The South African orchid, Disa
Uniflora and its hybrids, produce some of the most beautiful flowers
in the orchid family.
The flowers range from white through to red, pink,
yellow and orange, the flowers can last up to ten weeks in flower.
Disas produce a rosette of leaves, which if the plant is large enough will
produce a flower spike. After the flowers have finished, you will see
lots of offshoots around the base of the plant, then in September these
can be removed and potted on separately, The old plant will eventually
go yellow and die but not before producing many new plants.
Light.
Disas need adequate light to produce strong plants and flowers, but their roots must be kept
cool at all times, they can make a ideal window sill plant, but be careful that the sun does not burn the foliage.
Water.
Water quality is very important to successful culture, always use deionised or rainwater only,Never
use tap water on Disas.
Always stand pots in a tray or dish of water and replace every two to
three days, never let plants dry out, in the summer months they drink
a lot of water, the colder the water the better. You can add a very
week fertilizer to the water every month in summer, I never feed in
the winter months, I also stop feeding when the flower spikes start
to show. More disas are lost by too much feed.
Temperature.
Disas are very forgiving. They
will grow in and survive hot spells of over 100 degrees F, they will
even take a light frost, but they do better if the temperature is cold,around 45 to 50 F minimum night temperature
Air.
Good air circulation is beneficial to Disas; you can put them outdoors
in the summer, but remember to stand in a dish of rainwater.
Repotting.
This is best done in September, carefully remove plant from pot and wash all old compost from plant,
separate all offshoots being careful not to damage the roots, then plant
up into clean pots one plant pure pot.
Compost.
I always use I part New Zealand
Sphagnum moss chopped, and 1 part perlite.
Pests.
Disas can be affected by whatever pests are present in your collection,
Aphids can attack flower buds and flowers a weak spray Pravado bug killer
will help.
I hope you find this culture
sheet of some use, for all Orchid Accessories go to www.orchidaccessories.co.uk
|
