First and second blooms

[Jeff214]

Cattleya Peckhaviensis x Cattleya luteola bloomed for the second time and the blooms were quite an improvement over the first bloom! I know that's relatively common with Cattleyas but didn't realize how dramatic the difference could be.

Does anyone else have comparison of first and later bloomings of any orchid?



First bloom:




Second bloom:

[DirtyCoconuts]

same growing conditions?

[SouthPark]

Wonderful colours. The particular lip shape having the maxima kind of line pattern is very nice feature, along with the green tepals. The lip pattern reminds me more of maxima than aclandiae or schilleriana - although I can see the pattern in schilleriana. Beautiful.

Not sure what the mechanism or explanation/reason is for those cases -- where the first-time flowering doesn't come out in the same way as later flowerings. Nice variation though!

[Jeff214]

Originally Posted by DirtyCoconuts

same growing conditions?

First bloom was cultured under grow lights. The second was grown outdoors in bright shade. Admittedly the "experimental conditions" aren't comparable, I do this frequently with most of my plants. I hadn't seen the difference as pronounced as this! Anyway I just though it was interesting.

[Fairorchids]

Differences on this scale are common, influenced by differences in:

Light
Temperature
Plant Size

[Jeff214]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Differences on this scale are common, influenced by differences in:

Light
Temperature
Plant Size

That's quite surprising that these differences are common. The first flower was waxy, glossy, with heavy substance like certain bifoliates. The current blooms are thin, matte, and are much more unifoliate like. While the spotting and lip pattern might be similar, I would have never guessed it was the same plant.

Well, please excuse my ignorance. I'll ask the moderators to delete this thread.

[Roberta]

Delete? Why? I find it quite interesting to see the variation! And a lesson for all who might be disappointed in a first blooming... think of an adolescent maturing to become an adult!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Fairorchids

Differences on this scale are common, influenced by differences in: Light, Temperature, Plant Size

Sounds good Kim. I had been wondering about that kind of thing in the past as well - where growers discuss first-time flowering, and 'improvement' with flower 'quality' with time/age etc. For first-time flowering, I can maybe understand it if the plant is still small and can't get enough water or something to the flower ----- or not enough nutrition/sustenance etc ---- then the flower shape could be just different than normally expected. Otherwise, I'm thinking that under suitable conditions, first-time flowers should be just fine. But not sure heheh ...... this is just thinking about it only.

[Fairorchids]

Jeff: No need to feel embarrassed. I have been around orchids since I was born (my dad had an orchid nursery, and I worked for him part time for 9 years, after school and beyond), and I am still learning.

South Park: Here are two examples, both reflect bloomings of mature plants:

Rhynchorides:
The first photo = summer blooming, hanging outdoors in full sun; second photo = winter blooming in greenhouse, following 30+ days of no sun due to constant cloud cover.

Cattleya:
The plant on the left developed inflorescence in the greenhouse. The plant on the right developed inflorescence in an apartment on Manhattan, with only morning sunlight.

[SouthPark]

Thanks for posting those pics, and those nice details Kim. For those pics ----- the two plants in the one photo (the catts) are divisions, right? ----- same DNA, but subjected to different environmental conditions, right?