Lovely blooms, Ted. The flowers on the platystele look like they're made of glass! How about an old rug or bath mat or two (couple of bucks at the thrift store) on the floor of your orchid area, and wet them down with the hose? My clever friend in Utah kept his greenhouse humidified by hanging wet towels in there. He's also the guy who used to heat his greenhouse all winter just by keeping tubs of water sitting on the floor. Sun would heat them enough by day that they would keep the temps reasonable at night. He grew some amazing stuff.
Lc. George Baldwin X C. Trithena is absolutely a beauty, Jim
September's Back to School Orchids
Thanks, Elaine, and here is one you may like as well. Just opening the first bloom on a long spike is Bllra. Marfitch 'Howard's Dream'. More to come on this one and I just spotted another spike coming on.
Jim
Hey guys, I have an easy question. How can you tell if a plant is making a sheath or if it's just another leaf?
Melanie
Melanie, read this for info: http://everything-orchids.com/orchid-care/orchid-sheaths
Jim
Mellie, I just went out to check mine for an example, and realised that you rarely can see both on the same plant. Usually the sheath appears after the plant is done growing for the season. Unless you're looking at something 1/4" long, you should see the groove on a new leaf, whereas a sheath is a closed structure that is more transparent than a leaf would be, and often a different color...spotted or streaked with some red tones. As it grows, it will be very obvious, and if held up to the light, you can see the buds forming in there... unless you live in So.Cal., in which case you will recognize the dry, papery remains.LOL!
You're right Carol. And it is all our plants except for the tropicals. I have a Brug that needs to be watered twice a day....and sometimes that's not enough
This message was edited Sep 17, 2012 7:07 PM
Thanks, everyone. I'll have to go take another look at it tomorrow. It just surprised me because the plant bloomed in the spring (when I bought it) and I wouldn't expect it to have a sheath again so soon.
Melanie
Some of those Catt crosses seem to bloom more often than others, Melanie. That purple one I've been showing off above was in bloom when I got it last November, bloomed again in March, and now is in bloom again.
Another way to tell a sheath from a new leaf is to look at the rest of the plant. Some only ever get one leaf per each stem, and some have two. If the stem that has the (may be) sheath already has the same number of leaves as the other stems on the plant, then it is definitely a sheath. Show us a picture!
I have waited two years for my Vanda sanderiana, Var. alba to rebloom and the day is finally here. Here she is in all of her glory:
Jim
Oooh, that vanda is pretty!
Here's a pic of what I'm pretty sure is a sheath. I see now that it doesn't have a vein like the leaves and it's shaped a little different. I have another purple cattleya in sheath so I had a clue what they looked like but I was just so surprised to see one on this plant.
And here's a pic of one side of the shade house. I have some repotting to do. All this rain isn't good for some of my orchids - they hold in too much moisture the way they were potted. So I'm fixing that a few at a time.
Melanie
That's definitely a sheath. The shade house is looking good!
Jim
This is the only way I can tell. lol
oh ted that looks like its a nice flower, id have split the sheath and let the flower form with more room. Is it just the one bud?
Mellie,
Nice blooms you have there ! I really like the Lc. Tanya Duncan "Seattle Blues" too. Plus your shade house looks pretty cool,
I'm going to refer back to it for ideas.
Ted I like your Snow Ballet, I like anything that's not picky !!
Jim - you always have such nice bloomers, and lots of patience. The Vanda sanderiana, Var. alba is awesome.
I've got one (can't think of the name now) that has not rebloomed since I got it.
Thanks for the link on the sheaths, lots of other good info there to refer to also. Light is a big question I have on mine
as for the most part they are under trees. Won't be much sun or bright light here for a day or 2, lots of rain expected this week and we got a good
bit yesterday.
Elaine, purple is one of my favorite colors and that one of yours sure is a happy plant.
Got a few new ones blooming, I'll try to get some pics.
Get out the umbrellas it's gonna be a wet week.
Hey Mj, good to see you taking a break to sit down at your computer! We had a few good showers yesterday, but very brief. They were just enough to top up my rain barrels, thankfully. Hoping for more today, although the orchids have had enough. They are under the eaves for now.
Looks like I have been forgiven for taking a vacation in August, several plants have sheaths forming, even Blc. Chia Lin has two new ones starting up, after she aborted a great big fat sheath while I was away. Looks like I might have flowers on Lc. Trick or Treat and her sibling, Lc. Blazing Treat for Halloween.
One more of my purple baby, getting set to open it's 4th bud in a couple of days. Once again the bright morning light makes the petals look magenta, they are really a dusky purple.
This message was edited Sep 19, 2012 11:42 AM
Beautiful color on that beauty, Elaine.
Here is a minor update from the OC:
The Psychopsis alba has put out another new flower.
To continue, here are B. nodosa X C. netrasiri 'waxy' still holding color very nicely. Also Blc Golden Tang has a new bloom and a fat bud and of course there are always lots of dancing ladies.
Jim
Seems to be only one bud, Bree. You would cut the sheath even tho the flower has broken through
Hey Jim, this has been bothering me a little bit - how come Psychopsis alba is yellow and not white?
Ted id have split the shealth before the bud even opened. Can't wait for a pic when it opens looks awsome.
Good question dyzzypyzzy.
