Pecteilis sagarikii is also known as the "Duck Orchid" or "Donald Duck Orchid" because of the predominantly white flower with a bright yellow lip reminiscent of a duck's bill.

Culture: 2000 to 3000 fc of light, temps 50F to 90F, humidity 50% to 90%. Kept moist spring, summer, and fall, and much drier during the winter. Routine light feeding with a balanced fertilizer.

The plant requires a fast-draining, moisture-retentive potting media. I am using small coconut husk chips mixed with perlite and the plant is potted in a four-inch plastic pot. Other growers use a seedling fir bark mix or even New Zealand sphagnum moss with styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot.

During the spring, summer and fall this orchid likes to be kept moist and receive routine light feeding with a balanced fertilizer. During the winter (January) the plant will eventually go dormant. As soon as you see the leaves start to yellow, pull way back on the amount of watering and stop fertilizing. The plant will soon die back to a fat little tuber about an inch or two under the surface of the potting medium.

You can repot the tuber as soon as the plant is fully dormant. As you un-pot the tuber, try to remember its position in the pot and which side was up. The tuber should be horizontal. Try to repot the tuber the same way it was, but if you don't get it quite right it won't do any harm.

While the plant is dormant water it only a small amount, not enough to actually saturate the potting media, and only about every three or so weeks. The plant will remain dormant for one to three months. I killed my first plant of this species by keeping it completely "bone dry" during dormancy.

When the orchid breaks dormancy you will notice a small green tube rising above the surface of the potting medium. You may start watering carefully at this time, trying not to get water down inside the tube. The tube will quickly become a pair or rosette of leaves. At this time start keeping the plant moist at all times and begin to fertilize.

The above photographs were taken on July 20, 2003. Usual flowering that I have observed occurs in September thru November.