Prosthechea (Encyclia) cochleata.

[megrim]

I have had three of these little beauties since they were one Pbulb each, not long out of the flask. I have been waiting with baited breath for them to flower, as I adore the entire Encyclia conglomerate.

This year all three have put out flower spikes, in this case 2 This is the first one to finally open, the other two are still in bud.

I'd be interested to hear from other people who grow these as there seems to be a lot of variation in flower size, colour and reports of fragrance. Mine have much more compact sepals/petals than many I've seen and mine also have a moderate fragrance that I would describe as a cross between soap and latex. Not unpleasant, but not something I would wear as a scent on purpose

[lily99]

Very pretty! I have one of these. Its petals and sepals are longer and thinner than yours. My son says it looks like a squid.

[Paula Frayne]

Ditto on the above for me too. The sepals and petals are also more of a light green on my plant and it has a mild pepper-like scent in the morning. Mine is blooming right now too.

[cbuchman]

Me too - my sepals & petals are longer and thinner. They also have some purple dots near their base which is interesting. Mine is quite large and usually had 5-7 branching inflorescences. It usually blooms for me in late spring and through the summer here in northern NJ, USA. It's in bloom for about 7-8 months of the year.

[tuvoc]

Nice one.

Kim

[WhiteRabbit]

Lovely!

[magicatt]

Mine is just sitting there with empty sheaths, about five altogether. I guess it will bloom when it is darn good and ready.

As I recall mine were longish. Its been a while. Good growing to get yours to bloom so soon.

[megrim]

Originally Posted by magicatt

Mine is just sitting there with empty sheaths, about five altogether. I guess it will bloom when it is darn good and ready.

As I recall mine were longish. Its been a while. Good growing to get yours to bloom so soon.

Mine have gone nuts since I got them. I grow hot, (32C/90F day, 21C/70F night) with high, (70-90%) humidity and high light. This drops down over winter, but generally I find everything from the Encyclia alliance grow like weeds.

I have some Oncids that sulk along, they still flower but I can tell they're not loving it. Maxillaria and Zygopetalum are other groups I'm having good success with under these conditions - neither known for being especially hot growers.

I have a few Bulbo's that are from steamy jungles that aren't doing well though, so go figure -shrug-.

Next on my list to try are some slippers for the shadier sections at the back. I've not tried them before, so looking forward to the challenge.


EDIT: Looking at the two sibling plants of the flowering one, I think this guy may be a bit of a mutant. The other two haven't blossomed yet but their buds are already much longer, thinner and darker than the buds on this guy. Will be very interested to see if there's much variation when these next two do their thing.

[silken]

Very nice. I have an Encyclia radiata but not this one.

[ChaseGhost]

On mine the sepal's are much longer and spotted at the base, Also the "hood" (lip) is much darker almost black in spots with some green thrown in. Never noticed a sent, Also it's the national flower of Belize!