catasetum incurvum, mixed spike

[catasetum-ian]

couldn't wait for the male one to bloom before i post this because this is my first female...actually a hermaphrodite incurvum. always intrigue by the tall hood of the incurvum. in the first place, i thought the pileatum female hood is tall, but this one seems taller!

actually the male on this spike is induced, capped with styrofoam cap immediately i noticed the female bud is forming at the very first place

[tuvoc]

Totally awesome 'hoodie'. Could you please explain what you mean by 'induced'.

Kim

[coz2001]

Congratulation ian with your first female, she's very cute.

[catasetum-ian]

Originally Posted by coz2001

Congratulation ian with your first female, she's very cute.

thanks. but you are the first one to say she is cute (or should is say he..haha, most of the comments i got were "aliens with a big head!!"

Originally Posted by tuvoc

Totally awesome 'hoodie'. Could you please explain what you mean by 'induced'.

Kim

oh...the moment this spike emerge, because it was semi erect, i suspect it is a female spike. and the moment i saw the first few buds forming with a large pedicle, i used a styrofoam to make a cap for the spike, thus creating a dark environment for the spike to induce formation of male flower and true enough the last two buds were male. just wish they would open before the female wear out because i would like to self this one.

[euplusia]

Interesting. I've never seen a female flower of incurvum. Do you have pollen available for a cross?

[orchidsarefun]

having recently seen this movie ( don't bother ! ), I was immediately reminded of this dude. Who knows where costume designers get their inspiration

Pictures & Photos from Spaceballs - IMDb

[catasetum-ian]

Originally Posted by euplusia

Interesting. I've never seen a female flower of incurvum. Do you have pollen available for a cross?

unfortunately i do not have incurvum pollen available, my only shot is the two male flower at the end of the spike. but because the female flower is bloom much way ahead before the male ones, i am afraid the female would not last that long.
so far i am using a netting to wrap around the female, hoping no nosy insect would remove the pollen cap to maximize the lifespan of the female flower hoping that the male would bloom in time

[isurus79]

Congrats on the getting the mixed spike!

[euplusia]

Female flowers usually last longer than male ones.

[catasetum-ian]

Originally Posted by euplusia

Female flowers usually last longer than male ones.

yes. but too many nosy insect around messing up with the anther, once the anther cap fall off, the flower wilts almost immediately. thus i am wrapping them up like, like how a florist wrapped a chrysanthemum flower