Angraecum Crestwood is a multi
crossed hybrid. Starting with an Angcm. sesquipedale and crossing it with an
Angcm. eburneum; coming up with
Angraecum Veitchii. Before I finish the
hybridizing here, let me remind you that the Angcm. Veitchii had been posted
earlier in this blog. Take the Angcm.
Veitchii and cross it with Angraecum sesquipedale
again. You end up with Angraecum
Crestwood.
Cross the Angcm. Veitchii with Angcm. sesquipedale and it now opens with the traits of Angcm. sesquipedale. The lip is now down and slightly out in the new hybrid Angcm. Crestwood. It looks very near an Angcm. sesquipedale; not as large but with the colors nearer the Angcm Veitchii, A white lip, with a slight green throat and white stripe down the center. While the sepals and petals are slightly green in cast. The two petals of the Angcm. Crestwood do not retract as much as they do in Angcm. sesquipedale. The plant has bloomed in late spring through late summer; even into early fall. The flowers will last up to four weeks if not in severe weather conditions.
Use a large medium of charcoal, aliflore, perlite and some lava rock. The larger medium will give the plant ample space to grow its roots, plenty of drainage and air to let the root system breath. In warmer months, water the plant every 2 – 3 days, trying not to get water on the leaves where it could sit in the leaves against the stem eventually causing stem rot. Once cooler weather arrives, watering can be cut back to every 3 - 4 days. If you notice any of the exposed root system starting to wrinkle, increase your watering habits. I fertilize the plants every week year round (because of my sub-tropical climate here in South Florida) with a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer.
As the plant gains height, aerial roots will start to appear at the base of the plant. The taller the plant grows more roots can eventually grow. Do not damage these roots. As with so many Angraecums, mess with the roots and the plant will go dormant and not flower for several years.
When using a systemic fungicide, it is best to spray the entire plant; especially the base or bottom of the leaves. Make sure to allow the fungicide to reach the root system within the pot/basket also. If issues regarding fungus does appear, use a topical fungicide as needed until it is time to use the systemic mixture.
Angraecum Crestwood does very well with bright, indirect sunlight. My plants get a fair amount of 50% spackled light a couple hours a day. The 20 inch (50cm) or so length leaves are broad and can be burned by direct sunlight.
Angcm. Crestwood can be grown indoors in a large pot sitting on a table near bright light. Do try and place the plant outdoors during warm weather. It will appreciate the breeze. Once temps reach an average night range of 55 degrees or below, it is time to move the plant into warmer surroundings.
Angraecum Crestwood
Cross the Angcm. Veitchii with Angcm. sesquipedale and it now opens with the traits of Angcm. sesquipedale. The lip is now down and slightly out in the new hybrid Angcm. Crestwood. It looks very near an Angcm. sesquipedale; not as large but with the colors nearer the Angcm Veitchii, A white lip, with a slight green throat and white stripe down the center. While the sepals and petals are slightly green in cast. The two petals of the Angcm. Crestwood do not retract as much as they do in Angcm. sesquipedale. The plant has bloomed in late spring through late summer; even into early fall. The flowers will last up to four weeks if not in severe weather conditions.
Angraecum Crestwood
Use a large medium of charcoal, aliflore, perlite and some lava rock. The larger medium will give the plant ample space to grow its roots, plenty of drainage and air to let the root system breath. In warmer months, water the plant every 2 – 3 days, trying not to get water on the leaves where it could sit in the leaves against the stem eventually causing stem rot. Once cooler weather arrives, watering can be cut back to every 3 - 4 days. If you notice any of the exposed root system starting to wrinkle, increase your watering habits. I fertilize the plants every week year round (because of my sub-tropical climate here in South Florida) with a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer.
As the plant gains height, aerial roots will start to appear at the base of the plant. The taller the plant grows more roots can eventually grow. Do not damage these roots. As with so many Angraecums, mess with the roots and the plant will go dormant and not flower for several years.
When using a systemic fungicide, it is best to spray the entire plant; especially the base or bottom of the leaves. Make sure to allow the fungicide to reach the root system within the pot/basket also. If issues regarding fungus does appear, use a topical fungicide as needed until it is time to use the systemic mixture.
Angraecum Crestwood does very well with bright, indirect sunlight. My plants get a fair amount of 50% spackled light a couple hours a day. The 20 inch (50cm) or so length leaves are broad and can be burned by direct sunlight.
