Sign in Start free
Species library › Maxillaria › Maxillaria elatior
Orchids Partly documented

Maxillaria elatior

A robust Maxillaria that ranges widely from southern Mexico to Costa Rica, mostly in humid foothill forest around 500 to 1300 m. Its sites are warm, with a marked dry season from February to April. Grow it warm-intermediate in bright filtered light, with a drier, slightly cooler winter.

At home, aim for
Day IntermediateTargets 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

It grows as an epiphyte in humid lowland to lower montane forest on the Atlantic and Gulf slopes, from Veracruz and Chiapas south to Costa Rica. Its sites are seasonally dry in spring.

Recorded at 80 to 2225 m, with a median of about 810 m.

MexicoBelizeGuatemalaHondurasNicaraguaCosta Rica

🔒 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

Grow Maxillaria elatior? Add it to a free garden and its full profile opens. Pro opens all 38,374 profiles in the library, plants and fungi.

Start free Sign in

More Maxillaria

Maxillaria aureoglobula Maxillaria speciosa Maxillaria crassifolia Maxillaria donaldeedodii Maxillaria parviflora Maxillaria obtusa Maxillaria tenuifolia Maxillaria picta Maxillaria densa Maxillaria egertoniana Maxillaria humilis Maxillaria schunkeana All 668 →

Profiles are drafts built from measured range and climate and from published sources; each section carries its own confidence in the app.