Long Awaited Bloom

Nine years ago, at my first meeting at the Orchid Society of Western Pennsylvania, I fell in love with Paph. lowii. I bought a "seedling" from the speaker for $20 and thought that was expensive! HA! Little did I know....! Well, nine years later it has finally spiked! It has been in bud for over a month! It has me sitting on the edge of my seat! Well this morning...I saw the first crack of the bud! It is starting to open up! I can't wait!!! I will be updating this slideshow as it opens!

Blooms for Show

Now that we are less than two weeks away from the show I don't think my Phal. equestris' are going to bloom in time. Interesting, especially since everything else bloomed early! Maybe leaving the keikis on there delayed their growth? I think I will have a Dendrobium kingnianum and possibly a Paph. lowii if that bud would just get fatter faster! Those big fat petals might take some time to make! I also may have a Masdevallia with two buds on it bloom in time, we'll see! Anything else we won't have in time. :(

Seedlings!

Left: Pomagrante seedlings! Right: Bhut Jolokia seedlings!

These seeds were from a store bought Pomegranate. I have no idea how they will turn out. I saved about 10 seeds while I was eating one and planted them all in this container figuring that a lot of them won't sprout. I guess I was right! Two sprouted out of 10! One is above the soil surface and one is below that you can see through the side of the cup.

I honestly did not think these seeds would've sprouted. I traded for them and they did not look very fresh and took quite awhile to sprout. I realize it is not summer and that temperature might've not been high enough, even on a seedling heat mat, but when I saw that my Pomegranate seeds sprouted I checked on my Bhut Jolokia cup that was under another cup for added warmth and there they were! I am excited :D

On another news....my Paph. lowii looks like it might be finally growing a spike after all these years! This was my first plant that I had bought at my first orchid society meeting in 2001. I remember that it was a lot of money for me to spend on a seedling at $20! Boy have I come a long way from loosening the purse strings since LOL Anyway, I suspect that it is a spike because leaves grow alternately, but the up and coming growth is coming out of the same side as the last leaf! Keep your fingers crossed! I have been waiting forever for this beauty to bloom!