My new Baby

[elitebettas]

Spathoglottis 'Grapette' aka Grapette Ground Orchid. Purple flowers with yellow lip that smells just like grape juice-lovely little plant whose flowers remind me of a very tiny cymbidium flower. Anyone have one?

[Vivienne]

Hi elite - I have one of these. One of my earlier acquisitions purchased in January of this year. It STILL has one infloresence still in bloom and now has 5 new growths! How big is your plant? Mine is in a gallon container and spans a good 3'. Love it!

Where are you located?

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by elitebettas

Spathoglottis 'Grapette' aka Grapette Ground Orchid. Purple flowers with yellow lip that smells just like grape juice-lovely little plant whose flowers remind me of a very tiny cymbidium flower. Anyone have one?

elitebettas,

I grew this and bloomed it for quite a long time before i got infested with scale and I lost it. Theyseem to be very easy vigorous growers. In the southern states they can be grown outdoors as garden plants/decorative ornamentals.

There's a part of your plant name that is missing. The missing part is the species name: unguiculata. The full name should read: Spathoglottis unguiculata 'Grapette'.

They're quite nice and continue to throw out flowers for some time. I really like the leaves too, arching and graceful. If you do well with this one, try Spathoglottis plicata which has a larger flower and can be found in various shades of yellow as well as white. There are also lots of beautifully coloured hybrids.

Can you post some pictures of your Spath. so folks who don't know about them can learn?

Cheers

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by Vivienne

Hi elite - I have one of these. .... Mine is in a gallon container and spans a good 3'. Love it!

Vivienne,

Given the size of your plant you just may have either Spath. plicata or one of the plicata hybrids. Spath plicata exhibits a larger plant habit than ungiculata.

Is it in bloom now? Could I trouble you to post a pic if it is?

Cheers

[Vivienne]

Kevin - your wish is my command!

These pics were taken some time ago - like January or February. Still looks the same but a different spike is blooming. The tag reads Spath. ungiculata 'Grapette'.

[kmarch]

Thanks for the pic Vivienne. I think the tag is probably correct as it looks in all respects I can tell from the photo like ungiculata, the narrower grassy leaves, the smaller flowers in a sequentially blooming cluster. I didn't know ungiculata would get this big though. All the ones I've seen were smaller, shorter leaves, etc.

You've made it VERY happy! They're fun orchids to grow aren't they? I should start recommending them to folks looking for their first orchid.

[Vivienne]

Well it's made me very happy as well. But it is a beast! Thankfully there is plenty of room in it's current pot so repotting is not going to be an issue any time soon. Phew!

[elitebettas]

Hi guys, sorry
I haven't had internet access for a few days, yes they are truly beautiful and fun plants to grow, as soon as i can i will post some pictures

[prisana]

Vivienne, that's a nice one I've seen the purple ones around here and they are so cute ! Mine was purchased last year and I swear it never stopped flowering up until now...but I have new bulbs coming out everywhere..these pics were taken last fall.
The tag that came with the plant only said "ground orchid" so I did some digging and the one that came the closest to looking like it is Spath. Harlequin x kimballiana...It's just a guess.. hope it's the right one.

[kmarch]

prisana,

I'm not trying to throw a wet blanket on your search for your Spath cross but I do want to be honest. Spath are fairly extensively hybridized and sold as garden plants in southern regions where they can be grown outdoors in the garden (hence the name "ground orchid"). the crosses and the names are not particularly well documented. Only about 30 Spath crosses have been registered with the RHS.

Add to this the fact that hybrids can exhibit extreme variability. I've mentioned in another thread Lc Burgundy Delight which I bought some time ago from one of my favorite orchid nuseries. They had about 25 plants of the cross and no two turned out exactly alike. I had 2, one had 3-6 flowers per stem on a large plant, the flowers were bright electric-pink with a yellow and red lip, very shiny and waxy in texture; the other was a small plant, less than half the size of the first, only 2 flowers per stem, the flowers were small and a dark dusty rose with a burgundy lip (no yellow), matte in texture. Recently someone here posted a pic of another Lc Burgundy Delight which again looked completely different. You'd never guess the three were the same cross. My 2 plants were even siblings.

Given the variability of hybrids identification by photos is just not very reliable and identification of a hybrid, unless there is some parantage info to go on or unless they are a common or easily recognizable hybrid is essentially impossible.

Of course none of this prevente the plant from beign beautiful or enjoyable and rewardign to grow and I'd be thrilled to have a Spath as lovely as yours, prisana.

Happy Growing!

[prisana]

Kevin, thank you .. I was afraid of that.. I should have known better not to assume my plant's name but I just can't help it but try to at least "claim" a name for it I agree with you , Kevin...I'm just going to call it a Spath " the ground orchid " . Thanks for being so forward about it..my appreciation for your honest comments is endless..