Laelia mixta with different flowers

[JungleJo]

Call it Laelia mixta, Hoffmannseggella mixta or Cattleya hoehnei. For me it's Laelia

The first flower seems to miss 2 petals = 3-pointed star
The second flower seems to miss the dorsal sepal = 4-pointed star
The third flower looks complete = 5-pointed star

I've never seen anything like this. It's this common? I find it very strange. I would appreciate your comments.

It's supposed to flower in the spring but it's fall. It's also one of the rupis that basically wants full sun exposure, but I've never given it more than 3 hours of direct sun (from 8-11am). I've toasted a few in my early experiments, so I go easy now.

[JungleJo]

Does anybody have an idea why this happens? Is it a one-off or is it defect in the genetics?

I'm still waiting for the fourth flower to open. Maybe it will be different as well.

[SouthPark]

Hard to say if it is a one-off etc. We can see what happens for the next time it flowers. Also - could keep note of growing conditions - such as what fertiliser it gets, and how much etc.

[JungleJo]

I grow it outside the whole year. This means it has to survive 35-40 degrees Celcius during the day in the summer and down to 13-15 degrees Celcius during the night in winter. Those are the extremes. In general it lives in an environment around 20-30 degrees. Direct sun exposure from 8-11am, shade afterwards.

I fertilize about 1 time per week during the summer with 20-20-20 about half strength. Sometimes more often, but with weaker concentration. I water almost every day in the hot summer. During the winter I don't fertilise and water down to once per week or even once every 10 days. Twice per week during warm weeks.

I treat this one the same way I treat my other rupis and they have not shown this phenomenon.

[Roberta]

I have the occasional flower that is missing segments, in various genera and species. I think that it is just a chance mutation. One thing to think about... if you are using a growth stimulant such as Superthrive, mutations can increase - I have totally stopped using Superthrive, and a lot of defective-flower problems vanished.

[JungleJo]

Thanks for the replies!

I don't use a lot of products. Mainly fertilizer, but a few times I've used a bug killer in spray form as I had what I think was mealy bugs on a sincorana. If I remember correctly, I sprayed once every two weeks on about 3-4 occasions during my bug killing campaign. I sprayed the whole collection of rupis, but the ones that flowered did so without any anomalies.

By the way, what a nice homepage Roberta. Your back yard must be heaven on earth ;-)

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by JungleJo

By the way, what a nice homepage Roberta. Your back yard must be heaven on earth ;-)

Thanks! It is a rather wonderful place... I do love to just wander around each day to find what new might be blooming.