Masdevallia tovarensisAfter the harrowing near death experience with Madame La Guillotine recently, the spirited tovarensis has made a strong comeback and is displaying the most perfect set of flowers finally! The delicate shades of white and the pronounced structure of the flowers looks a bit like a corset made with the finest silk –  it would of course have to be Venezuelan silk then…

M. tovarensis was registered  by Rchb.f. in 1849 and it usually blooms in the fall or winter. Each inflorescence usually hold 2 to 4 flowers simultaneously and the inflorescence can bloom again so it should not be cut. I just love this species. It is really hard to believe that I  found my two plants on the floor (ready to be tossed since there were no flowers left) at a flower shop in central station in Gothenburg nearly two years ago.

I grow mine on the windowsill in sphagnum moss under additional lighting, about the same intensity as I use for my Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum. Since I grow indoors it is a bit difficult for me to bring the temperatures down too much, but since all my orchids share the same room it is probably a good thing since not all of them are cool growing. The main thing you need to do in order to keep the cooler growers, like the Masdevallia happy is to provide a significant temperature drop at night along with some good air circulation – especially when it is hot. I can provide about 10 degrees C  cooler nights in my orchid room the cooler half of the year (down to about 15 C), and it seems to be enough.