I know it’s been a very long time since I last posted here. Might as well begin all of my blog posts that way. 😛 I tend to post on Instagram more often because it’s quick and easy. Anyway, five of my orchids have begun to spike, and I wanted to share photos of them!
First is the Phalaenopsis tetraspis var. alba x sib that I ordered from Orchids by Hausermann using my birthday gift certificate:
My orchids have, sadly, been rather dormant ever since we moved into our current apartment at the end of last June. The “orchid room” window faces southwest rather than south like it did in our last apartment, so the light isn’t quite as bright here. There has been a fair amount of new leaf, root, and pseudobulb growth, but spikes are another story. So I was thrilled at the end of March to discover a spike on my NOID Oncidium that last bloomed for me two years ago! If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you might already be aware of this development.
The spike was hiding inside the folds between the leaves and the pseudobulb, and it was a little bent but still totally viable. It was about an inch and a half long by the time I found it.
Ohhhh, I’ve been so terribly neglectful of you, my little orchid blog. Not only that, I’ve also been a bit neglectful of my actual orchids, which I feel even worse about. This summer and fall have been ridiculously busy, much more so than a typical few months for me. I had a period of time when I was only home on weekends a couple times within a couple months. For a homebody such as myself, that was pure insanity.
But I’ve finally been able to get some quality time at home and some quality time with my orchids. Now I’m excited to say that this weekend while watering I discovered not one, but TWO Phals with a spike! It’s definitely the right time of year for these to start appearing, with the cooler nighttime temperatures that we’ve been having in Brooklyn.
Spike # 1 is on my peloric Phal that I got at Home Depot several years ago. It spiked and bloomed a couple years in a row for me, but it didn’t bloom at all last year so I literally gasped with surprise when I spotted this burgeoning spike:
