{"id":15699,"date":"2013-06-14T13:52:04","date_gmt":"2013-06-14T21:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=15699"},"modified":"2013-07-14T14:52:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-14T22:52:43","slug":"thunia-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/14\/thunia-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunia"},"content":{"rendered":"

With their incredible diversity, orchids take many forms. These Thunia flowers may resemble Cattleyas<\/a>, but this large Thunia plant looks more like a cornstalk than an orchid<\/a>. Possibly the fastest growing orchid, new Thunia stalks grow 3 feet (0.9 m) or more during spring. This fascinating species has lived in a west-facing room of our apartment for 8 years. It puts on its big annual display in June, and Dave took some great shots.<\/p>\n

\"Thunia<\/a>\"Thunia<\/a>\"Thunia<\/a><\/p>\n

These 5 inch (13 cm) blooms hang in clusters, pulling down the tops of their tall stalks, also called canes. Flowers emerge over the course of a month. New buds develop inside rounded bracts which come to a point, like crystals\u00a0dangling on a chandelier. The fascinating flower lips have yellow whiskers and frilly edges.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/a>\"Side<\/a>\"Thunia<\/a><\/p>\n

This terrestrial<\/a> is native to the Himalayas and Southeast Asia, where it grows along streams or in rocky areas as high as 7550 ft. (2300 m.) Each winter, Thunias drop their leaves and go dormant<\/a>. In spring, new canes emerge from the bases of old ones. New growth needs full sun<\/a>. Keep humidity<\/a> high, but only water<\/a> lightly. Too much water can rot young growth. Plants should be moved into shade<\/a> when they’ve reached 6 inches (15 cm) tall. By late spring, Thunias need regular water and fertilizer<\/a>. When leaves yellow and drop in autumn, reduce water and fertilizer to a minimum. I keep this specimen cool and dry in winter, watering as seldom as once a month to keep the stalks from shriveling.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/a>\"Thunia<\/a>\"Thunia<\/a><\/p>\n

Incredibly, this tall plant grows in a small 6 inch (15 cm) pot. I repot<\/a> it every other winter into new, rich potting soil. To keep it stable, I tie the canes to the shelving unit where it lives. Despite its large size and care demands, it’s worth it to enjoy these gorgeous flowers hanging from a cornstalk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With their incredible diversity, orchids take many forms. These Thunia flowers may resemble Cattleyas, but this large Thunia plant looks more like a cornstalk than an orchid. Possibly the fastest growing orchid, new Thunia stalks grow 3 feet (0.9 m) or more during spring. This fascinating species has lived in a west-facing room of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,5,12,3,18,6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dormancy","category-fertilizing","category-fragrant-orchids","category-growing","category-intermediate-growers","category-photos","category-watering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15699"}],"version-history":[{"count":74,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15699\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16045,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15699\/revisions\/16045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}