Up next in 10
Dracula Orchids: How ALTITUDE Influences Their Care
Oct 3, 2024
You’ve probably heard of a monkey-faced orchid and aren’t sure if someone was just pulling your leg, or if they are in fact, “a thing”.Monkey-faced orchids are real and they’re denominated Dracula orchids.To care for Dracula orchids (or monkey-faced orchids), you need to provide low light conditions, around 1,200 fc to 2,000 fc, a humidity range of above 70% preferably between 75-80%. They prefer cool growing environments between 50 to 77F (10 to 25 C) . Dracula orchids hardly like any fertilizer, but grow with daily waterings, and lots of cool air movement. If you want the full explanation of this video in writing, go to https://orchideria.com/dracula-orchids/
On Orchideria.com, you can find more in-depth guides and all the access to our information, tutorials, guides, and much more... all for free!
Happy Cultivating!
______________________
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00-0:24 Introduction
0:24-0:55 Dracula Orchid Name & Origin
0:55-2:25 How Dracula Orchids Live in their Natural Habitat
2:25-3:59 Artificial Lighting for Indoor Setups
3:59-4:28 How Altitude Influences Temperature
4:28-4:44 How Altitude Influences Humidity
4:44-5:43 Fragrance and Common Dracula Orchids
5:43-6:45 Watering in a Terrarium: How a False Bottom is Crucial
6:45-7:19 Cool Mist Humidifiers Create Great High Altitude Environments
7:19-7:43 Airflow Prevents Fungus, Bacteria, and Other Yucky Stuff from Growing
7:43-9:11 Fertilizing Dracula Orchids
9:11-10:03 Potting Media for Dracula Orchids
10:03-10:58 How Pollinators Influence Fragrance in Dracula Orchids
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Dracula orchids are incredible
0:03
Besides the monkey face that they show on them, they have such amazing properties
0:09
And in this video, I'm going to teach you how to set up a place where you can thrive
0:15
back Dracula orchids because I've found that they're not as complicated as we think they are
0:25
First, where do these monkey-faced orchids come from? name did not come from the monkey at all because in Latin they were first described by Carlisle
0:37
Lier and I'm probably butchering his name written about in 1978. The name was not exactly describing
0:44
a monkey but a dragon face so you can see the two little eyes and the nose and that's what makes
0:52
them so fascinating. Their natural habitat it goes from southern Mexico in the Shappas and
0:59
area all the way down to the northern tip of Peru and they are going to stay along the mountain
1:05
range remember that they are high altitude orchids and altitude really changes everything when you
1:12
come to happiness and that means that they are around 1,800 to 2,200 meters high. I want you to
1:21
think of a rainforest in the tropics but now put a mountain range in there so you've got
1:29
got the heat, but you've got the humidity. You've got jungle vibe. I want you to climb this mountain
1:36
all the way to the near the top. So the temperatures are going to drop drastically. And you're in
1:44
what we call a cloud forest mountain. So it will still have that jungle feel to it. It will be
1:52
extremely dense. But you're so high up on this mountain that you're in a cloud forest. So when you
1:59
wake up in the morning and you're on this trail, you can smell this humidity, even though it's not
2:04
raining, there is so much humidity in the air that you are sopping wet. The clouds are so thick
2:11
that they will not let sunlight in. So your sunlight, when it's going to reach this orchid
2:17
it's not going to be high at all. In fact, it's going to be so dim. These are underneath the low light
2:24
orchids. First, they will need low light. Now, I have these adjustments
2:29
light that are on a remote control. I can program them to three, six or nine hours of light
2:36
and I can control them through blue light, red light, or purple light. So in this video, they're
2:42
off because if I turn them on, they give a really sickly color and it looks devastating. So I will
2:50
get these out of the way. But I found these especially great because I can move them all the way
2:56
around and they don't bother me at all and that's one of the reasons why I can't keep my
3:02
dracula orchids along with my phalanopsis or my dendrobium or my catlia or brusival any of those I need to keep them lower than that
3:13
So a phalanopsis will range between 1,300 and 2,000. A Dracula orchid will be in that range too, but I've found less is better
3:24
You don't want a light that emits heat because these will not stand heat whatsoever
3:30
you want a lead light because you want the conditions very low. And you can control that through
3:37
how many hours this light stays on. So instead of keeping like in my other setup, I have my
3:44
lights on actually from 12 to 16 hours a day depending on the time of the year. In this setup, I will
3:51
only keep them on for six to nine hours a day. That is another way that you can influence their
3:59
set up and you're so high up in the mountain that your temperatures are going to drop. So even though you're
4:06
in an equatorial part of the world, you're high up and those temperatures are going to be from
4:12
50 to 77 Fahrenheit or 10 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that's another reason I cannot grow my
4:21
Dracula orchids with the rest of my orchids. I had to build this setup, which is what I love to do
4:28
Even though it's not raining and it will rain a lot, these are going to be humid all the time
4:36
But they're so high up in the mountains in these cloud forests. It's so strong the wind that they will dry out extremely fast
4:44
The Dracula Orchid was actually trying to imitate not a monkey, not a dragon, but not a vampire
4:53
but he was trying to imitate a mushroom. So yes, these do not give a great smell
5:02
You can have some that are in between an apple blossom smell to some that are decaying trash smell
5:10
It's not very strong. It doesn't bother me. I'm not in there sniffing my terrarium every day
5:17
If it was a bigger flower like a calia that, you know, or a bracevolta at night
5:23
it just fills my home office with that smell. it's almost intoxicating. You won't feel these as much. Not all Dracula orchids are going to have
