My New Neofinetia falcata

[christinek]

Hi Guys!

I wasn't sure about posting my new Neo that I got from OakHill right away , because of the forum not functioning and my albums and such being gone. I wanted to definitely post this in the Neofinetia Group that I recently joined and that is no longer available either.. And of course, post it in my albums as well.. lol So I suppose this thread will have to suffice until all is better again..

Sorry, but I miss my profile page and the posts and pics..

So here it is.. My new Neo! And it's just adorable.. And i replanted in an Asian purple clay pot and it looks great if I may say so myself! lol It came planted in Coconut fiber.. And when I replanted.. I happened to have some coconut shavings.. Not quite the stringy fiber.. But so far , so good. Otherwise I would of planted in moss as most people do. But I did NOT want to disturb its root system as it established in the coconut fiber.. Enjoy!

[arleneg]

Christine,

Your new Neo looks good in that pot and coconut fiber. Will you repot in a sphag mound after it's done blooming?

By the way, no need to add 'alba', since standard Neos produce white blooms.

[christinek]

I don't know arlene.. I'm afraid to do switch to sphag since it's root system is well into coconut fiber.. Will it be okay in the coconut? or should I really mix it with sphag after it's done blooming as you said?

I just love this little Neo.. Brings a smile to my face everytime I look at it or smell it.. Just adorable..

[kmarch]

And to add to what arlene said about alba, alba is only used when there exists a published, formal botanical description as for Paph philippinense var. alba and then it is usually a varietal name and thus the "var."

Finally "alba" doesn't necessarily mean white. Frequently alba forms contain green.

[Orchidementia]

Originally Posted by christinek

I don't know arlene.. I'm afraid to do switch to sphag since it's root system is well into coconut fiber.. Will it be okay in the coconut? or should I really mix it with sphag after it's done blooming as you said?

I just love this little Neo.. Brings a smile to my face everytime I look at it or smell it.. Just adorable..

I have a Neofinetia falcata x Darwinara charm 'Rainbow' that I repotted in fine bark mix (fern bark, charcoal, perlite, fine pumice and worm castings - I don't keep track of the proportions, though) and it is doing very well, if new leaves and roots count! (It was in spike when I bought it in June.)

I also have a Sedirea japonica that I just redid the sphag mound on; there was plenty of new root growth (well, it has a new leaf so something had to be going on in there!). I generally don't like moss - mostly because I have an allergic reaction to a lot of it - but I repotted my new neos and my Sedirea in New Zealand long fiber sphag with little reaction. As I mentioned, the Sedirea was doing well, and I'm hoping for the best for my new (and one very, very expensive) neos!

Yours is very nice and I love the pot!

[christinek]

Thank you, Thank you orchidmentia.. hehehehe... I had to do a quick look up of the Sedirea japonica. I found them on ebay.. Are they really that small and cute? Like a miniture dollhouse version of phals.. so cute!!

I love to see your Neo collection.. I bet it looks awesome too..

As far as my new little neo goes.. I will keep it in this coconut fiber and shavings that I planted it in.. And see what happens.. I'm thinking i may have to water a bit more often with this sort of medium. But Oak Hill sent it already established in a littlier clay pot in the coconut fiber.. I went ahead and transplanted it into my pot with coconut shavings I had already stored away.. LOL "Just goes to show you, you never know when you may need it".

If not.. I will wait for it to stop flowering and get new zealand moss as you said and fill the pot with it and surround the plant with it around the coconut fiber to let it grow into the moss for future root system..

[solay]

Christine, they come in mini but not necessarily. You might want to double check first. Mine is much bigger is size.

[christinek]

Thank solay.. I think they do. Some are bigger than others.. And the one that I saw was 8.00 and flowering size and in 2 inch pot.. Really cute..

[butt0n]

Christine, your Neo looks great! It should do fine in the coconut fiber, but yeah you'll probably need to water it more. As long as it likes it, you should be fine.

[christinek]

Thank you Button... I love the picture of your Neo .. that pinkish purple is really pretty too!

[Sharyn]

Christine: I have several neos from Oak Hills. I also have a few planted in the same Zisha pots. The loose fiber coconut requires more frequent watering. In the winter, I water about every other day and occassionally mist if my humidity is low. Summertime, watered every day - sometimes an additional water or misting if it's really hot outside.

The addition of the coconut chips to the loose fiber will help retain a little more moisture, but I haven't done so myself. You'll find that soaking the whole pot will also help to retain the moisture, especially on the hot days. A 15-minute soak will add enough moisture to the clay pot to keep the media and roots from drying out too quickly.

For an experiment, I repotted one in NZ spagham moss and did the whole Oriental look, however, after a couple weeks, I saw that my plant was in trouble and I was afraid I'd rot the roots. It was too cold here and the moss just wouldn't dry out fast enough, even with fans, so I changed back to the coconut fibre. I love it, some people hate it, but it works for me and my climate environment.

The Orchid Fest is next month and I'm going to try to get back to Oak Hills and indulge. If I'm lucky, I'll find some more neos. Good luck with yours. It's a lovely neo and potted up beautifully. Yours and mine could be twins.

[christinek]

Hi Sharyn! Thanks so much!
And now to say how much I think I like Neo's.. And I do! I went and bought the cherry blossom neo from Oakhill too.. LOL I have another pot like the one I have this neo in.. But it's got little feet on it.. Should be really nice!

[brookn]

Hi Christine, I got my Neo. falcata from Oak Hill also. I took mine out of the coconut fiber cause it was breaking down, and rotting the roots (it had kinda wrapped around them and was strangling them). I know that Sharyn has good luck with it, I just did not have the patience for it. It also creeped me out cause it's like burnt Barbie hair lol. Your Cherry Blossom is actually a hybrid. It's Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom, which is Neofinetia falcata x Ascocentrum ampullaceum. I got one from Oak Hill also, and it's huge! Good luck with your new plants.

[Sharyn]

Originally Posted by brookn

it's like burnt Barbie hair lol.

LOL -

[butt0n]

Originally Posted by Sharyn

LOL -

Same...LOL..that's just funny!

[christinek]

LMAO burnt barbie hair! AHAHAHHAA Yeah.. it does look like that huh? Now that you mention it.. It actually reminded me of having my orhcid in a little birds nest.. But burnt barbie hair will work also! LOL

Oh, by the way, how big will this Cherry Blossom get? I thought it would remain small being it's part Neo..

[brookn]

Well in just size such as height and width it's about 1 and 1/2 times bigger than my N. falcata. The leaves are thick and more wide than the Neo also. I guess when I say huge, it is huge in comparison to either one of my Neos. There are a couple of pics of it in the Neo thread.

Sharyn and button, glad you got a kick out of the Barbie reference lol.

[christinek]

Oh wonderful.. I can't wait either way now.. LOL I saw the flowers that OakHill had up on their site showing you what to expect.. And I thought they were just awesome.. Not to mention very fragrant they say.. I especially love that! Which is probably why I have over 7 Lilacs on the property.. April smells the best I swear! lol