Psychopsis in Springtime

[Rosiefuture]

OMG! That is one freaky looking orchid! Beautiful but it looks like an alien! I thought Stanhopea flowers looked alien but that beats even them! I had never heard of a Pyschopsis before, is it part of an alliance?

Oh boy, now I want one! LOL but I'm very unlikely to be able to find one over here in Oz.

Great growing and pics

Marion

[Rosiefuture]

I've just seen that it's part of the Oncidium alliance, I thought it might be. Now I have to go hunting on the net to see if I can find one.

Marion

[jrodpad]

Natasha - For me the wait was pure agony - I was worried about loosing the bud to blast the entire time. It does make you appreciate the bloom that much more when it opens.

Post pics when it blooms!

Marion,

Yes it's part of the onc alliance. I'm a fan of the crosses that Carter and Holmes puts out. My next one will be one of the papillio hybrids from C&H.

-J

[jeffg]

Nice pix - thanks for posting the bloom sequence.
Even after years of watching, this plant never fails to amaze me with it's strange flower.

[Rosiefuture]

Well doesn't look like I'll be getting one anytime soon, I wish it was a bit easier for us to get a better range of orchid in Western Australia.

Marion

[jrodpad]

Does anyone know if psychopsis are prone to throwing out keikis? Is this something that you can coax with stimulants?

Thanks.

- J

[jrodpad]

Just a quick update. The bloom lasted for just under 5 weeks. I returned form vacation to find it drying out on the table under the orchid. So sad.

Two days after that, I noticed that the same flower spike was already throwing out a new bud! That's less than 1 week from discarding the prior bloom.

I love psychopsi (plural?) - oh yeah, and it's pushing out a new pseudobulb too! I should go on vacation more often.

- J

[Grandma M]

jrodpad, it looks great. They are so much fun to grow.

I bought my first Psychopsis in October, 2008. It has been in bloom almost constantly since then. One bloom falls off and the next one will form right behind it. I have purchased a couple more since then and I always have one or two in bloom at any time.

I grow mine in my home, in S/H and they seem to love it. One of mine is almost bursting it's pot now and needs a larger pot. The nice thing about growing them in S/H pots is that I do not need to disturb the roots to repot the plant. I just remove the small pot and place the whole thing into a larger pot and fill in the empty space. They never know they were transplanted and don't miss a beat.

Those little butterflies are addicting. I love mine and my great-grandchildren always head for my plant room when they come to see me......or should I say they come to see my butterflies?

Marilyn

[jrodpad]

Grandma M - Thanks for the tip regarding S/H. I'm going to have to give that a try.

I couldn't agree more on the addiction point. I could go completely overboard collecting these guys. My daughter - who is 4 years old and is already shaping up into a junior orchid nut - refers to the psychopsis bloom as the "helicopter flower". Now that's all I can think of when I see the butterfly.

- J

[jrodpad]

My Mendenhall threw out another bloom last week. I didn't get around to snapping a photo until last night - but I figured it was better late than never.

Here's the "helicopter flower" rebloom (2nd bloom since I've been caring for her).

Regards,

- J