Here is my Paphinia Majestic's first bloom. Since this guy points straight down, I had to take pics from the floor, pointing up. Theyre not the greatest quality , but you get the idea. No scent though, dern it.
Oh, I almost forgot, thats one of my rabbits helping to arrange the flowers. I think she was actually trying to get a taste test! Needless to say, no orchids were harmed in the making of this picture.
That's beautiful. Hopefully, it is a preview of things to come for mine. I have a Paphinia cristata 'Dark Star' X self with 3 buds. Hope they don't blast. It will be a first blooming.
but they need a very high relative humidity level, right?
Im not sure. I just grow mine outside and they do great. I think humidity in Hawaii averages around 60%, which seems pretty normal for a lot of locations. They are Stanhopinae, so prefer plenty of moisture around the roots.
I only know them from the amazonian forest, growing near to the Angel Fall... very very very humid that's why I thought they would like a RH > 70% or so...
...and curious anecdote, they almost always grow very low in the forest, at around 1 - 2 feet from the ground