Catasetum is finally spiking
 

My Catasetum piliatum 'Oro Verde' finally decided to spike. I'd just about given up hope for blooms this season, but look what I found peeking out from behind her cane. The weight of the cane had caused her to lean far too close to the edge of the pot. The emerging spike was in danger of bumping into the pot so I wrapped some raffia around the cane and stabilized it in a more vertical position. Now the spike has room to grow and the cane is less likely to get snapped off.

A big THANK YOU to Ramon and Steve for their moral support last week.

heh look at you go there :)

they have some strange looking flowers but beautiful none the less and I love the odd flowers :)

with the giant buds on em tooo :)

cool! you will have a great display (you already have a very nice plant!!) and a great fragrance... :) you will love t!

Thank you, Ramon. This plant was originally shipped while in spike, and it bloomed about a week after arriving. The blooms were amazing and they had a Wrigley's Doublemint gum fragrance. Then it made a second spike and had another successful batch of blooms.

This year's spiking cane is larger and much fatter than last years. I hope the spike doesn't get destroyed by insects. A June Beetle devoured some dendrobium buds last week. I caught him and put him to death, but now there's something else mowing down my dendrobium spikes during the night. It's probably a big American Cockroach... otherwise known to Floridian's as Palmetto Bugs. They're night feeders and their trademark damage is missing spike tips and/or holes drilled in buds. I've put out an S.O.S. call to my frog and lizard friends. They are my best arsenals of defense. :)

That is really funny about the palmetto bugs! I suspected them of eating vanda buds when some vandas were hangin in a tree that had the palmettos visibly running along the trunk at night. Nobody else mentioned this until now. I get a little crazy over these bugs so I am glad you confirmed my suspicion! Good luck on you catasetum buds!

Yep, I've caught them in the act while taking photos at night. Roaches definitely eat spikes and buds. They'll drill holes in oncidium bulbs too. I once saw a Cuban anole (lizard) eat a rather large palmetto bug. They're a great defense against these pests. I don't know if toads and tree frogs eat them. Toads probably do, and there was a great big one in my shade house last night. :biggrin:

Be sure to post pics, I have one catasetum but I don't think it will bloom this year. Their flowers are lovely.

Your catasetum might surprise you. In spite of my plants strong growth I'd just about given up hope for blooms this season. Check all around the base of your bulb daily. They like a lot of moisture until they go dormant. My plant is underpotted in a well drained potting medium and before all this rain I was watering her 2 to 3 times a day. She chose to spike towards the back of her bulb as opposed to front and center. Good luck!