Dryadella edwallii bloom
 

Hey there!

I just started a future dart frog terrarium which has been planted with orchids, bromeliads, begonias and other tropical plants. One of the orchids in my collection is a Dryadella edwalli which has put out 4 buds so far and 3 of them have bloomed! I'm very excited ;-)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5182/...cb55555f_b.jpg

woo hoo! :wtg:
those are really cool! good growing!

Neat-o!
What an interesting species.

I should mention that the flowers are ~2cm from tip to tip and the whole plant is about 4" from leaf tip to leaf tip.

What a cutie. Hope the frogs appreciate it.

I doubt the frogs will even notice it, but I sure will ;-)

This is one of my favorites. I brought it to our society meeting last month because I thought it was rather pretty. Lo and behold: it got the best in class ribbon! I grow mine in a net pot and the blooms form a complete circle. Look at them through a magnifying glass and in sunlight. They are stunning!

I wish I owned a magnifying glass! I'll put that on the list of things I "need" to spend money on! :-)

That's a very good idea. I can't do without. Not only because I grow minis, but it's great for spotting mealies when they're still very small, and so prevent an outbreak.

I love this one I have many and I never get sick of there bloom it kinda hypnotizes me .Love it man,

Really cool!

What sort of size is it. I bought a Dryadella zebrina which had tiny tiny flowers. Is this similar? They are such cute things!

It's about 2cm from tip to tip of the inflorescence. The whole plant is probably 3-4" across from leaf tip to leaf tip.

That sounds a little bigger but not much. I'll have to keep an eye out for this one.

Ok.. SO!

My edwallii blooms have changed.. They dont look like they're dying or going to fall off or anything.. in fact a 4th bud is about to open and the plant is making a 5th bud. I decided it would be OK to go ahead and mount the orchid so I put it relatively close to my light, about 8" away. The leaves are turning slightly purple which I hear is just the plant maxing out on necessary chlorophyl and is actually just an indication of perfect lighting.

The reason I'm posting, however, is that like I said, the bloom is changing. The top has curved over on all the blooms and on the one closest to the light it is developing a beautiful purple color.

Check it out:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5189/...73b50499_z.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3486/...7ca4da25_z.jpg

I know the blooms dont have chlorophyl in them, so why is it changing colors?

Mine did that too. This seems to be a natural part of the aging process. Eventually the flower will wilt. Mine has been putting out new blooms, while the others were dying off. You'll have all the stages together. Be careful that you don't give it too much light and stress the plant. It's a cutie.

Ahh ok! I read on andy's that they were long lasting blooms and I suppose the first one opened 2 weeks ago so I guess I wasnt expecting them to begin to fade so quickly. The color it's turned is truly beautiful however, so I'm not disappointed!

As for the light, if I see any signs of stress other than purple tinge I will immediately move it down, but from what I have read, the slight purple is ok. It's certainly not going to get too hot as the lights I have dont put out too much heat. Would it just be UVB that burns the leaves? I have heard that putting the plants as close to the light as possible without them burning is optimal as it allows the maximum use of chlorophyl.