General description of the type of plant, tips for creating conditions for growing a playon indoors, selection of soil for transplanting, methods of propagation of this orchid. Pleione is a member of the Orchidaceae family of about 20 species. This subset of plants consists mainly of artificially bred hybrid flowers. "Designed to increase in numbers" - so says the translation of the name of this orchid from the Greek language. This nymph, the mother of seven sisters, from ancient legends, gave birth to a whole constellation, which today is called the Pleiades. And this orchid is distinguished by the same multiplicity to the production of its offspring. She can grow many pseudobulbs, which are pressed against the parent pseudobulb, which looks like an elongated bulb with a wide ball-shaped base. The shade of the mother pseudobulb depends on the orchid variety and can be dark emerald or violet-purple.
The native habitat of the foothills in the Indian and Chinese territories, but today the areas in which this plant is found have expanded significantly. Now playon can be seen in Burma, in its southern and southeastern lands, Lao and Thai northern regions, central regions of Vietnam and Nepal. It can even grow from 600 to 4200 m above sea level. The first to describe this orchid was David Dunn, a British botanist in the early 19th century.
The plant can grow in terrestrial, semi-terrestrial or epiphytic form. It even attaches with its roots to rocky or rocky surfaces, but most often in its natural environment, the pleine likes to settle on tree trunks that are covered with moss. Reaches a height of only 30 cm.
Pleione does not live long, in this it differs from other types of orchids. As soon as new pseudobulbs begin to appear, the orchid dies off - this happens within 2 years. The pseudobulb has dimensions comparable to the size of a walnut, the top is distinguished by the shape of a beak. From this top, 1-2 leaves are pulled out, in the form of an elongated oval (or an elongated tongue). Leaves fall off depending on the season. Peduncles are much lower than the leaves and they also grow 1–2 units, the top is decorated with a single (rarely two) flower, which, when opened, reaches 10 cm in diameter. A plant can please the eye with flowering for only 5 days or a little longer. This flower is much larger in shape and size than the entire plant. The color of the buds is determined by the playone variety and can take on white, yellow, purple or pink colors of various shades. The petals are shaped like a peacock's tail, which gave the orchid its second name. Inside the bud is a tubular lip (fused central petals), with a serrated edge. This lip is quite expressive and has patterns of spotted, dashed or streaked.
Pleione is divided into groups differing in flowering time:
- bloom from early to mid-spring, when there are still no leaves;
- autumn bloom, after the complete formation of the pseudobulb.
Florists prefer the first type of orchid most of all, as they are easier to care for. Pleione, after the deciduous mass has fallen, requires some rest with sustained conditions. The plant is protected as endangered flowers.
Creating conditions for growing playon indoors
Lighting for playon
This orchid is very fond of bright, but softened light. It can, of course, grow with some shading. However, in order for the plant to feel comfortable, it is necessary to install a flower pot on the windowsills of windows, where the sun's rays look only at sunset or sunrise. If it is not possible to provide such conditions and the flower stands on the window of the southern exposure, then the plant will have to be shaded (using curtains made of light fabrics or making gauze curtains) from hot sunlight from 11 to 16 hours, which can harm the playon.
Content temperature
The plant requires moderate temperatures, indicators can fluctuate between 18-22 degrees, the playon does not tolerate heat well.
Resting conditions
After the plant has faded and shed its leaves, the pseudobulbs must be stored in a cool place. Temperature indicators are maintained within 2-5 degrees. Care must be taken to ensure that these indicators do not fall below, as the plant will die. There are several ways to save playon pseudobulbs:
- storage of pseudobulbs in basements that do not freeze;
- get the pseudobulb out of the substrate, dry it thoroughly, cut off the roots (only a few centimeters are left), wrap it in paper or a plastic bag and store in the refrigerator in the fruit compartment.
