Phrag. caudatum: unexpected event

I got Phrag. caudatum 'Fortuna' from Ecuagenera last year, it was quite small plant and I thought it was few years from blooming.
To my surprise:



This is actually the only phrag that does good for me. All the besseae and kovachii hybrids are still sulking and I am thinking about getting rid of them while they are still alive.
Now, of course this sheath can be totally jinxed by my post and dry out, but until then I think I can see a small bud inside:



Fingers crossed....

Paph. Wossner China Moon bud watch

Two weeks passed - the bud is still there and came out of the sheath fully.
I am trying to not change it position and light orientation - just in case...

Paphiopedilum bud watch

Recently I have noticed somewhat rapid development in the sheath of my new Paphiopedilum Wossner China Moon(hangianum x armeniacum).
I bought this plant back in October and there was start of the bud somewhere deep down, but I was absolutely sure that it will dry out.
However - it didn't, and now I can see a small bud picking out:



Bud even broke the sheath on one side, I am not sure if it is usual for paphs to do that and if it will have some bad effect on the flower:

Maxillaria tenuifolia

Despite freezing weather I know that spring is really close because I noticed this on my maxillaria:



Quite a few bulbs show now some little buds trying to form. I like the coconut smell of the blooms and looking forward to the flowering.
Some people find smell too strong and nauseating, but not me.
This plant proved to be the easiest to grow and reliable bloomer. It seems that the less you fuss with it - the better it grows...

C. aurantiaca x angereri update

Back in November I posted about C. aurantiaca x angereri growing first sheath thin papery formation coming from the newest pseudobulb. It was empty inside.
After about a month I noticed that sheath started to get brownish at the end and thought it was dying.
However later I noticed something solid coming out inside of it:




I couldn't use flash to maintain the back light, so the focus didn't behave, but the thing is visible. I would like to think that it is a cluster of buds forming. I have absolutely no experience with blooming catts and not sure if brown edge on the sheath is an issue. Wait and see...

Phal. Lyndon Equator Jewel II

Phalaenopsis Lyndon Equator Jewel II activated both old spikes and is growing few buds:



I like pastel colors and light sweet fragrance on this plant.

New phrags, what is going on.

I had my new phrags for couple weeks now. One of them bloomed, other is growing a bud. I really like besseae and its hybrids so I want to keep an eye on these two "test plants" to see if they will progress or decline and decide if I want to buy more when the shipping season restarts.
So, here are my observations.

Phrag besseae has one old growth which does nothing and one new growth which currently blooms. Through the walls of clear pot I can see quite a few nice green roots with growing points:



Blooming fan also started new rooots at the base:



And there is a green nub of the new fan coming out:



Phrag. Eric Young has four fans: two in the middle are old previously bloomed fans, two others - one in the front and one on the back are new. This plant didn't have any green roots with fresh growing point, all roots were brown but firm and not mushy.
New fan at the front currently grows a bud:



It also has started new root at the base and a new fan:



Back fan didn't spike yet but it is busy, two new green nubs poked out and one of them already has tiny leaves. Although direction of the growth is somewhat strange:



Two old growths have some white formations at the base too, but they don't look like the green new fan starts yet, so I am not sure what will come out of them, if anything:



All in all both plants look happy in the tank. I water them every day with rain water and keep their pots in the saucers with rain water which I change every day too.
Let's see their status in a month...

Bud watch: Paphiopedilum Deperle 'Philippe'

I haven't had paphiopedilum bud watch for a while. The longest bud I waited for was Paph. malipoense, it took around 6 months from spike start to bloom.
Let's see how long this one will take.



I should probably mention that I get absolutely no credit for getting this plant to bloom. It was purchased with spike already started...

Neofinetia falcata 'Shojo' buds

This is a spoiler here of course, but I think that buds with the spurs are just so cute and wanted to document them.



Can't wait for flowers...

An awesome bloom coming soon

The bud on Bl. Morning Glory has grown a lot and became dark pink.
I think it is about ready to open:



I wonder how long until the flower opens up. Really can't wait...

