Laelia anceps - Dry sheath

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Beautiful! That sheath will tease you for many months.

Well, I'm affraid that will happened. Months and months in a row without knowing if it will bloom...maybe that's too much anxiety.

It seems very early for a sheath, but since I grow them outdoors all winter, they may wait longer than one that gets less abuse.

Let's pray for that!

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

Well, I'm affraid that will happened. Months and months in a row without knowing if it will bloom...maybe that's too much anxiety.:

The solution to anxiety over one orchid is more orchids... enough so that something is always blooming and you don't notice them until they are getting ready to produce. Oh, you want to actually LIVE in your house?

[rbarata]

Well, I'm trying to find one of these two to distract me: Sophronitis mantiqueira or Coelogyne lawrenceana. Not available for now.

Oh, you want to actually LIVE in your house?

I could try to find a gh with a toillet and a kitchen.

[No-Pro-mwa]

It's defiantly on the right track.

[rbarata]

The sheath is oppening...is this normal behaviour?

In the meanwhile there's another new growth appearing from the same rhizome of the sheath.
The pot is starting to be in serious risk of tipping over.
I think the solution is a clay pot like the one bellow which takes advantage of the plant crawling rhizomes.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

The sheath is oppening...is this normal behaviour?

In the meanwhile there's another new growth appearing from the same rhizome of the sheath.
The pot is starting to be in serious risk of tipping over.
I think the solution is a clay pot like the one bellow which takes advantage of the plant crawling rhizomes.

My L. anceps are through blooming, but a late one is possible. It will be interesting to see! It is also possible that it is a hybrid with another portion that blooms later (my Santa Barbara Sunset is just in spike now) I have never grown one of these in a rectangular pot, but it should work, I think.

[rbarata]

I bought this one for 30€ as anceps var. "Alba" so I think it's not an hybrid...unless I was cheated.

From your words I infer that sheaths open when the plant has decided to bloom in a short time. Am I correct?
I always had the feeling that this plant is completely messed up about the season it thinks it is.

Clay recipients are widely used in my country. They are good and provide some cooling during hot and dry seasons. They are also heavy which is good to have plants outdoors, unless there's a tornado.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

I bought this one for 30€ as anceps var. "Alba" so I think it's not an hybrid...unless I was cheated.

From your words I infer that sheaths open when the plant has decided to bloom in a short time. Am I correct?
I always had the feeling that this plant is completely messed up about the season it thinks it is.

.

A plant is never "wrong" - they do what they want when they want, and don't care about our expectations. I expect there is much variation depending on the exact location where the plant originated. (After all, bloom time is one of the factors that drives speciation)

When they're getting ready to bloom, the buds emerge, then "differentiate" - move from their closely-packed cluster to the orientation they will have as flowers. Once that happens, they'll open fairly soon.

[rbarata]

This plant had much time to adapt to my seasons. That's why I think it's odd why it keeps being stubborn.

So, if I see buds comming out how much (in avg) for them to open?

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by rbarata

This plant had much time to adapt to my seasons. That's why I think it's odd why it keeps being stubborn.

So, if I see buds coming out how much (in avg) for them to open?

I think a few weeks after they individually separate from the "mass" - depending on the weather. One thing... be sure that the buds get water (or heavy misting) - they have sticky sap surrounding them, and if they can't get through it, buds can blast. Which is heartbreaking... If I have stubborn ones, I sometimes spray with soapy water to help soften that sap, if it looks like they are having trouble breaking free. (In nature, obviously rain takes care of that) Most manage this on their own and give them a chance to do that, of course.

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