Flowers opening out of order

[dipasquo]

I came back from two weeks away and found several of the flowers on my Encyclia tampensis had opened. Strangely, two of the flowers further up on one spike opened while three of the "older" buds are still closed. It's been several days and they still haven't opened. Is this sort of out-of-order opening of buds more common than I thought (i.e. I assumed buds would always open sequentially) or might these buds have failed?

[Michelle]

Hello! I have a few of these plants (easy to get in FL since they are native) and I went to check mine out b/c they are blooming now as well. A few of my spikes are doing the same thing. Funny, I never noticed that before. Probly b/c they live outside on a tree and I am a neglectful parent

[bkim]

How did you water it while away for two weeks? Sorry, I can't answer your question.

[kmarch]

This is perfectly normal. I have seen this in Encyclia (which yours is), as I used to grow a lot of them. I predict all of the rest of the buds will open normally. It's just an odd charactersitic, sometimes the buds in the middle of the spikes open first.

[sandra]

Very nice dipasquo. What are you growing this in?

Wish I was getting spikes on my alata but wishing won't make it happen and either will insufficent light, which is why I can't get mine to budge.

[PhalPal]

Very nice looking Encyclia! I have just a few but find the flowers enchanting.

[dipasquo]

I boarded about half of my collection with a local grower (White Oak Orchids) but since this one was in spike it stayed home. I asked a neighbor to stop in to do some watering while I was gone. I think I scared her a little bit with the very specific schedule I presented to her but I'm glad to say that I got home and everything was looking quite healthy.

It's potted as it was since I got it last November. Appears to be fine bark, charcoal, and perlite or some other white porous material. I haven't repotted it yet since it was in spike when I got it, then flowered, and two more spikes started immediately thereafter. It's been pretty active going back to last Nov. There are 5 new PB growths on it now, so I will have to consider repotting it or leaving it for another year when these flowers have had their run.

Thanks for the feedback!

[jerrymeola]

It is normal for many Encyclia flowers to open in the middle of the spike. The flowers are long lived and they should all be open for many weeks.

[dipasquo]

Sure enough, all of the buds on this plant proceeded to open into beautiful (and lightly fragrant, I think) flowers. I've found it difficult to take good pictures of this plant, but here are two.

[solay]

Very nice. I like it a lot. Doesn't matter what blooms first as long as they bloom!

[articuno75]

Very cool looking flower with a weird blooming behavior.