C bowringiana oddity - Orchid Board

nancy · #1 07-05-2009, 06:55 PM

Greetings -
I divided this old plant (into fourths) this spring for the first time in a number of years...too big for my brawny child to lift for the photo!
This morning I noticed this little mutant half-flower poking out of the top of one of the new growths - I put a little tag on the growth so I will note whether or not it blooms normally this September.
My best guess: stress due to continued scorching heat, no rain for 6 weeks, combined with aforementioned hacking apart.
This plant is one of my first orchids, blooms each fall without fail, carrying clusters of 8-10 flowers on each new growth. A real favorite.
Cheers - Nancy

peeweelovesbooks · #2 07-05-2009, 07:02 PM

wow...how interesting. please keep us updated. :0 Nice specimen size too!!

SP2340 · #3 07-05-2009, 09:17 PM

Wow, that thing is huge!! Where'd you get a pot that big?? And nice hair on your daughter!

isurus79 · #4 07-06-2009, 01:31 AM

That is definitely one of the more bizarre thing I have seen growing from a Catt. Weird!!

Becky15349 · #5 07-06-2009, 01:45 AM

That is crazy!!! Wow!!

Cookiemonster · #6 07-06-2009, 02:57 PM

That is definitely weird- the plant is probably stressed from the high heat, lack of rain ect. can you move it somewhere a little bit cooler and water it a bit more often, that might help calm it down for a bit.

Royal · #7 07-06-2009, 03:21 PM

Cool Nancy. It looks like a healthy, happy plant (minus the stress - I feel your pain, no rain here in a while either until yesterday

). Obviously well grown, looking forward to the pics this fall.

axle · #8 07-06-2009, 04:10 PM

I also think it's the stress of being divided.
Not even stress so much, just a natural reaction. If it was living in the wild, and a portion of the plant becomes separated from the rest of plant it could be likely that the portion falls to the forest floor, where it may not have a chance to survive, so it fires off some blooms in a last ditch effort.
Obviously in cultivation that portion is potted fresh and will continue to thrive, but the hormones kicked in once it was severed.
It's very cool to see that the plant had so much reserve energy that it could try to bloom from such a small nub of a new growth.