Psygmorchis pusilla is a miniature orchid. It is also known as Erycina pusilla. It is about 2.5 to 3.5 cm tall. Erycina pusilla is a beautiful plant with lance head-like foliage that is arranged in a fan.
Erycina pusilla thrives well indoors. It can be kept in tiny pots. The plant will be a great addition to your living room.
Learning to care for your Erycina pusilla is crucial if you want your plant to grow and be healthy. You’ll learn everything related to Psygmorchis pusilla care in this article. Keep reading!
Watering
Water is the lifeline of a plant. You need to make sure you’re watering your plant just enough. Do not overwater or underwater the plant.
These plants should be watered frequently during the active phase. Do make sure that there is good drainage. Never allow the plant to become waterlogged.
When the plant is done with growing actively, i.e., in the late autumn, you should reduce the water you give the plant.
I spray my plant with water using reverse osmosis every two days. In summer I spray the plant once or twice a day.
Light
As Psygmorchis pusilla is an indoor plant, you may need to manage the light to suit the plant’s needs. You can achieve this by setting up artificial lighting.
Psygmorchis pusilla thrives under 20000-30000 lux lighting. Keep this light 12-15 inches away from the plant. Ensure there is strong air movement around the plant.
Never expose the plant to direct sun in the afternoon hours, the light should be filtered and dispersed.
Feeding
If you want a healthy mini orchid, you need to feed it well. Give the plant 1/4th to 1/2 of the recommended dose of orchid feed in the active growth phase once every week.
I mix 1/4th of a gram of NPK 20-20-20 fertilizer in a liter of water. I dip the plant in this mixture for a couple of hours, once every week.
This procedure is enough to keep the plant healthy. You may want to use a fertilizer that is richer in Nitrogen from spring to mid-summer.
Temperature
Temperature is an important factor in the life of Erycina pusilla. You have to maintain optimal temperature if you wanna see your plant thrive.
In summers, you’d want to maintain a day temperature of 30-31 ° C. At nights the plant can tolerate a temperature of 21-22 ° C.
In winter, you’d want to maintain a temperature of 20-24 ° C. At nights the plant can take temperatures of 15-16 ° C.
Orchidarium comes in handy when you want to maintain optimal temperature.
Humidity
Humidity is a very important factor in the life of a Psygmorchis pusilla plant. To maintain humidity properly one can keep the plant in an orchidarium.
For the most part of the year, they thrive well in 75-80% humid conditions. In winter and early spring, you need to maintain 65-70% humidity in the orchidarium.
Misting the orchids will give good results. You can turn on the humidifier if the humidity fell too low.
Growing medium
Psygmorchis pusilla is an epiphyte, i.e., it grows on branches in nature. You want to mimic such conditions when growing these mini orchids.
They do not like waterlogged conditions. Ideally, you should plant these mini orchids on small pieces of bark or cork.
When you grow the plant in such conditions, you need to make sure the humidity is adequate. You may need to water the plant once a day.
If the weather is warmer, water the plant twice a day. You may need to fog/mist your Psygmorchis pusilla when needed.
On normal days you may fog the plant once a day. If the days are hotter, mist the plant several times a day. Do not mist the plant in the afternoons.
Pots?
Psygmorchis pusilla can be grown in pots under certain conditions. You need to make sure that the potting mix is super drainable.
The substrate should be coarse and should allow the water to drain quickly after watering. You wouldn’t want your mini orchid in waterlogged conditions.
Do not let the soil/potting mix decompose. Decomposed soil doesn’t drain water well. Replace the potting mix once it starts to decompose.
The best time to do this is when the plant starts growing roots. Doing this will help the plant to acclimate to the conditions you created.
Dormant period
The plant likes to rest in the winter. You need to acknowledge this and plan accordingly.
Reduce watering in this period. If you decrease the amount of water you give the plant, you may also need to stop feeding the plant.
Psygmorchis pusilla propagation
Psygmorchis pusilla has a short lifespan both in nature and when grown indoors. It is easy to propagate this plant though.
You can propagate this mini orchid using tree fern on pads of sphagnum.