Soph. coccinea 'Fourth Dimension'

[s.kallima]

This is a beautiful flower, shape and colour, congrats! And I love the moss on the pot!

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks for looking and commenting. Hard not to love this one.

[james mickelso]

I too love the presentation. Very interesting to view. Good work.

[ronaldhanko]

Thanks, James. Appreciate the kind comments.

[Stray59]

Nice photo Ron - it is interesting to watch them expand over a couple of weeks -
I have two of the tetraploid coccinea and they bloomed very well this year - Have you ever tried to self cross yours? I was able to do so on one bloom out of five attempts and now have a nice seed pod - pic below! I wish I had moss, but need to repot first.
Thanks for posting another pro pic Ron - yours is a real beauty!
Steve

[ronaldhanko]

Looks like a good healthy pod, Steve. How do you grow yours? Mine seems to be very slow growing.

[Stray59]

Ron -
Was just going to post a few questions to you - I keep mine in a north window that gets quite chilly at night, with a small fan moving air around constantly - I have them growing on a bed of damp sphagnum about 6 inches away from a grow bulb - the smallest one is getting ready to be replanted; here are some pics

They are slow to grow, but I have found that often the blooms of slow growing plants last longer on the plant - slower metabolism maybe?
My question to you was:
When the large one bloomed this year, eventually forming about 14 buds, about 4 of those buds never entirely emerged from the leaf - they went ahead and bloomed out, but did not form long enough stems to get out and away from the leaves; the blooms were not able to entirely open and looked "crammed down in" the leaf it emerged from. Could it have been a watering thing you think?
Any suggestions would be appreciated!
Steve

[ronaldhanko]

Hi Steve,

I've not had that happen ever with a coccinea. It isn't that the stems were caught in the sheath around the pseudobulb and got folded up on the themselves? I've had that happen with hybrid Catts and it's usually the result of less than necessary humidity.

[Stray59]

Ron-
It might have been humidity - I believe it is water-related. I have since increased the waterings and they seem to be doing better.
They were among the last blooms to open and it was as if the leaf was not unfolded enough to allow the bud to emerge - but when the blooms dried up it was easy to see that the bloom stems were only about 1/2 inch long, whereas the previous blooms had stems that were about 1 1/2 inches long and stretched way away from the leaf - it was really odd. Again, I have increased the watering to almost daily and the leaves are opening up wider now so perhaps that is the key. I wish mine were in bloom again - how long have you had yours? The blooms on mine lasted for weeks - and got larger as they aged, just as you said. Wonderful plants!
Steve

[ronaldhanko]

I've had mine for three years I think - got it as a small division from a friend and it has gradually increased in size, from one lead to two now and I'm hoping more next year. I've only had it bloom in the spring and the blooms do indeed last for weeks.