My "sad" that my Den Spectable Alien has already lost her blooms. The paper I got with her said "low light". So I gave her that. Then I see Dens prefer high light. Guess I'll move her out to the sun porch & see if that perks her back up. She has produced a new stalk since I've had her so she can't be too unhappy.
Also wondered if the shipping up here from HI could have affected the buds.
Just hoping I can get her to rebloom.
In my opinion Dens need really high light, even morning sun its phals and paphs that can handle lower light. Moving a orchid in bloom from one place to another can make the flowers drop though.
I agree with Bree in that most Dens like high light.
As for the alba question, the detail is in the genetics and the long scirntific answer will make your head hurt. My understanding as to
why can we find orchids of one and the same species with different flower colors is that it depends on the genetic design of a given species.
1. Some orchids have a genetic blueprint which allows flowering in different colors. For example, there are orchids that mostly have yellow flowers, but there are also many plants with red flowers. Yellow-flowered plants produce yellow-flowered offsprings and vice versa. But cross-pollination has also produced intermediate colors. This color dimorphism seems to be a characteristic feature of that particular orchid.
2. Color variation is one of several options how orchids of the same species may vary. Species with a great morphological variety often show a broad divergence of flower colors as well .
3. Beyond this broad spectrum of variations, some orchids also show individual genetic characteristics which result in white flowers. These forms are often described as genetical disorders, as an absence of pigments which define the color of a flower. Terms associated with this phenomenon are hypochromia (in contrast to hyperchromia which means excessive pigmentation or intense coloring) and albiflora. Alba or albiflora forms are devoid of any colored pigmentation, and are pure white. Formation of red flower pigments can be curbed or blocked with some individuals. Flowers with red pigments often have different color hues - when these pigments are totally absent, these flowers are white
4. Some people describe this individual genetic specialty as albinism: Thus, a plant whose flowers are devoid of any red pigmentation is colloquially termed an albino - these flowers may be light green, yellowish, or white. But, in a strict biological sense, an albino is a plant which lacks chlorophyll: Thus, albinism is the complete absence of green pigment that would normally be present. Since most of the orchids have green foliage leaves, they are not albinos, but albiflora forms. Sometimes the white color dominates just a part of the flower (like my V. sanderiana). In other cases the whole flower is pure white, and in other cases the flower is yellow or green like the Psychopsis.
There is one common characteristics of albiflora forms and albinism: Both phenomena are genetically recessive - an offspring might retain the white flowers but can also develop flowers in the standard color. But with some species the white flowered forms are quite common and develop stable populations. With tropical orchids some white forms have their own horticultural value and are being cultivated accordingly - with sometimes interesting results. It is, for example, possible to produce a colored orchid by crossing two albiflora orchids.
Terms used for white-flowered or relative forms:
•albiflorum/albiflora - white-flowered
album/alba - white
alboflavum/alboflava - whitish yellow
alboviride - whitish green
candidum/candida - pure white
flavescens - yellowish
virescens - greenish
pallidum/pallida - pale
I hope this helps.
Jim, asking where is Laurel when I need her?
Ha, Laurel could not possibly have made my head hurt more. I just thought that most flowers with 'alba' in the name were white.
Looking at your Psychopsis alba picture above, I see that it has stripes of paler color, rather than the reddish markings of the regular Psychopsis. So when they bred out the red markings they got to call it 'alba' ? Just a bit of a stretch, imho. That pretty baby is 'alboflava'.
Just for kicks, I Googled Psychopsis alba. The most interesting page was http://orchidsamore.com/tutorials/Butterfly%20orchids.htm Scroll down to the paragraph underneath the two pictures. It says "do not ask why". }} sigh {{
I think you've got it! They call it alba because the red pigment has been blocked but it is actually an alboflava. The V. sanderiana is an alboviride.
Jim
Got a couple of bargain Phals off death row at Lowe's today. I must admit that although Phals can be kind of difficult, I've always admired the pale yellow ones like this. (camera washed out the yellow a bit) Big one was $5 and the little one $3.75. The nice clay pots they came in were worth what I paid.
Love the vibrant purple one. I just noticed along bloom shoot on one of my NOID phals.
Bulb. fascinator opened for me a day or two ago. It is one of the few orchids I grow in moss.
Jim
Jim - a lovely orchid.
Jim, my friend Kelly just commented that your 3rd picture looks just like a mermaid!
So pretty.
Elaine
Zygopetalum Hybrid
C. Penny Kuroda x L. briegeri
I can almost smell that Zygo from here! Mine is still a week or so away from blooming.
It's the best smell in the world Carol :)
I picked up this Dendrobium yesterday in Half Moon Bay
The Zygo is gorgeous, guru, but I like the colors on the Penny Kuroda cross a lot.
I'm liking the dendrobrium, and I'm not usually a big fan of those. That one is special, I think!
All are nice, Green Eyes. My Bulbos are blooming now so I won't say anything about fragrance. :>)
The Tampa Orchid Club is meeting tomorrow and I am taking three orchids for judging: Bulb. fascinator, Vanda Sanderiana var. alba and Beallara Marfitch 'Howards Dream'. I think the Beallara has the best chance at a ribbon.
Jim
I really love that Zygo! Wish i had one.
Why oh why do you make me wait...Paph. Mabelle. hehe!
Rlc. Kat-E Sun is still open and more buds coming.
Mabelle is being shy, Bree. Love the color on Kat-E Sun.