Cattleya mossiae semi-alba "first" bloom

[bernardomantas97]

Greetings everyone!

I can't possibly compete with Marie's mossiae (just stunning, btw), but the "first" flower is opening now on mine. It's technically not the first, but the previous one wilted from a mealy bug infestation before I purchased it last year. It was supposed to be a tipo (or so the tag said), and since the seller never got to see it, I was also expecting a tipo flower; turns out I now need to buy a tipo but crossed out the semi-alba from my list (and for a mere 25€ nevertheless)

So, after almost dying from the mealy bugs and lack of roots (and ending up losing 2 and a half leaves because of that), here's the stunning flower still opening up. Pretty close to 17cm NS for now (the plant being 20 ~ 23cm tall).

Honestly? This is my favourite plant now, and I couldn't be prouder of it for making it through the rought start it had and still putting on this show.

Please enjoy! And I'll update the post once the flower is fully open, eheheh

[orchidman77]

another beautiful s/a mossiae indeed! I'm glad you were able to save it and that it bloomed for you. Hope that new growth grows big and strong to support the plant!

[Jeff214]

congrats on your mossiae! I think it's wonderful

[Louis_W]

Congrats on the flower! The plant looks really healthy! Im sure youll get many more out of it!

[isurus79]

Nice! It's giant!

[bernardomantas97]

Thanks everyone for the nice words!

The petals are now fully white (the lighting might not be the best to showcase that, but unfortunately it's all I have for today ) and the scent is kicking in!

[marie458]

Aren't orchids amazing, esp. species orchids? Kudos to you for helping your orchid overcome those daunting challenges. I'm sure she's rewarding you for your efforts with such a beautiful bloom. Congrats!

P.S. Thank you so much for the shout out!