On the Horizon

[kmarch]

I got crazy idea today (while I was procrastinating from doing other tasks) that it might be fun to see/hear what folks have in bud. It's fun to see everyone's pics of their blooming plant but I also like to know what folks have coming on the horizon. So here's a few of the indoor orchids I've got in bud.

Paph Albion
Blc. Tokyo Magic hybrid #1 (can't remember the name of the cross)
Blc. Tokyo Magic x Love Sound
Paph Amarantine (liemianum x moquetteanum)
Paph Mamie Wilson (yes, another one, I have about 3-4 of these)

[kmarch]

Two more nice surprises when I watered today, neither of which I knew of until today. Again this is what happens when you ignore your orchids: they begin to vie for your attention!

First a nice bud, nearly above the leaves (so its been there for a couple of weeks) on my Masd Kara's Delight x Red Star.

And something I have never, ever seen before in my entire life: This Paph Black Falcon just finished blooming and I found a second, completely new spike emerging from the same growth. I've never known a Paph to have 2 inflorescences come out of one growth. One of the parents is Red Maudiae, a complex Maudiae-type so it could be one of those oddities that sometimes pops up in complex breeding, not really sure. Anyway I'm happy to have another flower coming and am eager to see it!

[BillC]

Kevin, what nice surprizes you have! Do you think it is related to the number of orchids a collector has? If one has considerable numbers of plants then it is more likely to miss changes on routine ops than if one has only a few. You must be very happy with the new buds!!

Bill

[kmarch]

Bill,

When i lived in the US and had my collection there, at any given time about 10% of my orchids were in bud or bloom. These days I have a lot of seedlings now so my percentage is a bit off, but if you omit the seedlings it's about 10%.

One thing I did, which I highly recommend, is to buy a blooming orchid (or 2 or 20) of a different genera every month. Many orchids grow and bloom on 6 month or 1 year cycles so if you buy an orchid in bloom in May (for example) then there's a good chance (given proper care) that it will be in flower for you again the following May. By this logic, after a year you should have a collection of orchids such that you'll have something in flower at just about any given time.

My percentage is going to rise dramatically here ina little while because my Cymbidiums and my Dendrobium tetragonums are coming in bloom. They're going to bloom wel this year. All 14 of my tetragonums are in bud and 8 of my 10 blooming size Cymbids are in bud or bloom.

Cheers

[jerrymeola]

I agree with kMarch about buying every month if you want to have a collection that blooms every month.

I just want to point out that the change in conditions to your home may change the blooming month by up to 8 weeks in either direction.

I find that in Hot SW Florida my Hawaii orchids bloom about 2 months behind Hawaii.

Since the shift is environmental buying every month "from the same sources" will get you a collection that blooms about every month. If you buy from several growing environments they may not spread over the calendar as easy.

[Vivienne]

I agree with buying every month... heck, I buy whenever I can. But my hopes are that in time it will result in a steady procession of blooming plants.

Let's see, what's blooming right now... (sorry no pics this time)...

Nearing the end of bloom cycle = 4 Phal and 1 Colmanara
Middle of bloom cycle = 3 Phal, 2 Paph and 1 Degamoara
Buds still to open = 2 Paph and 1 Phrag
Just spiking = 3 Dens

[sandra]

Here's what's on the horizon for me.
- The dend is a NOID that I adopted a few months ago. One spike with buds and 4 spikes emerging (about 1" so far).
- The first Miltassia has 2 large spikes with buds getting bigger and bigger, 2 smaller spikes, about 3" so far.
- The second Miltassia has 2 large spikes with buds also and 4 smaller spikes, about 3-4", so far.
- The paph (Raisen Pie) is the one I'm most excited about probably because I wasn't expecting to see a bud until next year.

[kmarch]

I just found another "oops I missed that while I was ignoring my orchids" today. My Gongora truncata has a spike about 6 inches long with 12 buds on it. To be that big it must havve been growing for 2-3 weeks. Never even noticed it until today's watering.

[prisana]

here are mine..

Lc. Frosty Pink H+R
Pot. Hawaiian Yuan Gold 4N
Blc.Volcano Blue ' Volcano Queen '
Ascda. Princess Miyaki

[prisana]

and a few more...

Paph. Oriental Lawrence ' Funnel ' x Luna Moth 'Mighty'
Bllra. Tahoma Glacier
Ascda. Suthep Red

[Anton]

Here's mine:
Little Sarah 'Lolly Pop' (miniature cascading cym)
Pure Sarah ' Starburst' (as above) x 2 images, one on each side
Iwangaara Apple Blossom

More, on next post

[Anton]

and finally

Den kingianum x 2 showing whole spike and close up of bud.

[fred]

1) Comdarettia Speciosa x Oncidium Tigrinum
2) Laelia anceps
3) Pleurothallis palliolata
4) Pleurothallis phalangifera
5) Dendrobium

[fred]

Mini Catts
1) Pot Canary cherry Royale x Slc Dancing Daffodil 'Little Fariy'
2) Pot Love Call 'H&R' x Blc Goldenzell Tokyo

[kmarch]

I had a blessing in disguise and a near disaster today. My partner, attempting to get somethign out of our closet, knocked my 3 biggest Paphs off the shelf and onto the floor where they spilled some of their mix. Fortunately only one plant suffered one broken leaf (and a half dead leaf at that) so there was no damage aside from some shook-up plants. As I was examining them for damage though I noticed something SPECTACULAR. My Paph Florento (chamberlainianum x kolopakingii) is in spike! I can even see the buds down in the folds of the leaflets. Yet another plant that is 3+ weeks into spiking that I did not notice was spiking!

As it's an unusual cross there are very few pics of it online and the one i did find was of a quite poor quality, so hopefully i'll get some good picks of another unusual, uncommon cross onto our forum here!

I highly recommend ignoring (but not neglecting) your orchids. If you do they'll all start clamoring for your attention!

[robb]

well i will be ignoring my orchids all weekend until monday night, maybe they'll do something other than grow roots and leaves! so far my phals and cymbidiums only show leaf/root growth, no sign of flower spikes. my understanding is phals and cyms both set flower spikes in the fall, with the onset of cool evenings and warm days (the 10-15C temperature variation?), so i probably have a long wait ahead of me