Bl. Morning Glory

In my previous post about Bl.Morning Glory in March I mentioned that it is probably very close to become a blooming sized plant. Well, I was totally right, because one of the two newest pseudobulbs produced this:



From my very small experience with catts in general, I know it is a bud growing:



It looks very similar to the claw looking bud of B. Little Stars (long gone by now) and I am very curious about the flower. Whatever I saw on the web, looked pretty awsome...

Phal. cornu-cervi 'red' - trying bark

Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi 'red' with its roots grew out of all containers that I was comfortable to have moss in. So I decided to try it in a bark mix.
The pot has slits on the sides but with the higher humidity in the tank it shouldn't be a problem.



Of course the only bark we have available here is Shultz mix which needs a little work before it can be used. I bought a bag to repot my multi paphs too, so I sorted out the bark pieces - larger for phals, smaller for paphs, removed ridiculously big pieces of wood and other garbage and washed out all dirt that was there. At the end I had nicely clean bark.
Plant is nice and healthy, it grew couple new spikes since I got it and now there is a new red bud:



Hope it will do ok in bark...

Phal. Vio Vio

Here is yet another preview with a great looking bud:



Phal. Vio Vio bloomed last summer for over three months growing new buds on the same spike.
This will be the second blooming for me. Really like this cross.

Paph. Prince Edward of York

I know, it is a bit of a spoiler, but buds look so incredible that I decided to make couple pictures and post them for the history. Who knows, maybe I'll never get them again:



The spike looks quite strong but I might need to stake it soon to make sure it doesn't break.



The lowest bud already cracked open and I can see some curles inside:

Two buds ..

that I am really looking forward to opening:



It is a cross of Phal. mannii and cornu-cervi and is called Mancervi.
The buds are still very tiny but already show a color. They look just like the buds on my cornu-cervi red.
I hope the flowers will be different though.

Paph. St. Swithin got whiskers

They are not straight yet, but I guess it means - the bloom started to open:



Couple more days and there will be a flower.

Paph. St. Swithin bud update

It has been couple weeks since last picture and the bud grew quite noticeable:



Humidity improved a bit and mostly stays at 40%, although during midday sun it drops for a while but climbs back after sun is gone.



Bud looks very small, I wonder if it will continue to grow before opening or I will have super tiny bloom. Still I like it.

Paph. St. Swithin update

This is just to document development of the bud on St.Swithin - about a week after the last post.



The fact that it came out a bit more from the leaves makes me think that it is growing even in my low humidity and brown stripe going through the top of the bud is probably there by design.

Maxillaria tenuifolia buds

It must be spring, because now I keep discovering buds even on the orchids that are out of orchid tanks.
Buds of maxillaria are quite unnoticeable but I did spot this one yesterday:



On closer inspection it turned out that there are few more starting to climb out of the papery sheaths:



So, my Maxi proved to be the easiest plant to grow and the easiest plant to bloom from all the orchids I ever had. It doesn't mind low humidity, it is fine being potted into plastic pot with moss therefore doesn't need to be watered too often and I did nothing special to have her budding now. I really need to check Ecuagenera website for other maxillarias...

Paph. St. Swithin bud

I was really holding my breath since I noticed this bud and didn't want to jinx it by posting pictures but can't hold it anymore.
Here it is, a new homemade real bud developing on my Paph. St. Swithin:



My worries are concentrated around the humidity now. Both of my multifloral paphs live on the windowsill with south-east exposure. Glass has protective film to keep plants from direct sun but they still get lots of light and it gets pretty warm around them. As a result - humidity is very low:



Now, I could probably move some stuff around in my larger orchid tank to fit plant in, but St. Swithin had pretty bad mites infestation last fall, so I am worried that mites can still hide there and orchid tank rules state - no suspicious plants allowed.
Therefore, the bud might die from dry air any day.
But the fact that it appeared is pretty exciting and means that:
a) my plant is not a stubborn non-bloomer (like some of them might be);
b) my windowsill has the correct environment to induce the spike.

Looking at the picture I wonder if the brown line on the bud should be there or it means that bud is dying. Hope it is by design.
I mist the plant often trying to not get any water on the budding spot but it probably doesn't help much with humidity around the plant.
Hopefully the bud will hold until the warmth comes and heat drying the air will be turned off constantly.