Paphiopedilum buds

[tom499]

i have a Paphiopedilum thats had a bud start to grow on a spike around 20cm long max. The bud has stopped growing for a week, although another has started to grow underneath. The plant itself is pretty small, i hope to get a picture up. i just wondered if all the buds will grow, then all open at once, or they open one at a time, or if theres something that is needed to trigger their opening. I have it kept on a shaded window, and have been extra careful not to over water, is there anything else i could do to speed up blooming, i love paph flowers, and cant wait to see it open

[kmarch]

Dear Tom,

I love Paphs too and currently have about 500. My experience is that Paphs bloom when and how they want to. i've had a lot fo Paphs for about 5 years now and I can rarely predict exactly when they will bloom. Even just now i have a Paph Conco-bellatulum in bud. It was so slow and so tiny for weeks and weeks. i was beginning to wonder if it was going to stall or blast. Then it took off growing rather quickly. The stem has thickened and the bud itself is beginning to peek out. I first noticed it was starting to bud just in mid-January and hear it is almost 2 months later. I'd guess that 2/3 of it's progress has been made in the last 3 or so weeks.

i don't think you want to do anything to try to speed up the blooming. the plant is blooming because it likes what you have been giving it so why risk changing that? You want the buds to fully form and the plant to bloom when it is good and ready so the flowers will be at their best. And, if you're impatient like me, it's just too bad. the blooms will come when they come. They will be worth it though!

What kind is it?

-Kevin

[fred]

Tom
you are doing the right thing but there is no need to force the plant to flower.
Dare I say it will flower soon enough for you.
Its good to hear that you are excited with the flower buds ( why not )
I hope that we can see some pics.
good luck

[tom499]

thanks, i guess i just gotta wait least i think its a paph, it says phal on the label, but phals dont have mottled leaves do they? also, the stem is kinda furry, which aint like my phal..silly garden centres, i need to find a proper nursey

[kmarch]

Tom,

You are correct Phals don't have mottled leaves (althogh i have seen many with verigated leaves) and they do not have fuzzy stems. Are your stems dark or purplish?

-K

[tom499]

The stem is dark and soft, with very small hairs on it, giving it a furry affect.

[kmarch]

It is probably a dark vini-color Maudiae type, one of my favorite kinds of Paphs. If oyu get a chance, post some pictures of the buds and flowers for us. The buds on these types are as beautiful as the flowers in my opinion.

Cheeers

[pikevi]

Hi,

Of the three Paphs I have two viz., Paph. liemianum and Paph. makuli, have variegated leaves.

Is that to be expected?

Thanks

[kmarch]

As the title of this thread is Paphiopedilum buds, I thought I'd post a couple of pics of one of my Paphs currently in bud. It is Conco-bellatulum (concolor x bellatulum). The tag says it was made with alba parents, but the stem and bud is very finely speckled with maroon (you cansee it in the pics) so I am thinking it is unlikely the flower will come out alba. The first pic was taken about 3 weeks ago, the second one about 3 days ago. I've got about 3-4 others coming in bud. i'll post some more pics as they develop.

[kmarch]

Dear pikevi,

Oh no, here come the orchid nomenclature police!!!! Paph Makuli should have a capital M because it is a hybrid (between Maudiae and sukhakulii).

Ok, now that the nomenclature police have been and gone, Paph Makuli will have beautiful mottled leaves. This guy should be an easy grower, I have several of these types and they seem to grow fast (for Paphs) and easy.

Paph liemianum has markings on the leaves also, all of mine are quite subtly marked. I typically dont' think if P. lemianum as a mottled leaf Paph though.

This is probably going to sound odd, but I love Paph leaves. It's one of the reasons I grow so many is because of all the colour, patterns, shapes, and variety in the leaves. In my opinion, some of these rival the beauty found in Jewel Orchid leaves. Maybe I should do a post on beautiful leaves.

Cheers!

[pikevi]

Hello Kevin,

Thanks for the correction. The sticker on the plant was hand-written and I copied it like a parrot. But I think it was written in cap- M, but since it was small lettering I mistook it for lc-M.

Please keep correcting us, especially the newbies, so that we will have a solid foundation in following the proper naming protocol. As you can see even a breeder made a mistake in spelling( in the the photo).

The baby on the left shows markings but the one on the right does not. BTW, the leaves seem different too. The one on the left conforms to the normal Paph. liemianum( as seen on photos elsewhere) but the ones on the right are quite long and narrow.

I am not sure if it is proper to post pictures of interest here, but I am also attaching two photos of paphs I shot at the show. I hope someone will tell me if it is OK or not.

I like leaves too( I am a strong environmentalist) and I do have bleeding hearts (Dicentra?) and Colocasias , for leaves only.

Thanks for all the help

[jerrymeola]

pikevi

do not be bothered about the naming nomenclature. 25% of the items I get from commercial nurseries use small and large letters indiscriminately.

Go ahead and post photos of interest but add what it was that interested you about it. It will make a good discussion.

[tom499]

back to the subject ..... my bud is opening as slowly as...something very slow i know i can only wait, but its frustrating hehe, possibly one of the weirdest and coolest flower types i've ever seen, and mine wont open fast enough

[pikevi]

Thank you jerrymeola.

The reason I asked is to make sure that I am allowed to post photos of flowers that are not mine .

It makes sense to mention the reason for the interest. Will do so in the future.

The names are very confusing to me now, especially with the hybrids. I hope I will have a grasp of hybridization(s) and the resulting nomenclature, very soon.

tom499: If you had waited this long for the spiking why not a few more days for it to flower ? .

I only had just 3 Phals flowering under my care, they are stiill there, and I was watching them everyday, mornings and evenings.

Good Luck

[kmarch]

tom499, The buds never open fast enough for me either, I just have to keep telling myself I have to let them do their thing. It especially tries my patience (what little I can claim) when a show is coming up and I want to put the plant in a show. Eventhough the buds take a long time to open they reward us with long lasting blooms.

pikevi, Thanks for posting your pictures. I don't think there's a problem with posting pics you take. As jerry mentioned tell us what they are and where you took them to generate discussion. I think we'd only step into questionable territory if we posted copyrighted images form other sources.

I do agree with Jerry that we shouldn't expend any energy worrying about mistakes on a tag, but I do believe it is important for both nurseries and us to be as accurate as possible when it comes to tagging plants and to correct mistakes when we encounter them.

Hey tom, any chance for some pics of your Paph buds?

[dennis]

The reason I asked is to make sure that I am allowed to post photos of flowers that are not mine .

sometimes this can be a sticky situation. if you know who the plants belong to then you should give them credit following the pic or comment or you can try to contact them to get permission to use it for reference purpose. all the recent articles i have posted are posted freely all over the net that is why i used them. there are some really good articles out there that i did not copy because the authors had ask that they are free to use as often as you want but please do not repost them. i would at least for now give the rightful owner credit for the plant if possible. if they are mine post away

[pikevi]

Thank you for all the info/advice.

I love flowers and I capture them wherever possible. There were so many vendors at the show that I could not keep matching the photo to the vendor. Wherever possible I try to get the name of the vendor(s) in the photo as well but somehow a sign or a banner diminishes the aesthetic value of the flowers. Hence I gave credit to the OSRBG (Orchid Society - Royal Botanical Gardens).

I will keep all the advice in mind for the next post.

Next ones may be my OWN . ( Oh Boy! Am I conceited or what? )

I think I am hopelessly hopeful!