Masdevallia Care :D

My Masdevallia

Masdevallias or the "kite orchid" is one of my favorite orchids.  They range from bright purples to bright yellows, and can be grown easily in the Bay Area.  Most of the orchid nurseries in the Bay Area have masdevallias because they love the coastal climate.  They can even be grown outside for landscaping!!! I wouldn't suggest this if you live more inland like me, but if you live in San Francisco, Pacifica, or Oakland....it's worth a try. Even living in a coastal climate, they may come as a challenge, but here's what I've picked up from experience.

Temperature:  They love it when the temperature is around 70 degrees during the day and cool to about 50 degrees at night.  Still, they're fighters.  They can tolerate 80 -85 degree temperatures, if humidity and shade is given, for at most four days.  They won't like it, but they'll tolerate it.  Keep it cool!

My Fish Tank Set-up

Humidity: They love humidity!  They love humidity so much that I have to keep them in a fishtank!!! Placing my orchid in a fishtank allows it to consistently get 80%-90% humidity throughout the day and night.   I have pebbles at the bottom with just enough water to fill up halfway. Growing them in sphagmum moss also boosts up the humidity.
Light:  I grow them in an East window.  Still, they'll do as well with a west window, but I find growing in a west window makes it a little more difficult to keep the orchid cool.  So, I usually grow them in a west window during the winter. They like a bit of shade, so I grow them wayyyyyy in the back behind my larger orchids.  They are just fine and dandy.
Watering:  I water my orchids once a week because they're in a three inch plastic pot with sphagmum moss.  They should be kept moist! I once lost two leaves because I forgot to water it for a day.  Like any orchid, they'll die of root rot if watered too much.  So keep them moist.
Repotting: I hate repotting masdevallias.  Still, we have to do it because masdevallias love fresh medium. I always re-pot my masdevallias in the spring where I see fresh roots overflowing the top.  Use sphgamum moss if you can only water the plant once a week or live in a dry area.  Use a fine bark if you have time to water the plant twice a week (for fresh bark medium) or once a week (for older bark) or live in a humid area.  Be careful of the fragile roots of the masdevallias.  My heart sank every time I accidentally broke a light green root-tip, but it is unavoidable.  Still, masdevallias are strong and can take a beating if you give them a nice rest period. The last time I repotted my masdevallia, it took me about 2 hrs using tweezers to pull away the sphagmum moss to repot them...it was torture.

Little Masdevallia Spike

Flowering: They can flower any time of the year.  Unfortunately...I haven't been able to keep any of my flower spikes.  The spikes abort so easily.  If kept too dry, they'll abort.  If kept too wet, they'll abort.  If kept too hot, they'll abort.  So I recommend, if you see a spike coming up...it means you're doing something right and don't change anything.  Still, I've got a spike going....hopefully it won't abort.  Oh yeah...a spike emerges between the leaves and can grow an inch in a matter of days.