Angcm. Crestwood can be grown indoors in a large pot sitting on a table near bright light. Do try and place the plant outdoors during warm weather. It will appreciate the breeze. Once temps reach an average night range of 55 degrees or below, it is time to move the plant into warmer surroundings.
I wonder if you could provide information on which Angraecums and Aerangis require a winter rest.
ReplyDeletePatty, a winter rest for various plants from the Angraecum Alliance will vary from zone to zone. The cooler the zone, more will become doemant to a point. Living here in South Florida, the "winter rest" for my plants is minimal. I back off the watering to about every 4 - 5 days for potted/basket plants but will still try to keep mounted plants damp. If temps drop below 60 degrees, I may water every 6 - 7 days. As far as temps below 50 - 55 degrees, I will either cover them with a tarp or move them inside. If the plant originates in a sub-tropical to tropical climate I follower the above rule to a tee. If plants originate from a more arid or drier area or even a high elevation I may back off watering an additional day or two. Most of my aerangis have very little rest, they grow just about year round. Angraecums with broad leaves should grow year round (they are usually from tropical areas. If you see green root tips or kekeis developing, consider year round growth. I try to convert my climate to the plants origin and go from there. Keep in mind that many of the Angraecums can adapt to minor changes in their culture. This is what has worked for me and may vary depending on your climate. Keep in touch and let me know the area you are in and what plants you have. I'll be happy to help all I can.
ReplyDeleteDoes it repeat flowering on the same plant?
ReplyDeleteThe plant will flower the following year as long as it is taken care of. It will not flower from the same leaf axil though. New inflorescence will develop above the older one(s) the next year.
DeleteThanks for quick answer.
DeleteI have several multifloral paphiopedilums so I hope I cope with Angraecum too. :)
Have you tried to hybridize it with cymbidium, paphiopedilum or phalaenopsis?
regards
Greg
I have an Angraecum Crestwood that I got in 2009. It bloomed with two flowers in 2011, when it had about 12 leaves. It has not bloomed since. I topped the plant perhaps in 2012, and it now has 23 leaves and the central stalk (where the leaves overlap) is 30 cm tall. It seems to grow quite happily, but not flower. It lives in a south-facing window in northern Ohio in fairly constant 68° (F) temperatures, not accounting for heating from the sunlight. The light is lightly filtered by a curtain, and the Angraecum sits back about 2 feet from the window on a table. The plant currently has no air roots, though some roots have attached to the edge of the clay pot and two recently-emergent roots look like they may want to climb into the air. The medium is sphagnum moss, and I water about every 7-10 days.
ReplyDeleteReading another source about Phalanopsis, there was an indication that one should use a fertilizer that is relatively weakly balanced on nitrogen versus phosphorus and potash. I have been using Miracid with a formula of 30-10-10.
Is that my problem? Is there some temperature programming I need to provide? Any other ideas?
It is frustrating when a plant blooms and then goes dormant for that long. Your climate is far different than mine. Yet the plants should do well as long as they are cared for. First, I do not use moss in any of my mature Angraecums. They do thrive with the moisture; but the root systems do need to breath (I am not saying they need to dry out). I currently have five large Angcm. Crestwood plants. All are in spike and should bloom this coming April to May. You may want to think about changing what they are in. My thoughts are: increase the light slowly (NO DIRECT SUN), use a balanced fertilizer such as Jack's 20-20-20 (the higher phosphorous will promote blooming), change the medium and try to increase some air movement. Your temps seem fine. Do you place the plant outdoors during warmer months? Keep in mind every aspect of growing orchids is a variable with parameters (how much, how often and know when to back off as well as push). Let me know what you think and maybe we can get the plant to bloom. TomK
DeleteThanks for your reply, Tom. I do not put my orchids outside in the summer months - fearing insect pests and possibly too warm temperatures during the height of summer (high 80's to low 90's). I can't do much to increase light levels (other than putting the plants outside) - my Angcm. is already by the sunniest window in the house. I will change my fertilizer mix and re-pot using a bark-based medium. Is a Phalanopsis mix appropriate?
