Coelogyne cristata... one more !

[s.kallima]

I'm really happy it bloomed this year , it started before Christmas. I got it this summer and repotted it in S/H with live sphagnum on the top third of the pot. So after the repotting stress, I was really not expecting it to bloom...

[Swamper]

man, there are beautiful orchids and there are some that make me say wow!!!! this is really beautiful. IF I had a must have wish list this would go on it.

[calvin_orchidL]

Gorgeous cristata. I am so glad it bloomed for you.. Fragrant too, I bet. I'm not sure if mine's in sheath or not....I don't know whether the things I see are new growths or sheaths! They've grown only SLIGHTLY bigger in the last month or so...any idea what might trigger blooming? How do you grow yours?

[s.kallima]

Originally Posted by calvin_orchidL

Gorgeous cristata. I am so glad it bloomed for you.. Fragrant too, I bet. I'm not sure if mine's in sheath or not....I don't know whether the things I see are new growths or sheaths! They've grown only SLIGHTLY bigger in the last month or so...any idea what might trigger blooming? How do you grow yours?

Yes, very fragrant, I love it ! And Coelogyne are in my top 10 of the most beautiful orchids. If yours is a C.cristata too, you should have the spikes growing from the base of the mature psb from last season.
I was not sure if the spikes would grow, because of the S/H transfer I did just when the new psb where growing (mid august). By the end of september, it started to grow 2 spikes, but very very slowly, they were around 2 cm long, and then stopped growing.
At that point I put the plant in my coldest room, removed the water from the S/H pot, and put it facing south, so getting sun from 10am to 3pm (the sun in Vancouver in october is not very hot...) At the same time some psb started to loose their leaf (turned orange and fell) including the new ones
After a couple of months of not doing anything (I could just see the spikes like on the pic. below), they started to develop. The spikes were 5cm long on december 27th when I moved the plant back to a warmer place under T5 tubes, and I came back from vacation on Jan. 12th to see 2 spikes with 3 flowers each fully opened !!!

I think I was just lucky it had the will to go on with the flowers
I am not sure my attempt to create "dryer and brighter" winter conditions for 2 months did anything to trigger the blooms...
Will see next year if it makes it.

[Hedge]

Hi
Beautiful blooms and fragrance is what I'm hoping for - if someone can tell me how to propagate C. Cristata from a psb that my friend gave me. She is having problems keeping it in the right state to get it to flower, we struggle with the requirement for cool humidity with relatively dry roots at the moment, but we're working on it! So how do I get it to root, please.

Regards
Heather aka

[s.kallima]

You can do a search in the forums about backbulbs, there are some threads about it (basically, sphag n'bag technique, or live sphagnum)
My little experience tells me the Coelogyne cristata is very picky when it comes to produce roots... and it can take a very long time !!! Mine is living with barely any root (one viable root for a rhizome with 3 psb) and still flowering . And didn't produce new roots since august 08...

[Hedge]

Thank you - sounds like it could be fun!!

Regards Heather

[peeweelovesbooks]

This plant has recently caught my attention and I'm thinking of taking the plunge!

However, I'm not too sure it will grow in south florida? can I grow this outside? It's very hot and, well, hot. And humid!

Also, can I grow this inside as well--in an office environment. What potting mix would you recommend?

These are absolutely gorgeous.

[s.kallima]

peewee, I don't know the climate in winter in south florida, but for this species, you will need a bit of cooler temperatures if you want to see flowers...
Have a look at the culture sheet here:
Cool-Growing Coelogyne Culture
The coelogyne are really nice indeed, you should look in the forum if other members have this species in florida... The C.cristata is a cool growing, but you can find a species more warm tolerant... (like Coelogyne mooreana, C. pandurata,...).

There is a thread about warm growing Coelogyne :
Inquiry for warm growing, fragrant Coelogynes

[kinknstein]

Congrats s.kallima!! I gotta admit I'm pretty jealous, 3 years in and I have still not managed to get mine to flower. I will have to try a drier winter next year.
It's gorgeous!!