Orchid blog
This blog is dormant at the moment, but it is still getting a lot of visitis so I will keep it up for you guys as a resource. My future adventures will be published on my new blog, hope to see you there!
My focus… if pressed to name favorites it would have to be orchids of the Pleurothallid Alliance. But a Paphiopedilum was the first orchid I ever fell in love with so slipper orchids will always be close to my heart, and while we are on the subject I might as well disclose a love affair with Neofinetia as well.
Phalaenopsis bellina bud drop
It's bellina season again... It smells lovely in the warm vivarium right now, although I think my particular clone has a pretty weak scent for a bellina. Some say one flower can fill an entire houses with its fragrance, mine is definitely a bit more shy than that but I do not mind. This species likes it hot and humid, why I keep mine in the warm vivarium. If the RH drops too much it will either [...]
Ecuador orchid flask baby report
It was finally time to repot the little seedlings I bought from Ecuagenera in flasks at the orchid show in Gothenburg 2008. Since deflasking them I have grown them intermediate/warm in a small mini-greenhouse and communal pots with sphagnum moss. It is recommended you grow all small seedlings, even cool growers, a bit warmer but now I thought they had grown large enough to move into the cool vivarium with the grownups. They have been [...]
Stelis sp.
A very nice little Stelis species from Costa Rica, my first. I have actually had this one since December but it really took off after moving in to the cool vivarium this spring. It just finished blooming on five inflorescences, each holding approximately 10-15 beautiful deep burgundy flowers measuring about 1 cm and lasting for over 2 months. The flowers themselves are not very spectacular, but so many blooming at the same time created quite an impressive display. [...]
Pleurothallis nuda
This is another purchase from my big Peru Flora order this spring... I grow it potted in a plastic mesh pot with EpiWeb substrate in the lower half of the cool vivarium. It has been blooming all summer and is still going strong, usually with 2-3 flowers open at a time. Each inflorescence produces more than one pendulous flower in succession and they last for a few weeks each. Pleurothallis nuda is a small epiphyte that grows across pretty [...]
Dracula rezekiana
I love orchid buds almost as much as I like the flowers. Most orchids have the most amazing buds and I particularly like the moment right before they are about to open up, it is a very sensual moment. Dracula buds are right up there among my favorites. The fused long narrow sepals and the swelling flower threatening to burst them wide open at any moment... This Dracula rezekiana came from Peru Flora in April and I [...]
Restrepia elegans
This orchid came in my Peru Flora order back in April and it just finished blooming for me. A nice blooming for such a small plant with about 4-5 flowers at a time for about a month. The flowers do not last for very long, perhaps a week, but it is a sequential bloomer so you get several flowers per inflorescence. I really like the markings on the flowers and the distinct Restrepia shape. It is not hard [...]