Marni Turkel photo of her Holcoglossum kimballianum '5863'

Holcoglossum kimballianum (vanda family) is a nice sized species from the Southeast Asian countries of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and is also native to Southern China. It is a fall and winter bloomer and can be found growing on rocks or as an epiphyte growing on trees at elevations of 3500 to 4000 feet. The 2-inch flowers are larger than I expected and considerably larger than my holcoglossum wangii - also a good bloomer. The large purple/magenta lip with orange markings is quite striking against the white petals. Leaves on this plant are terete (cylindrical) and the inflorescence can be quite long - up to 18 inches. Some sources (not all) describe the flowers as "very fragrant". I gave mine a sniff but don't notice even a slight fragrance - even at night.

The photo above shows the first bloom for my Holcoglossum kimballianum since I purchased it from Gold Country Orchids in May of 2024. Holcoglossum roots need to dry out, so I mounted mine but was concerned that some of the fat, rangy roots didn't want to bend to the mount. They project out and dangle happily, much like most vanda types. This plant has been a steady grower and surprised me by putting out such a nice flower spike and large blooms in its first showing. It also adapted quickly to a medium light position in the greenhouse, growing near a lightly shaded glass window with filtered sunlight passing through other plants nearby.

Culture Tips for Holcoglossum kimballianum:

• Best mounted or in a basket with loose mix similar to vanda.
• Bright indirect light.
• Water frequently in hot weather.
• Rather temperature tolerant with low of 40 F and high of 95 F.
• Fertilize like other orchids weekly weakly. I spray or soak weakly weekly using a MSU rain-water formula. I add a kelp and pro-biotic solution once per month.

I'd classify my Holcoglossum kimballianum as an "easy grower" and a good one to try if you can house a mounted orchid in your growing area. You would want this plant to hang high enough so that the flowers and rangy roots don't drag on the bench.