ReplyDeleteI suggest that when night time low temperatures reach 65 degrees, place your plant outdoors. Lowes/Home Depot sells a product made by Bayer; it is an insecticide soap spray. I use this and keep it handy year round. The entire lineage of Angcm. Crestwood is sub-tropical to tropical in nature and thrives in temps from the 80s into the mid 90s. All of my plants dealt with temps from the upper 80s into the high 90s from mid April into mid October. I would also suggest that you use red lava rock, about an inch or less in diameter instead of bark. If you do change the medium, be sure not to pull any of the moss that is stuck to the roots. It will be OK to let some stay. MESS with the roots as little as possible. If you do use bark, use chunks as to give fast drainage, air to breath and ample room for root growth. Keep me up to date! TomK
DeleteOK, thanks, I'll try your suggestions. Obviously, it will be awhile before we have night time lows in the mid 60's - it was 25 this morning!
ReplyDeleteMy Crestwood was bought some 6 years ago when it was a 9" tall potted plant. I didn't do any thing special with it just the usual watering and feeding. The plant grew rapidly and flowered the 3rd year
ReplyDeletewith one spike. The last years it has produced three spikes and a minimum of 10 blooms ( on the three spikes) My question is this -- the plants is sending out so many aerial roots that they are bedding themselves down into pots some !8" away from the plant. There must be 5 very thick aerial roots each branching with numerous offshoots. I cannot put any plant within 20" of the plant because the aerial roots are in the way. Is there anything I can do ? or do I just let it grow.
I understand and feel your pain... That is an issue that I have to pay close attention to. I DO NOT mess with the roots on the larger Angraecums. A couple of times I have had to cut more than I should have and the plant wouldn't bloom for 2 - 4 years. I run out of space due the the number of plants I have so I am constantly moving roots or pots or baskets to avoid the issue. My suggestion would be keep an eye out on a regular basis and slightly move things a tiny bit to avoid the problem. Let me know what you do. TomK
ReplyDeleteHello and many thanks for a really informative website. I have a Crestwood that is outgrowing the pot I got it in. It is currently in a 6" (15cm) diameter plastic pot, but the roots are pushing it up now and some even seem to be bending, which does not seem like a good sign to me. I am really desperate not to mess with the roots, given the sensitivity of these Angraceums to that, as you mention several times. So I was wondering what you would recommend for repotting. Given that the current pot is just plastic, so I should be able to cut that away without any difficulty. But I was wondering how large I should go pot-wise, and if I should line it with lava rock, as you mention above, and then fill in around the rootball with more lava once I have it in the new pot. Would that make sense, or would you advise another approach? It is very happily producing new leaves and appears to be a healthy specimen. But I am very keen to get it to flower, and was wondering if I should hold off for flowering season first, before trying to repot. (I am in the southern hemisphere and the grower I got it from said I should expect it to go into flowering mode in about November. No sign of any spikes yet...)
ReplyDeleteGood day to you. Crestwood can be greatly effected if you disturb the root system, glad to see you're thinking about that. I would suggest eliminating the plastic pot by cutting it away. If material falls off the roots, good! DO NOT try to clean them by picking material off. I would get a 10 clay pot that has numerous holes around the entire pot, place the plant in the middle of the pot and back fill the pot with lava rock or a mixture of charcoal, perlite, hydroton and a small amount of fine cut moss for holding moisture. The holes in the pot help with drainage, air for the roots to breath and ample room for the roots to grow. Where in the southern hemisphere are you? Just curious! Good luck, take a few photos of progress and let me know how things go.
DeleteTomK
I meant to say 10 inch (25cm)... Good luck!
DeleteHi Tom and many thanks for your kind help. I tried to reply to your post while I was travelling, but my mobile phone would not cooperate, so I apologise for the very delayed response. I will try your recommendation, but I have not been able to find ready-made clay pots with holes in them (here in South Africa) except for really large strawberry planters. So I may have to make one myself. That could prove to be a weekend project, rather than just a bit of time pottering around of an evening. I have also found on my return from travels that the Crestwood seems to be putting out a keiki now. I guess that means that my hopes of a flower this season are doomed. Or should I be more optimistic? Anyway, many thanks again for your kind help. I must say I really like the grand scale of this plant. I am more used to growing smaller aerangis specimens of various types. So this plant really looks spectacular among those...
