Species library › Bulbophyllum › Bulbophyllum sterile
Orchids Partly documented

Bulbophyllum sterile

A small pseudobulbous epiphyte with yellow flowers from the monsoon forests of peninsular India to Nepal and Myanmar. The measured sites in the Western Ghats show hot days all year, a wet monsoon from June to October and a nearly rainless December–March. Grow it warm and bright, very wet in summer and on the dry side in winter.

Bulbophyllum sterile
Photo: Walter Hood Fitch (1817-1892) del. et lith. Description by William Jackson Hooker (1785—1865), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
At home, aim for
Day Warm-growingTargets in Plantistry
Night Close to the dayTargets in Plantistry
Humidity Ordinary room humidityBand in Plantistry
Light Bright, filtered lightDLI and PPFD in Plantistry
Expects a seasonal restGrows on trees (epiphyte)

Where it grows wild

Twig and branch epiphyte in moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forest of the Western Ghats; the details here come from the measured climate and the genus rather than a field study.

Recorded sites run from near sea level to about 850 m.

IndiaNepalEast HimalayaBangladeshMyanmar

🔒 Growing it like that

The wild conditions above, turned into targets for a shelf, a tent or a greenhouse. The full profile has:

✓ Day and night temperature targets, and the limits it tolerates
✓ Humidity band, and how to hold it
✓ Light as DLI and PPFD for a grow light
✓ Wet and dry seasons, and whether to rest it
✓ Substrate and airflow
✓ A step-by-step setup to grow it like the wild

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Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under its Public domain licence, unmodified.