Bulbophyllum help

[Vivienne]

Ok, it's not Valentine's Day until tomorrow, but our weather forecast demanded that I make my V-Day Orchid trip today. Glad I did!!! I came upon - thanks to the owner who was going to keep it - a Bulbophyllum. Big healthy plant with 2 long spikes and 3 spikes that are just starting out. The only problem... the tag just doesn't make any sense... or at least I can not find it in the RHS database. Can anyone shed any light on possible alterations to the tag? Relatively sure it is a cross between two species. Plus this place is notorious for making typos on their tags. Tag reads...

BULD SULQUEII x BULB ECLUOLARUM

Closest I've found to the first part is Bulb sulawesii
Might have to wait for it to bloom out. Sorry - had to take the pics with my cell phone.

[Tobi]

What a sweet pickup Vivienne. I did alittle researching as well through the various
Bulb. species and hybrids and couldn't find anything close to your tag of either one.
Maybe some of the long time growers know something or else you could ask the
previous owner where they got it from and try to trace backwards.

Anyway, looking forward to the bloom. Maybe that will help.

[kellyincville]

Could the other parent be Bulb. echinolabium? It's not close in spelling but it's a fairly common Bulb. species. If it have echinolabium in it, I would think you would be able to tell when it blooms.

[Vivienne]

Thanks Tobi. I'm very excited about it. My first Bulbophyllum!!

I'm leaning toward your thoughts on the other parent Kelly. I've looked and looked and the only thing I can figure is... Bulb. sulawesii x Bulb echinolabium (registered as Bulb JoAnne Hartzler). Remember, this place always seems to do strange things to their tags. It's like whoever types the labels can't read the words that someone wrote out. If that makes any sense.

Hopefully the bloom will help shed light on the accuracy of that.

[kmarch]

Vivienne, I think what you have is a tragic case of misspelled tag syndrome. I think the Bulbo you have is sulawesii x echinolabium. I've seen this cross mentioned from time to time and online. The cross has been registered and named. It is Bulbo JoAnne Hartzler.

Most Bulbos like warm, humid and not too bright. Both of the species (especially echinolabium) are relatively commonly grown these days because they have big showy flowers. The flowers are short-lived though, lasting only about 5-7 days but they are sequential bloomers and one spike will bloom for years and years, flower after flower. So, don't ever cut a spike off unless it is dead, brown and dried up. They'll also add additional inflorescences with new growths, so it is not uncommon for a medium sized plant to have 3-5 spikes all producing flowers at various times.

One of my best orchid buddies back in the states has been growing a nice echinolabium for years and years. In 2004 she won a Best in Show trophy for it. It had 2 nice big flowers.

It's a fun bulbo! Enjoy it!

[Vivienne]

Oh Kevin - you have given me goosebumps!!! I am beyond thrilled! First off I am in agreement with your assessment of the name tag. The thrilling part comes in with your explanation of the flowering habit. This plant already has 2 well grown inflorescenses with buds forming and there are 3 other inflorescences just starting out. OH MY!!! It sounds to me like I got one HECK of a great deal at $29.99.

Thank you for the heads up about not cutting the spikes. Would you recommend staking the spikes or letting them do their own thing? And by 'not too bright', would you say in with the bull-dog Paphs or more light than that?

[kmarch]

Vivienne,

I'm glad you're excited about your bulbo! Why have orchids at all if they dont excite us, eh?

I do not have an opinion on staking. My friend did not stake hers, but she grew under HID lights hung overhead so the spikes grew reasonably straight up, arching nicely, without guidance. On the other hand, I don't see why they couldn't be staked if you wished.

Regarding light, when I grew bulbos back in the US, I grew them in the same light as my paphs. I recently saw, here in Australia, a giant collection of huge, mounted bulbos grown in what seemed to be somewhat dark conditions, very shaded. The plants were all huge and vigorous but out of dozens of huge plants only 1 was in bloom. My friend grew most of her orchids in the same light, which was fairly high light. I believe most culture guides recommend medium-ish light more like what we'd grow phals in. How's all that for vague? Sorry I can't be more helpful, I haven't grown bulbos since I moved here to Australia.

[Vivienne]

Hey - vague works. I've read that they like it humid. Aside from my cool humid section for Pleurothallids, the most humid area I have is with the Paphs, but there is ample room above. So it looks like I can take care of this Bulbo okay.

I think I may stake the longest spike. Right now it's arching nicely but over the back of the leaves. So if you look at the pending bloom you're looking at the back/bottom of the leaves. Sort of like it's wind swept. LOL

Thanks for all you help Kevin. As always, it's most valued!

[thom]

Vivienne
i have left the spike to hang (frightened to disturb it )it seems to go towards the light, in nature the plant just lets it hang from the tree wherever
it grows from but its pesonal choice

[Vivienne]

Thanks Thom. I did give them a little support since they were flowing toward the back of the plant. Hopefully they will adjust themselves and I can remove the staking. The first bloom is SLOWLY changing every day. It has probably doubled in size since I took the pic last week. I'm one eager bunny!!! Can't wait to see what this looks like.

[Vivienne]

Question... one of the leaves on an older pbulb is yellowing. Is this normal?? Everything else looks incredible. Found another spike today brining the total spike count to 6!!!

This plant is TIGHT in it's 4" plastic pot and the roots are everywhere with the newest pbulbs and spikes actually outside the pot. Again, is this a normal thing? I've read that they do not like to be repotted... but is TIGHT in the pot a good thing? By tight I mean, f you give the pot a squeeze it's like squeezing a brick.

[Vivienne]

updated pic

[kmarch]

Don't worry about your yellowing leaf. Bulbos sometimes shed an old leaf. If you get a bunch of leaves, then we'll look at the roots, etc.

[Vivienne]

Thanks Kevin... right now it's just the 2 oldest leaves/pbulbs. I hate to depot while it is in bud, but to save the plant I might have to.

[Vivienne]

I have been reading up a bit more on my Bulbo. And I think I might have a) the best location for it and b) the perfect basket for it.

If it does become necessary to check the roots, how is that going to affect the 6 inflorescenses that it is currently growing? Or is now the best time? Kevin mentioned that it could be blooming for at least a year. Having said that, when would one ever repot?

[thom]

hopw deep is the basket?you have quite a depth of root,i just repotted lobbii with a layer of rockwool on bottom then orchid bark mix and then some spag on top,i wouldnt prise plant from pot just gently cut it away with scissors
then you wont disturb the roots ,and try and just bury it in basket ,it will take quite awhile to get used to it but all new roots will aclimatise quickly if not the old some Bulbos take a year or so to settle,
best of luck

[Vivienne]

Everything I've read says to keep the pot or basket shallow (no more than 2"). The basket I am going to use is 2.5 inches. I looked at the roots that were coming out of the bottom of it's current plastic pot and they look fine, so I decided to leave it for now. I just put the whole plant with pot into the basket and put sphagnum around the outside of the pot. That should help with humidity. If another leaf turns yellow then the plastic pot is coming off.

[thom]

looking at the pot i dont think there is room for the root to breathe as you say it feels like a brick i think it would help to repot now ,you have all the new roots to keep it going ,

[Vivienne]

Very good point thom! I plan to take the plant to our society meeting this weekend and see if anyone there has experience with Bulbos and get their opinion as well.

I am surprised at how fast the spikes are coming in. They sure grow quickly!