ReplyDeleteSo it has all gone horribly wrong and I have lost the plant. I put it in a pot backfilled with lava stones, perlite, medium bark and hydroton. I neglected to put in any moss and once I had done the repotting I perhaps should have taken it all out and redone it with some of that. But the leaves started turning yellow and dying from the bottom up, as you mentioned in your post about death by dehydration. Even the keiki just pulled away from the stem, so I thought perhaps there was rot. There was no break in the stem, and the roots had not looked bad when I transplanted. But the leaf die-off was really rapid and in just a few days the plant was beyond saving. I am a bit confused as to what may have caused all the trouble. I should have had some moss in the new medium, to keep the moisture up. But the actual root ball from the original pot was very damp. I avoided taking off too much of the old moss (which I discovered was the predominant medium in the old pot) when I transplanted. But there was a day when I was away and the plant in the new pot rested in a bucket of water for too long -- probably the better part of a day. I guess that likely caused some damage and would explain why the keiki suffered. (It was very low on the stem). But I am still not sure what killed the thing. It may have been dehydration over a few weeks, if I was not keeping the new medium damp enough. This is what I suspect and I will be sure to include moss in the next mixture. I am kicking myself for this oversight. But my frantic efforts to rehydrate it did not seem to have any impact, I guess too late. When I was doing the post-mortem, I found there were several small, golden, egg-like balls in a cluster in the old medium. They were about the size of perlite, but very round and regular. I don't know if these could be snail eggs or something else. They had liquid inside them, but no identifiable creatures. So I am at a bit of a loss. Anyway, I will have to get started on a new Crestwood. Luckily the original supplier has one for me, but I think I will likely give it a thorough inspection and repot on arrival. I know they had having their roots disturbed, but the disappointment of killing my spectacular specimen has made me very wary. Anyway, thanks again for your kind advice.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you lost your plant.
DeleteRe: clay pots with holes....My husband bought a hole-boring bit for his drill. I'm sure they come in different diameters, and we probably used one for 1/2" holes. The orchids love having the extra air circulation. We use red lava rock for just about every potted orchid we grow.
Hi Lori and thanks for the advice. How often do you water yours? Do you check it for moisture first, or just maintain a regular regime?
DeleteI travel quite a bit and it can be somewhat hazardous getting anyone reliable to water correctly while I am away.
The kids are inclined to overwater; my wife is inclined to forget! And if we are all away at the same time, it gets very tricky.
Anyway, I will try to find a similar drill bit to the one you recommend and do the same to my pots when I get in the new Crestwood. (I always like a good reason to buy more hardware.)
And as Tom said in his "Death by Dehydration" post: "Understanding how plants eventually die will make us better growers."
Here's hoping.
Thanks again for your recommendation.
Burton and Lori, I find it amazing that people ca help one another as the two of you have done right here. If either of you get the opportunity to purchase the pots with the holes already in them, you'll find everything go much smoother. Air circulation for the plant is important; but for the roots is that much more important. I had to photograph the awarded plants today at the Ft Lauderdale Orchid show and saw more Angraecums in exhibit than ever before. Six of the 22 exhibits had various Angraecums (mostly Angcm. Crestwood); Others included Angcm. eburneum, Angcm. sesquipedale, Angcm. Veitchii, Angcm. leonis, Angcm. superbum and (DRUM ROLL Please) Angcm. Crestwood (mutation with three spurs)! I did speak to six of the judges regarding the mutation, five of them said they would review whether it should be judged while one did say NO! Problem with the flower, with three spurs, it doesn't seem to open properly and last but not least, it should be called by a different grex (not Crestwood). I am writing a new article regarding the plants at today's show. Today's GRAND Champion for a hobbyist, "Angcm. Crestwood", received a CCM/AOS. More on this last this month, with photos.
DeleteTom!
DeleteI am devouring your blog today!! Where do I find your follow-up information on the peloric / three spurred Angcm. Crestwood? I have one of these and brought it to my local orchid society meeting to show around (I did not have it long enough to put on the show table). Several members got into a debate about whether or not is was judge-able (they are also AOS judges).
I am currently working on a detailed post regarding the mutated Angcm. Crestwood. Should be ready by the 2nd week in August!
DeleteI love your blog, im from El Salvador
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this blog!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy to find this blog. I had a large Crestwood for about 15 yrs. Grew it in NY and then we moved to S. Florida where it flourished. Had multiple large keikis over the years which also flowered. Looked like a shrub. I entered it in shows in the area and won many blue ribbons and trophies. However, it went downhill very fast due to a fungal infection. Not sure what but it did respond to Thiomyl but I didn't treat it enough and it died. I've been heartbroken. Could you please recommend a good nursery to order another one? I really want to give it another try and be more vigilant with its care. Thank you, Jane
ReplyDelete