Diuris jonesii - Blooming size tuber - Bare root

Diuris jonesii is a beautiful species of "donkey orchid" with red/orange-yellow and purple flowers. They are relatively easy to care for and benefit from more water than other Australian terrestrials. However, their tubers are FRAGILE! They are thin and easy to break, so please be careful when handling them!

Most Australian terrestrial orchids are SUMMER DORMANT - yes, summer, not winter. This makes their need for slightly cooler temps (<75 F) while growing much easier to maintain (we grow them in the same location that we grow our Habenaria during the spring and summer). They like bright light and can have dark and/or yellowing on their leaves as a result (look up in situ pictures - those leaves do not look so happy, but, wow, do they flower well!). We water 2-3 times a week to keep the medium slightly damp during the growing season.

These can be a little challenging to grow, but that is almost entirely because of the medium. They grow best in an extremely well-draining, mostly-inorganic medium that has some sort of healthy fungal and/or bacterial microenvironment to help aid the plant's growth since they have a very unimpressive root system.

At RustyExotics, we have a special medium containing inorganic components and composted, inoculated organic components to provide the microbial load these plants need. This medium works very well for many of our Australian Terrestrials, so we offer our medium for sale in our store to help grow these beautifully.

Photo captured by Brett and Sue Coulstock and modified for use by RustyExotics Orchids, Inc.