a "cutting" per se of Ludisia... but every
so often I inflict enough harm to my L. discolor to snap a stem off.
When this happens I let it sit on some damp soil overnight with the
freshly wound open to the air, and then stick it in the soil the next
day.  I try to keep the soil at least damp for the next few weeks, which
in my relatively dry climate may mean misting daily.  So far, it's worked
fine.

It might be that breaking the stem at the nodes, rather than cutting it,
is beneficial when trying to propagate these guys.

I usually use Gordon's potting soil to start the "cuttings" as it's pretty
nutrient rich and holds moisture properly... and plus, that's the only soil
I've got. :-)    After a month or so I repot into a mix of everything I can
find - bark, potting soil, charcoal, etc etc.

Hmmm... when I find myself wondering if it's possible to grow orchids in
Spam, I know it's past time for the morning coffee.  Hopefully the above
was coherent enough to be useful.

                        -Robert.-

From WARREN@GAS.SCI.MONASH.EDU.AU Tue Jun 25 02:46:01 1996
To: Aaron Hicks <ahicks@mailhost.nmt.edu>

Aaron,

Just going through a couple of your FAQ's and noticed a point or two
that  might interest you.

Lack of  roots on Ludisia discolor - it is probably like a lot of
terrestrials (and 85% of the other Australian Plants) relying heavily
on a symbiotic fungus to derve as its roots. It is well known amongst
Down Under "spud growers" that one can halve the time from seed to   
 flower of terrestrials if one can grow them symbiotically.

Regards

Warren Simpson