I currently have four orchids in bloom. I have two more in bud. Most orchids take a long time to bloom. One of mine started spiking in November, and it finally bloomed now!
Dendrobiums are so easy to take care of. Many of them, such as the hard cane Dens, do not need to be watered during the winter. At all. I gave a Dendrobium kingianum to a friend with a brown thumb, and it's still alive!
I currently have a Dendrobium unicum in bloom. It's a small plant, about eight inches high. I love its orange. This plant started spiking in early March.
Side and front view of Den unicum.
The next orchid is the one that started spiking in November! It's Gastrochilus bellinus. This is a very small plant. Each flower is about the size of a fingernail. They hang down, under the leaves. This picture was taken looking up at the plant, which is mounted on a small piece of wood.
This next orchid is a real mini. It's in a pot that's one inch in diameter. This is Lepanthopsis astrophora "Stalky." Each flower is about five millimeters tall and maybe three millimeters wide. It's that tiny. I think this is one of my favorite orchids in my collection. It had about seven stalks with dozens of flowers each.
My last orchid is one that I bought at Lowes. This is a hybrid, as opposed to the species above. It's Brassolaelia "Yellow Bird." I'm not sure about its exact parentage, but there is obviously some Brassavola and some Laelia. However, I think mine might be a bit mislabeled, because I've never seen a Yellow Bird with spots on the sepals.
Orchids in spike are Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom "Carmela" and Restrepia striata. A hybrid and a species respectively.
Hello, my name is Carla and i just brought a yellow bird from lowes today. It is not in bloom...its in about a 4 1/2 " pot very young...i love it any tips you could give me would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how familiar you are with orchids, but first, give it a good soak. Put it under the tap and let the water run through it. It probably hasn't been watered in a long time. Then it doesn't hurt to repot the plant in fresh medium (bark or lava rock). I use lava rock for my Cattleya/Lealia species and hybrids because I tend to over water them. Place the plant in a southern window, and you're good. Water whenever the media is dry, and make sure there's no standing water.
This plant grows quickly, so it might not hurt to plant it in a larger pot, but that depends on how much space it's taking up now.
Hope that helps!