Fall 2021 Blooms and Spikes
Hello there! Yes, it’s me, the occasional orchid blogger. I’m back with a new look for my website! I’m still tweaking the appearance, but if you see anything funky, please feel free to leave a comment letting me know. The previous version of my site was not mobile friendly, but this new version should be compatible with mobile devices. 🙂
My favorite time of year is here, and along with it are a couple blooms on my Cattleya Mrs. Herbert Greaves that I got from Santa Barbara Orchid Estate back in 2016.
Isn’t she a beaut?! This orchid actually hasn’t bloomed for me since 2016, so it’s been a long five years of patience. Interestingly, the blooms are a much darker shade than they were the last time this orchid bloomed. These two blooms are about faded now, almost two weeks after opening up. They didn’t last too long last time, either. But the Catt has another sheath developing on a different growth, so I should get a couple more blooms out of this one!
Side Shoot Bloom
In the past week I’ve had a pretty bloom open up on a side shoot of a NOID Phalaenopsis:
There are two more buds on this spike, so I’ll have another couple blooms to enjoy while I wait for the blooms on my new spikes. Which brings me to….
New Fall 2021 Spikes
As of this writing, I have nine Phals with new spikes in development! Hopefully I’ll end up with even more, but nine is fantastic and I’ll take it!
The spike on this NOID from Trader Joe’s is one of the longest right now:
And this spike is growing on the keiki from the above TJ’s NOID Phal (I separated it and potted it on its own years ago):
Here you can see a tiny nub of a spike poking out of the base of a white NOID Phal keiki that’s now potted on its own:
Another tiny spike nub growing from the base of this NOID Phal from Whole Foods:
My Phalaenopsis Star April’s Coming ‘M230’ from Orchids by Hausermann actually has two spikes poking out. These initially looked like roots to me, but then it became clear that they’re spikes (obviously quite a bit more exciting):
My peloric NOID Phal from Home Depot is spiking again. This orchid has rebloomed many times for me, and it’s one of my favorites! I’ve had this orchid since 2009…I’m gonna give myself a pat on the back for that. 🙂
The Phal Venosa ‘CH’ that I got from Hausermann’s had a keiki that grew big enough to be potted individually. It’s doing pretty well on its own and is now working on a spike:
The white NOID Phal that I rescued from my friend who received it as a gift at work is also spiking again:
As is this NOID Phal that I received as a birthday gift in 2011!
So very exciting to see so many spikes in my greenhouse! I’ll update here as the orchids begin to bloom.
Hope you’re all continuing to stay safe during this never-ending pandemic. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel now!
