It is time for some serious color therapy! Nothing cheers you up better than a Prosthechea vitellina in full bloom after a long dark winter. The photos barely do this stunning species justice, the flowers are even more intense in real life. After only a slightly drier winter rest, just as the dark has started to give way to the approaching light of […]
Prosthechea vitellina, formerly known as Encyclia vitellina, is a medium sized epiphyte found in Mexico to Cental America where it primarily grows in oak or pine forests and cloud forests at altitudes of 1400 to 2600 meters. It is an intermediate to cool grower that enjoys a lot of light. I grow mine potted in sphagnum moss in the intermediate window, very bright with supplemental lighting year round. It […]
Clamshell octopus, that sounds like something our of a B-horror flick… but the common name for this species is the cockleshell or clamshell orchid, although we tend to call it the octopus orchid (bläckfiskorkidé) here in Sweden. It is not hard to see why, either name fits the bill. The flowers are about 9 cm tall and are actually quite unique as […]
It has been quite exciting to follow the development of the Prosthechea cochleata seed pod over the past few weeks. It has been swelling rather quickly and it has been a thrill to watch as it is my first pollination attempt. Then things started going wrong… The new bud forming on this years new bulb started turning brown, I did not see any […]
The same lovely Prosthechea cochleata that I just pollinated have also been working on a new bud on this years’ growth. I thought it would wait until spring to bloom since it just finished blooming on the previous years’ bulb. But, this little lady had other plans, and she is facing some complications.
For some reason the bud started turning brown a few weeks […]