5:32
this monkey face to them. The Dracula orchid that is most similar to the monkey is called the
5:39
Dracula simia. So if you want to buy that one, look for the simia. They do not have suitables
5:46
They're going to store the water in their thicker leaves. And their leaves are kind of like
5:53
mini-cateleas. They're a lot thicker. They're a lot more developed. And that is because they don't
6:01
have pseudobobul. Since it's humid all the time and it's raining all the time, it's also drying out
6:07
extremely quick They don need pseudobulbs So when you going to water I have to mist this every morning And that why I have a false layer I left a little bit out here I don know if the camera can get it where you can see the false bottom and there is a screen behind it
6:28
That's so the water can drop to the bottom of this and then evaporate up. So along with the humidifier, which is right here, right there
6:39
This is a cool mist humidifier. So it's blowing cold air. So what happens is that this setup during the day is going to stay around 77
6:50
And when I turn on my cool mist humidifier at night, it's going to drop it down to around 55
6:56
And it's only going to drop it down inside the terrarium and not where I sleep because I don't want to sleep with like three blankets on me
7:03
So I'm going to keep this on at night. These are also great to grow in your basement
7:10
Your basement will already provide those kinds of temperatures. As long as it's not too cold in winter, then they'll grow fine
7:19
In the mountain, in the high altitude, they are going to have this air constantly circulating
7:24
And if you keep this humidifier on at night, it's going to trap the humidity inside there
7:29
And it's probably going to mold if you don't have that fan
7:34
So you can get a small computer fan. usually around $10. Just put it inside there
7:40
Keep it on while you have your humidifier on. For fertilizer, these Dracula orchids are not going to want a lot
7:48
Because remember, they're eating almost constantly. They don't have the storage. So they'll be, it's kind of like cheating on a diet
7:57
You go over there and you eat a little here and you eat a little there and you eat a little here
8:01
You're eating all day long. So you're eating quite a lot, but you're eating extremely
8:07
tiny portions during the whole day. That's what these Dracula orchids do. So my suggestion is the water
8:15
that you use to fertilize your other orchids, do not use them in this setup. That's going to make
8:22
them turn yellow. Their leaves are going to start at the very end and turn yellow and start to be
8:28
crunchy all the way back. That is a sign of excess fertilizer. I fertilize once a month and I know
8:37
that's not a lot. You can fertilize if you use like a 10, 10, 10, and I just keep it normal
8:44
Since these are almost always in bloom, they do not have like a specific bloom cycle. Some will
8:50
but most will be blooming constantly throughout the year. I just keep a 10, 10, 10 all year round and just do
8:58
that once a month. If I see that they're looking kind of bad or they're not really sprouting the way they should
9:07
then I can do it twice a month. Nothing more than that. How are you going to pot these
9:12
What potting medium are you going to use? My suggestion is Dracula orchids are extremely different
9:18
because they flower spikes instead of emerging from the top they are going to emerge from the bottom and hang down so you need a plastic net basket or a net cup or you need to mount them like I have mine you can see it mounted
9:35
on top the tree so that when it does blossom it will blossom and hang down do not use compact
9:42
potting media for this because the orchid will hit that potting media the spike will hit that potting
9:48
and it can't find the way out to actually let that flower out
9:53
So you'll need something that is almost pure sphagnum moss so that it can puncture and find
9:59
its way out to blossom outside of the bottom of the pot
10:03
They do imitate mushrooms and this is because they want to attract their pollinator of choice
10:10
and they, I mean, you can't criticize the choices. I mean, taste is taste
10:16
These little orchids love the pollinator of fungus gnats, fruit flies, little small flies
10:25
and these are attracted by rotting trash. They are going to have a smell that is not that great
10:34
Always ask your vendor, what do they smell like? And some actually have a good smell like a ripe apple, but most are going to smell pretty bad
10:46
On the website, I do have a list of the smells of what I've smelled that actually smells wonderful and what I've smelled that had, it's like, can I have a refund
10:58
Four crosses and divisions, if you cross a Mastavalia with a Dracula, you get a Dracavalia
11:05
But they are in the same family. That's why they can cross so easily
11:09
And I do have Mastavallias in here, too, because their growing conditions are almost the same
11:16
To divide these orchids, you will want to at least have six leaves on each cluster and then you can cut them
11:24
Don't get too small of a cluster because since they don't have pseudobulbs, they're going to drain all that energy out of their leaves to produce new leaves
11:36
And so that's going to take a hit. And Catlias, you can leave at least three divisions, you know, three suitables
11:43
Dracula's, you cannot. Make sure that you have at least eight healthy leaves
11:49
Make that cluster huge. They're not going to grow out like a sympodial orchid where the rhizome will crawl down the tree
11:56
They will grow in tight little clumps. So when that clump is never going to take over the whole branch
12:02
If you need to divide them and they are in constant flower, that's going to take a hit
12:09
But they are almost always in constant bloom. So what you're going to do is going to wait till late winter
12:15
That's the best time to actually divide these. In all, I hope you enjoyed this video
12:21
If you have, give it a like, a thumbs up. Leave a comment down below of how you grow your Dracula orchids
12:27
Or if you have any questions, thank you so much for watching and happy cultivating
#Gardening & Landscaping