Christmas Bloom just in time!

[j0ker918]

Merry Christmas everyone! My FDK Black Pearl finally bloomed its first flowers. One of the sprays had a change in lighting position so the flowers are a bit random, but now I learned my lesson. Enjoy!

[Rema]

wow! I'm speechless!

[plantloverlisa]

That is beautiful! Great job you did there.

[mothorchid]

Everyday I see something new here!! The color is so intense! My, my want list is getting longer and longer!

[tangers40]

very nice! i can't wait till mine blooms!

[Toady]

Wow, that is beautiful!! Such a dark colour but also so shiny

[kaymarie]

I'm jealous - I love it. Good growing.

[jpyerry]

Congratulations, very beautiful flowers!

Justin

[Ron]

amazing colour, never seen an orchid so black looking without any other combination of colours.
Congratulations

[orchidea]

Super!!!!
Thanks for posting, because my 'Black Pearls' didn't spike........I have no idea what I did wrong, as they are blooming size plants....
But my FDK SVO's are still "cooking". Looking at yours, I would say maybe another week or two till they bloom....

[orchids4me]

That's gorgeous!!!
Congrats on the first blooming!! Just wow!!
Good growing!!

[Emma Grey]

Wow, that is very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[1joyceh]

WOW!!! I LOVE the blooms...outstanding!!
Great job j0ker

[j0ker918]

Thanks everyone!

Orchidea - Please please post. The SVOs look stunning too. I know it's terrible, but I am hoping to get one once some space opens up (i.e. something dies).

[beezermommy]

Color is unbelievable. So dark...good job growing.

[Reg22]

Wow, that's amazing.

[Fishmom]

What a thrill--to be able to see that on your shelf! Great job!

[orchidea]

Originally Posted by j0ker918

Thanks everyone!

Orchidea - Please please post. The SVOs look stunning too. I know it's terrible, but I am hoping to get one once some space opens up (i.e. something dies).

OK I will, but only if you tell me what you did with yours........for it to bloom so nicely.....
When did you stop watering?....or you are watering still?
I think I stop too early, and it was my problem.....but why SVO's are spiking?......

[j0ker918]

Well I got this plant in October. It came with two little nubbins at the base so I guess I was lucky just in the one Fred picked out for me. Also, I assume this one is a bit older since it has 6 bulbs on it, 4 of which are now pretty darn small about less than an inch tall each. At that time it still had all the leaves but some tips were starting to yellow. I left it in as high light as possible which is not that high given I live in Albany NY and it's cloudy and cold in the wintertime. The leaves on the bulb with the stalks yellowed within two weeks. I cut them and sealed the leaf bases with cinnamon. The other smaller bulb still has one leaf left as you can see. My watering was about once every 5 days or so as the leaves were yellowing. I would wait until the moss top was nearly dry before watering and I wouldn't soak the plant but I would give it a nice drench in the sink until the water ran through the bottom. The Stalks were growing by crazy. By early December when all the leaves but that one tiny one were gone. I extended it to maybe 7 days, when the moss was definitely completely dry, and just a quick burst of water on top and let the water trickle down to the bottom, just enough to wet the top. I last watered this past Saturday. My last watering will be Dec31st, then I'm done and I'm going to let it go into dormancy. I never used any fertilizer given that the plant's leaves were falling and Fred told me not to.

I compare this to my Ctsm. Pileatum which still has all its leaves which are mostly all green and when i water it, some roots turn transparent and green whereas the Black Pearl roots stayed hard and white which made me back off earlier on the Black Pearl. I figure the roots were essentially dead/dormant so i didn't want to overwater and cause rot. I still water my Pileatum once every 3-5 days or so, although I am going to stop that on January 1st also and force dormancy.

The stalks kind of just did their own thing. I didn't stake them until I was taking photos so they would arch nicer. One stalk's flowers did have sporadic directions because I was trying to optimize the light that the remaining leaves were getting and forgot that it would mess up with the buds direction. Since mine has 6 bulbs on it, I will try breaking it down into 3 separate plants this spring. Let's hope it works

[jpyerry]

Originally Posted by j0ker918

I left it in as high light as possible which is not that high given I live in Albany NY and it's cloudy and cold in the wintertime.

... and the Fall and the Spring. Sorry I couldn't help myself.

Justin

[uvgotdenise]

WOW! I think that "Black Pearl" Is BEAUTIFUL! Never seen one before! I am just a newbe but sure do enjoy this site! Beautiful Orchids! I love them all!

[-k-]

They're beautiful blooms!!! Can you post some more pics of the blooms fully open per chance?

[JudyC]

Holy cow what a drop dead gorgeous plant!

[RebelCowgirl]

Wow wow wow

[j0ker918]

Originally Posted by jpyerry

... and the Fall and the Spring. Sorry I couldn't help myself.

Justin

Yes it is pretty cloudy. I am supplementing with CFL light bulbs on clip lamps. I have pictures of the setup in some other post.


I will post pictures probably tomorrow once I take some more. My new phal schilleriana var purpurea is coming tomorrow too, so I might as well take photos then .

[j0ker918]

By request I added some more photos. Seems like this is as open as the Black Pearl blooms get which is is no problem with me. I think I will designate this the "husband chair" position if it hasn't been described yet

I also got my phal schilleriana var purpurea in the mail today. So I attached a picture of that . It's so tiny but I hope it will become a smelly monster one day.

[j0ker918]

Update: So I was assuming that these flowers did not have any smell to them. At least in the first week, I wasn't able to detect any odor from them. Today I can definitely smell a peppery/licorice scent up close. Smells like propolis extract, if anyone has smelled that before. Not that pleasant, or at least its not my taste. Good thing it isn't filling up the room.

[zaeem]

Thanks.Great Black pearls!