Bent/broken leaves near base

[Jak]

Another week another photo... this time around the spike did seem too fat and too tall even for this back-bulb to produce, so I checked it and despite the warm weather when it appeared it is a flower spike, not a growth...

I will reopen the report for future growers in case I get a big growth spike in future...

Thank you all for your support!

J.

[Roberta]

Looks like a spike! Looking forward to photos of flowers.! 6-8 weeks would be my guess.

[Jak]

Thank you Roberta,

yes it is officially a spike - and hopefully you are correct. Last time the spikes were growing for close to 4 months before flowering... this one seems to be in more of a hurry :-)

J.

[Roberta]

Orchids teach patience! Do watch as the spike gets longer... a little more, and you may want to add a stake to guide it to good presentation, especially if it is one of those that tends to arch.

[Jak]

That they do Roberta :-)

I have looked at my old pictures and it took 4 moths to go from the first to the spike to the bud - days before revealing itself:-)

... I have the stake from supporting the leaves which I don't need anymore, so that is fortunate not to disturb the roots of the plant.

J.

[Jak]

Hello Roberta,

as an update and question - the flowers (11 in all on the spike, which is more than last year) have started to open and all at the same time too (last year they opened one after the other)! The spike also took about 3 months to mature and bloom which is quicker than last year.

To be sure this quickening of the maturation of the spike, the blooms all blooming in at once, and the number of flowers increasing - is this just the weather and lighting being better (which they were this year), or is it a sign the orchid is liking things more this year?

Thank you,
Jak

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Jak

To be sure this quickening of the maturation of the spike, the blooms all blooming in at once, and the number of flowers increasing - is this just the weather and lighting being better (which they were this year), or is it a sign the orchid is liking things more this year?

Thank you,
Jak

Could be either, or both. (I see lots of year-to-year variation in blooming, my Cyms get whatever Mother Nature provides in the way of light and temperature) But congratulations on the flowers!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by Jak

or is it a sign the orchid is liking things more this year?

Excellent results and bloom Jak! As we know - orchids haven't got brains (mentioned in some other post somewhere), so they can't do things such as like or dislike.

Just think of the orchid as a system or factory. If conditions provided for this system or factory allow for it to do the processing for growing and flowering and staying healthy, then we get good observed results. If somewhere along the line - some other conditions are provided - then we can get other sorts of observed results.

[Jak]

Thank you both!

I will chalk this down to the orchid liking (being provided conditions closer to ideal) where it's at vs. before :-)

Jak