Cycnoches warscewiczii - finally some males! - Orchid Board

smweaver · #1 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 09:25 AM

After many years of stubbornly producing only females flowers, my Cycnoches warscewiczii has finally decided to give some male blooms. Very easy and rewarding to grow species with highly fragrant blooms.

Steve

cb977 · #2 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 09:49 AM

Absolutely gorgeous!
Did you move it to a different spot to get the males?

smweaver · #3 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 10:07 AM

Well, although I'd like to say that I consciously did something different this year to get the male flowers, in truth, I can't think of any changes in cultural practice that I can take credit for. We did have an unusually hot and relatively dry summer this year. Normally it's very humid here between late May and late September. But for some reason humidity levels were fairly modest (around 60% rather than the typical 90%). But I'm not sure what was the cause for the male flowers--not that I'm complaining. :-)

cb977 · #4 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 10:13 AM

Very interesting

I thought, perhaps, you had moved it to a shadier location to get the males. I guess this is the kind of stuff that just makes growing orchids all the more interesting...the

and

isurus79 · #5 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 01:26 PM

Nice looking flowers! Does this species normally bloom so late in the year or does it go 2x per year?? I might have to pick this one up as even my barthiorums (my latest bloomers) were done a month ago.

smweaver · #6 (**permalink**) 12-06-2007, 02:22 PM

This one blooms anywhere between September and, well, now. Usually it flowers earlier in the fall when the weather starts to cool down. But our temperatures didn't start to significantly drop until about four to six weeks ago. Not sure whether or not this had anything to do with it, but yes, this plant is flowering later than usual this year.

LauraN · #7 (**permalink**) 12-10-2007, 05:53 PM

Beautiful flowers! Mine only had 2 female flowers. I'm hoping for males next year!

Neverend · #8 (**permalink**) 12-11-2007, 09:17 AM

Males? Females? This orchid can have flowers of different sexes?!

smweaver · #9 (**permalink**) 12-11-2007, 10:13 AM

Oh yes. That's one of the fun characteristics of the Catasetinae alliance. :-) The females and males of Cycnoches species usually look quite similar--which is a good thing. The females of Catasetum species, which are supposedly harder to obtain, are, in my humble opinion, a bit on the ugly side; the males are much more flamboyant and, I think, preferred.