Humidity when keeping playon
When an orchid begins to actively grow, it prefers moisture values up to 60%. To do this, the plant must be regularly sprayed or wiped on the leaf plates with a dampened sponge or soft cloth. Water for spraying is soft, filtered or settled. But it is best to put the plant on a deep pallet, where expanded clay or pebbles are poured and water is poured. You can also buy special double pots for orchids, moisture will always accumulate in the lower one, which is glass from the upper pot with the substrate. It will increase the humidity indicators.
Watering the playon
While the orchid is actively growing, it is watered so that the potted substrate always remains moist. In the hot season, such a procedure should be everyday. Since the native habitat is humid areas of India and China, there, during the rainy season (June-July), up to 900 liters of precipitation per square meter falls. Therefore, it is necessary to water abundantly enough. But when the leaf plates begin to acquire a yellowish color, the playone is watered less often, and as soon as the leaves fall off, the moisture stops almost completely (but not quite !!!). The plant enters a dry dormant period. Only soft water is used for irrigation, it can be obtained by boiling, filtering or settling with tap water, but it is best to use melt or rain water.
Top dressing playon
Every time the plant needs to be watered, liquid fertilizers for orchids can be added to the water (once a week or 10 days regularly). Any others that have a balanced composition of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N – P – K) are also suitable. Top dressing is applied as soon as the orchid leaf begins to unfold, this happens immediately after flowering. If it is noticed that the leaf plates have begun to turn yellow, then feeding stops.
Soil selection and recommendations for planting orchids
It is recommended to start planting pseudobulbs in the middle of winter. Before planting, they should be cleaned of possible remnants of old soil and the accrete roots should be slightly shortened. But there are also recommendations from some growers to leave roots up to 2 cm long, this will help the pseudobulb to be more stable in the pot and speed up rooting. The container must be filled 3/4 with the substrate and put the bulb, then sprinkle with soil mixture. It is important that a third of the pseudobulb, which is covered from below, with soil. But there are varieties with white flowers (for example, Pleione formosana or Pleione bulbocodioides) for which it is recommended to completely deepen the bulb, leaving only a few millimeters of its upper part visible. The entire surface substrate must be soaked to the state of "damp linen that will now be ironed," as the Germans put it.
After the playone has been planted, the pot with the plant is placed in a cool place, but it does not need good lighting and watering - only light spraying of the pseudobulb and the soil surface is carried out. As soon as it is seen that the bud has bent slightly away from the bulb and began to grow, then you can water the plant a little. If done earlier than this time, then there is the possibility of decay of the roots of the orchid and the loss of the entire pseudobulb. Sometimes, to prevent rotting, the bulbs are kept in moistened sphagnum moss or, even better, in any baking powder (for example, perlite).
Once the plant has been acquired, there is a need to transplant it. If this cannot be done, then the bulbs can be kept for some time in a plastic bag in the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment. But it is important that air passes into the bag. In the form of a substrate for playone, you can buy ready-made storey soil for orchids or compose it yourself. The soil mixture should be with maximum air and water permeability:
- medium fraction bark, perlite (vermiculite), charcoal, peat soil, crumbled foam (particles no more than 6 mm), the proportions are maintained 4: 1: 1: 1: 2, respectively;
- chopped bark, sphagnum moss (2: 1 ratio), for many hybrid varieties;
- chopped bark, chopped bog moss, perlite (agroperlite) (proportions 2: 3: 1), acceptable for all types of playone.
Playon breeding tips
For reproduction, baby plants (pseudobulbs) are used, which are formed in the plural next to the mother's bulb. When it comes time to transplant (usually in the spring months), you can carefully separate the adult plant and the babies. Then the "young" are planted according to the previously indicated rules in separate pots with a prepared substrate or are planted in flower beds in open ground. On flower beds, pseudobulbs are placed at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. The plant itself gives a signal that it is time to plant. Pseudobulbs have young roots and a flowering sprout from the bud at the top. Young plants will give flowers for 2-3 years of life.
