My friend, Warren, gave me a jewel orchid (
Sarcoglottis sceptrodes) at the IAS meeting in Fort Worth last fall. Over the winter, several leaves turned brown and mushy and I had to remove them. I asked Warren for some advice and he suggested I might need to increase the humidity. I repotted the plant, having to cut the plastic pot apart to get the plant out. Now it is in a larger plastic pot sitting inside a ceramic pot, where the humidity is a little enhanced from the rest of the greenhouse. I was upset about the lost leaves because I really hadn't seen any replacement leaves coming. But then recently I saw some new growth, an offset, and also some new leaves(?) emerging from the center of two of the plants. About a week later I could tell these weren't leaves, but the emergence of blooming stems.
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| Sarcoglottis sceptrodes first bloom stalk starting - April 11, 2011 |
The bloom stalk grew pretty quickly in height and another started a couple weeks later.
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| Sarcoglottis sceptrodes - April 28, 2011 |
About 10 days after the stalk reached it's full height the buds began to separate from the stem and start to open, from the bottom up.
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| Sarcoglottis sceptrodes buds - May 16, 2011 |
The flowers area small, so all of these pictures are close-ups.
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| First open Sarcoglottis sceptrodes bloom - May 16, 2011 |
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| First Sarcoglottis sceptrodes bloom from the front - May 16, 2011 |
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| First Sarcoglottis sceptrodes bloom from the side - May 16, 2011 |
I realize these green blooms aren't the most magnificent thing you've ever seen, but I think they're pretty neat anyway. And I really like the way the "fuzz" shows up in these pictures.
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| Sarcoglottis sceptrodes - May 24, 2011 |
Now the first stem is in full bloom and the other stem is starting to get taller. It will probably be another 2-3 weeks before it starts to open.
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| Sarcoglottis sceptrodes - May 24, 2011 |
Warren, who gave me this plant last year, just last week sent me two more small jewel orchid cuttings to start. I'll be posting photos of those soon. Thanks, Warren!
Great close-up photos!
ReplyDeletethe blooms look like little mantises cleaning their mandibles!
ReplyDeleteWhile they're not the most exciting blooms themselves the mere fact that it's blooming is so exciting! I've always loved the foliage on these, hopefully one day I'll get one myself.
ReplyDelete