Care advice
We strongly advise against using potting soil for the Macodes Petola. For a macodes, peat or coconut fiber is much better, especially due to the sensitivity to moisture. We wrap the small plants in Sphagnum. These are airy materials. It is also important to let the plants dry up before water is given again. The substrate should never be completely dry! Osmosis water is best for these plants, this is highly purified water.
Characteristic leaves
The Macodes Petola can of course be recognized by the unique golden sparkle on the veins of the leaves. You can see this shimmer when the sun is shining.
Myth from Java
There is an old Javanese legend about this plant. A beloved goddess descended from heaven and went among the people. She wanted to bring the people on earth joy. She was divinely beautiful and veiled in a shiny silk cloth, weaving with gold thread. The people laughed at her and drove her to the forest. In this flight her beautiful cloth and pieces of it kept hanging on branches and fell on rocks. The people who drive her back saw who she was and begged for forgiveness. The goddess did not admit this, turned her canvas and returned to heaven. The pieces of her veil were spread throughout the forest and these turned into plants with the golden glow of silk and grain of heavenly gold threads. These plants with leaves are still full of gold and silver in the jungle of Indonesia; to find. These are considered as gifts from heaven.
Origin
Macodes Petola comes from Java, Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, the Philippines and the southern islands of Ryukyu. On Java this orchid grows on the entire island in swampy forests, where the dry season is not very long. Usually they are rather shady places at heights of 300-1400 meters. In Malaysia it is found in various places in lowland forests and at a moderate height in the hills north of Pinang.
In Sumatra, the plant is found at numerous locations from the north to the south of the island, and on nearby islands, at heights up to 1600 m. In Borneo, it is found in Kalimantan and Sabah, where the motivated rocks, in forests, on heights of 100-1500 m are growing, and he was also recently found in Sarawak in the Serian district, just south of Kuching, at an altitude of 600 m. In the Philippines the plant is found at an altitude of approximately 300 m on The island of Luzon in the provinces of Laguna and Quezon and on the island of Mindanao in the province of Agusan.
It is an evergreen, small format planting that grows in the earth. The Macodes Petola has a fleshy crawling rhizome that disappears in a loose wreath of leaves. The oval leaves become up to 12 cm long and 7 cm wide. The dark green leaves have many golden, network veins.
Flowering
The plant blooms in the fall. The upright, up to 20 cm high, flower stem carries approximately 15 small flowers. The flowers are approximately one centimeter in size. They are red -brown with a white lip.
Care
Temperature
It is a thermophilic plant so it loves heat. Throughout the year, the average temperature is 21.5-29 degrees Celsius and the average night temperature 16.5-19 degrees Celsius. The plants may not be exposed to direct sunlight. A constantly strong movement of the air is desirable.
Watering
The plants must be watered abundantly, especially during active growth. The substrate should never dry up completely.
Humidity
The Macodes Petola needs the humidity of 70-90% most of the year, and for 3 summer months it falls below 85%.
Drainage
The plant needs a substrate that drains water as well as possible. We recommend sphagnum, they are also in us.
Power supply
During active growth, the plants must be fertilized every week with some fertilizer for orchids. You can use balanced fertilizer all year round, but they in particular need calcium and that is why we recommend the flowering mimulating fertilizer.
Resting period
Giving water in the winter can be slightly reduced, especially on dark pitches. However, never let it dry completely. If the amount of water decreases, the fertilization must also be reduced.
