Huntleya burtii First Bloom

[unhappykat]

Hello all,

This is a first bloom for my Huntleya collection. I have been acquiring these over the last few years as I am able to find them.

This is the first bloom on this plant, I believe it was imported from Panama last year during a group order. The bloom is only 3.5 inches across but very richly colored and fragrant. The flowers are very waxy and thick, they truly look artificial in comparison to the plant.

[lotis146]

That is fabulous! I love the color. I recently got H. wallisii in bloom, their flowers really are so unique, they do seem unreal.

I've heard Huntleyas are rather difficult to care for and given the two I have are new I've yet to experience how true this is or isn't. May I ask how you care for yours?

Thanks for sharing, it's beautiful.

[unhappykat]

Originally Posted by lotis146

That is fabulous! I love the color. I recently got H. wallisii in bloom, their flowers really are so unique, they do seem unreal.

I've heard Huntleyas are rather difficult to care for and given the two I have are new I've yet to experience how true this is or isn't. May I ask how you care for yours?

Thanks for sharing, it's beautiful.

I grow all of my Huntleya in small clay pots with long fiber sphagnum moss or in slotted plastic pots with a smaller pot inverted inside the container to keep the roots aerated. The plants are kept slightly damp at all times, never drying completely, and are fertilized year round. My temperatures in the winter run 65F minimum and I try to keep the summer highs below 90F for the majority of the time. Light is similar to that used to grow multifloral paphiopedilums and smaller growing cattleyas.

I have not found them to be fussy growers, but I cannot speak for all of the species as I have only come across 5 offered for sale at this time and this burtii is the only one to flower so far.

May I ask where you obtained your H. wallisii?

[lotis146]

Originally Posted by unhappykat

I grow all of my Huntleya in small clay pots with long fiber sphagnum moss or in slotted plastic pots with a smaller pot inverted inside the container to keep the roots aerated. The plants are kept slightly damp at all times, never drying completely, and are fertilized year round. My temperatures in the winter run 65F minimum and I try to keep the summer highs below 90F for the majority of the time. Light is similar to that used to grow multifloral paphiopedilums and smaller growing cattleyas.

I have not found them to be fussy growers, but I cannot speak for all of the species as I have only come across 5 offered for sale at this time and this burtii is the only one to flower so far.

May I ask where you obtained your H. wallisii?

Thank you for that. Do you grow yours outdoors, I see you live in CA?

I got mine from Andy's Orchids (also got one he's calling H. pallida, he said that's what he's calling it b/c there's a lot of naming issues going on right no, so I'm not entirely sure what this flower will look like).

Hope you see more blooms soon! I plan to move mine outside in the summer. They arrived in 6" hanging net pots with moss.

[unhappykat]

Originally Posted by lotis146

Thank you for that. Do you grow yours outdoors, I see you live in CA?

I got mine from Andy's Orchids (also got one he's calling H. pallida, he said that's what he's calling it b/c there's a lot of naming issues going on right no, so I'm not entirely sure what this flower will look like).

Hope you see more blooms soon! I plan to move mine outside in the summer. They arrived in 6" hanging net pots with moss.

I do not move this particular family outdoors here in the summer, the thin leaves and need for constant moisture are difficult to maintain in the dry heat we have.

I will be contacting Andy to try and get more info on that H. palida and H. wallisii from Andy's. Thank you for letting me know about that, Andy usually has pretty nice plants for sale.

[lotis146]

Yes they are healthy looking plants. Happy to hear from someone else experienced with these. How many Huntleyas do you have, if you don't mind my asking. Do you collect other Zygopetilinae alliance?

[WhiteRabbit]

Beautiful!

[smweaver]

Great-looking bloom. The colors and lacquered appearance are really attractive.

[RosieC]

Wonderful!

[Tindomul]

Interesting.