Conditions for growing playon outdoors
With the arrival of constant warm temperatures, flower growers take this plant to a balcony or terrace, without planting it in flower beds. You don't have to create special conditions for the plant, you just need to choose a semi-shady place. It is not difficult to prepare the soil, a little leafy soil, peat, river sand and humus are added to the garden soil. The care of a plant that grows in a flower bed is complicated by the fact that during hot days the playon must be watered drip, slightly spraying liquid over the plant itself. With the advent of low temperatures, orchid pseudobulbs must be dug up and stored in a plastic bag, in cool conditions (for example, in the basement). Even under cover in the garden, not all varieties can withstand a temperature drop of more than 10 degrees below zero.
Potential Playon Pests and Growing Problems
This orchid rarely gets sick, all troubles are caused only by violation of the rules for caring for the plant. Most often, the playone can be affected by root rot (fusarios). Spider mites, mealybugs or amaryllis bugs are isolated from pests.
Yellowed leaf plates indicate the defeat of a spider mite, first you can try to wash off the pests under streams of a warm shower. In this case, the substrate is wrapped in a plastic bag so that moisture does not get into the pot. If this measure did not help, then there is a need for insecticide treatment. Plaque of gray color on the leaves indicates a lesion with gray rot, spraying with fungicides and careful ventilation is necessary. The ends of the leaf blades turned brown, and the same spotting is present on the surface - an orchid flood has occurred. It must be remembered that, in addition to the summer season, the playon is watered quite economically. If an orchid grows in a flower bed, then snails (grape elephant) and slugs are considered its enemies. If the curvature of peduncles and leaf plates has begun, then this is a signal of defeat by the amaryllis bug. This pest can be removed manually or sprayed with karbofos orchids.
Description of some types of playone
- Pleione is beautiful (Pleione formosana). Sometimes she is also called graceful playone. The native habitat is the southern territories of Taiwan and the Tibetan mountain slopes. It has a single rather beautiful flower that resembles a dendrobium in shape. The color of the flowers ranges from whitish to pinkish plum. The tubular lip is shaded by mottling of yellow, brick and burgundy-purple hues. The flowering process sometimes stretches up to 14 days.
- Pleione bulbocodioides Rolfe. Grows in the lands of Tibet, China and Taiwan. It grows to a height of 15 cm. It is distinguished by the dropping of leaves in the middle of autumn, the death of the roots and the maternal pseudobulb. With the arrival of spring, a flowering stem with a flower reaching 6–12 cm in diameter begins to develop. Differs in petals of various pink shades. The lip consists of 3 lobes. The flowering process takes the end of winter and all spring. The flower lasts up to 2 weeks.
- Pleione limprichtii. The native land of growth is the central province of China - Sichuan. The height of the plant is only 10 cm. It has the shape of a pseudobulb in the form of a canonical egg with a dark emerald or purple color. Flowers can be 1-2 units, the petals of the buds are shaded with light purple-scarlet paints. Flowering process mid to late spring.
- Pleione squat (Pleione humilis). It grows in moist and warm woodlands near the Tibetan mountains. It can take terrestrial forms and is located on forest moss, or as an epiphytic plant on rhododendron trunks. The pseudobulba has a dark malachite color. A single leaf grows from it, which has an obovate shape and a pointed tip at the top. On the peduncle, 1-2 flowers are tied, which have a snow-white shade, the same color is a tubular lip inside, as if painted with terracotta-ocher and bright crimson spots and strokes. The pterygoid column is serrated.
- Pleione hookeriana. The petals are marked with deep pink colors. The white lip has a large yellow spot in the center and bright red strokes around it. Pseudobulbs are small in size, only 2.5 cm. Of these, 1-2 leaves grow, which take the shape of an ellipse with a pointed top or elongated-lanceolate (size 5-10 cm). Has the ability to drop sheet plates. It is located on the trunks of trees covered with moss. Caring for the playon of this variety is quite difficult.
- Pleione Christianii Pained Lady. The variety is rare and very difficult to cultivate at home. In the process of flowering, the color of the buds changes from pale to purple.
- Pleione chunii. Pseudobulbs have dark green tones. Often 2 flowering stems are drawn from them, each of which is crowned with a pair of buds.
Learn more about playon and how to grow this plant at home. The following video will help you with this:
