Vandas on summer vacation usually pays off in a big way. Here is one of this season’s vacationers that is blooming right now. Such a lovely mini, the flowers measure no more than 2 cm across but the sheer amount make up for any shortcomings in size. The the intense orange color shine like a sun in the fall gloom of rain and darkness, and I appreciate it immensely! It makes me smile every morning when I enjoy the morning coffee in my very own urban rainforest.
Ascocentrum garayi originate from Thailand and Vietnam where it grows at elevations from sea level up to 1000 meters. It is a hot to warm growing epiphytic species that I actually grow successfully intermediate here in Sweden. I grow it quite bright, about 20 cm from the lights in a wood slat basket. I water every day the warmer part of the year and every other to every third day in the winter. I try to let it enjoy summer outdoors. This year it received about 6 weeks of high humidity and large diurnal temperature variation hanging outdoors.
Ascocentrum garayi Christenson, Lindleyana 7: 89 (1992).
lovely orange, is it fragrant?
Thank you! 🙂 Nope… no fragrance.
Hi, congratulation, very nice flowers and pictures.
How did you have them blossoming now? I have mine blossoming in late Spring.
Are you controlling the photoperiod?
And what about Winter rest that they should need?
Ciao
Miki
Hi Miki, and thank you! This species usually blooms in the fall for me. But this is actually the second bloom this year, it also bloomed in the spring. I give my orchids supplemental light for 12 hours per day year round. But in the summer here in Sweden we have a lot more natural light as well. This plant enjoyed 6 weeks outside this summer, with 16 hours + daylight. It does not rest in a major way, I only pull back on the water a little bit after it finishes blooming. In the winter when the natural light is negligible here and it is a bit cooler I water every other day, or perhaps every third day, instead of every day like I do now.
Beautiful orange! I have ascocentrum miniatum, it is still a baby, but should be orange too when it’s ready to bloom. What are those dark spots on the leaves of yours, is it reaction to a full sun exposure, if you don’t mind me asking? Thank you.
Thank you! 🙂 Ascocentrum garayi and miniatum are very similar and are often mistaken (and mislabelled) as each other. Yours will be just as nice as this one when it blooms. Yes, the purple spots on the leaves is a reaction to light and do increase under brighter light. Although it seems that some spotting it is common even in lower light levels.