A question for Bulbo afficionados

[bethmarie]

There's setaceum, and tingabarinum that I know of.

Can anyone recommend any other smallish bulbos with a fairly tight growth habit? I had blumei, and loved it, but eventually couldn't accommodate it's need to ramble.

And I really like the ones who's pseudobulbs are less round or oblong, but kind of have angles to them, like you'd get if you squeezed the top and sides of a ball of clay with your fingers.

Well, reading that, I'm not sure it describes the pbs i'm talking about very well. But it does showcase my new bulbophyllum addiction pretty well.

[AnonYMouse]

How about purpurascens? B. wallichii has Hersey kiss shaped pbulbs. B. triste has squat round pbulbs. These are miniatures.

I have others but they are crawlers/climbers.

Are you interested only in section Cirrhopetaloides?

[bethmarie]

Thanks AnonYMouse! I just found purpurascens online --it's awesome. I don't know the other two, but I will by the time you can say 'google'

[AnonYMouse]

purpurascens is readily available, the other two, not so much.

[Leafmite]

I love tingabarinum. I just bought it this summer and the bloom was amazing. I have a lasiochilum, too, which grows well, is pretty compact and small.
I just ordered two from J&L, Bulbophyllum biseriale and Cirrhopetalum auratum. I hope they are really small. They had more bulbos mentioned as miniatures, too, but I wanted to see what size these were before buying more. I think I need the purpurascens, now. :|

I also have an ambrosia but no matter what I do, it never blooms. Frustrating little orchid. Giving it away would be too good for it.

[bethmarie]

Originally Posted by Leafmite

I also have an ambrosia but no matter what I do, it never blooms. Frustrating little orchid. Giving it away would be too good for it.

I had an ambrosia with about 5 pbs that sat in its pot and did exactly nothing for a year. No new growth, nothing. It was picture perfect, flawless to look at, and after a while I started to suspect someone sold me a plastic plant. Never have seen one so inert before or since. I ended up giving it to someone, I think. I had really been looking forward to seeing that cute little bloom, tho.

[Leafmite]

People do get these to bloom but no idea how.

[Subrosa]

I have a baileyii, and it's a compact plant. I nearly lost it last winter, but it rebounded well this spring and summer outside. Now if I can just get it to bloom.........

[Leafmite]

I have a baileyii, too, but I consider it to be my 'large' bulbo.

[Kevinator]

One of my favorite bulbo's is hirudinis. Its part of the cirrhopetalums and has large umbels of fiery flowers that are so big compared to the plant. I bought one literally two months ago and is now putting out three spikes. The plant fits in the palm of my hand, doesn't have much rhizome node space (unlike many of the bulbos), and, according to Andy himself, "can grow almost anywhere", although it prefers cattleya light like most cirrhopetalums. The bulbs are somewhat angular but I'm not sure if this is just because of my plant's genetics or dehydration. The only downside I can say for this one is that flowers only last a week or two, but that applies for almost all cirrhopetalums.

On the subject of bulb ambrosia, I think it may have to do with temperature drops. I saw some when I traveled to china some years ago and noticed that most of them were lithophytic living in almost full sunlight. What was more interesting was that temperatures could drop to almost fifty degrees in the winter in that area, contrary to how bulbos are mostly known as warm growers. I tried to mimic those conditions when I bought one a year ago and a month after purchase, I saw what seemed to be a new growth. You can probably guess what it actually was.