Laelia anceps--first sheaths?

[papayj]

I've been growing this L. anceps var. semi-alba for four years but never have seen it bloom. I did grow crazy putting out new p.bulbs here and there but there had been no flowers, no buds, no sheaths at all... But today I found two sheath-like growth coming out of its newest leads!! I am so excited





Let's hope they are indeed sheaths and make it out to flowering.

[fishmom]

Excellent! Good Luck!

[Roy]

L. anceps never actually has a sheath as a Cattleya. It flowers by putting up a lengthy spike with flowers at the end. If this has buds only come out of a sheath then it isn't a pure L. anceps, it would be a hybrid ie, cross with a Cattleya or the like. A while to go yet to tell, I hope it is pure for you.

[SouthPark]

papayj ----- nice. Is that a leaf rather than a sheath?

[Roberta]

A question... how much light is this plant receiving? From my experience, they like to "toast" - almost full sun. I can't tell for certain, but it looks like it might be indoors - which might be a problem getting the light (and probably temperature variation) that it wants. Don't change its conditions now, with autumn approaching, any "preparation for blooming" has either happened or not for this year, you don't want to suddenly introduce harsh conditions. But looking ahead, I'd suggest putting it outside in the spring as soon as night temperatures are above 10 deg C/50 deg F, and then leaving it out unless you anticipate serious frost (a few hours of zero C/32 deg F won't hurt it at all) , summer heat is also no problem)

[papayj]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

papayj ----- nice. Is that a leaf rather than a sheath?

Well there's fat chance that it is just another leaf.. Incidentally, this year my B. nodosa and even Leptotes bicolor has produced couple of pseudobulbs with two leaves.

---------- Post added at 08:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Roy

L. anceps never actually has a sheath as a Cattleya. It flowers by putting up a lengthy spike with flowers at the end. If this has buds only come out of a sheath then it isn't a pure L. anceps, it would be a hybrid ie, cross with a Cattleya or the like. A while to go yet to tell, I hope it is pure for you.

Well, the seller has assured that it is a pure anceps...

---------- Post added at 08:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Roberta

A question... how much light is this plant receiving? From my experience, they like to "toast" - almost full sun. I can't tell for certain, but it looks like it might be indoors - which might be a problem getting the light (and probably temperature variation) that it wants. Don't change its conditions now, with autumn approaching, any "preparation for blooming" has either happened or not for this year, you don't want to suddenly introduce harsh conditions. But looking ahead, I'd suggest putting it outside in the spring as soon as night temperatures are above 10 deg C/50 deg F, and then leaving it out unless you anticipate serious frost (a few hours of zero C/32 deg F won't hurt it at all) , summer heat is also no problem)

Well it is on the south facing balcony with unobstructed view, sunlight coming in from 6 am to 4 pm.

But the major problem is the monsoon season. During July and August, almost half of the month remaining cloudy or outright downpour of rain with super thick cloud; sun barely shining, or sometimes we have few days without any sunshine at all. But I've seen people successfully growing L. anceps to bloom without artificial lighting so there's some hopes.

Anyway, this is another L. anceps var. semi-alba the seller was selling. It is supposed to be a sibling of mine (site in Korean):

Laelia anceps v. s/a (꽃대가 올라오고 있습니다) : 동ㆍ서양란 : 심폴

[rbarata]

Well it is on the south facing balcony with unobstructed view, sunlight coming in from 6 am to 4 pm.

But the major problem is the monsoon season. During July and August, almost half of the month remaining cloudy or outright downpour of rain with super thick cloud; sun barely shining, or sometimes we have few days without any sunshine at all. But I've seen people successfully growing L. anceps to bloom without artificial lighting so there's some hopes.

I think mine is a semi-alba.
About light....in their natural habitat, if I'm not wrong, during the warmer season there's rain and cloudy skies while in the cooler season there's much less rain and clear skies.
I give mine lots of sun (filterd in summer) because I have it here so comparisons with your plant might not be adequate.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by papayj

Well there's fat chance that it is just another leaf.. Incidentally, this year my B. nodosa and even Leptotes bicolor has produced couple of pseudobulbs with two leaves.[COLOR="Silver"]

Definitely hoping myself that you get flower spikes from one or both of your new growths! Would be fantastic. Your plant looks good. With adequate light, it'll do just great, and will eventually flower.

'Fat chance' is usually an idiom (saying) that means 'pretty much not going to happen' or 'no chance' or 'hardly any chance'.

Looking forward to see the flowers from your anceps!