Oeceoclades calcarata

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Holy squat, people! I finally got this plant to spike!!! It took many years just for this to happen, and I'm glad I stuck with this oddball.

This is one of the rarer Oeceoclades species. It comes from Madagascar. This orchid is 100%, without a doubt, a lithophytic orchid. It is not a true terrestrial. The roots will grow between the crevices of rocks with some organic material trapped in it. Whether those rocks are granitic or limestone in nature, I have no idea, but I'm willing to bet it's limestone, (because I know Madagascar has limestone deposits and also the species name "calcarata" implies calcium).

It has proven to be one of the toughest orchids I own. Oeceoclades calcarata has continued to grow for probably around the order of 8 - 10 years in spite of the periodic neglect I've imposed on it.

I got it as a 2 or 3 backbulb division, (I forgot exactly how many bulbs it was when I got it, but I knew it wasn't 1 or more than 3). Now it has a total of 12 bulbs.

This is an incredibly temperature tolerant orchid that can handle 36 F - 110 F temperatures.

I had to blast this mofo with some light. The light is still filtered, (I grow it under a dwarf lemon tree), but it is strong enough to burn some leaves on a Vanda.

Although it is nice to look at even when out of bloom, I desperately wanted this orchid to throw out some flowers. And now, there might just be some flowers to see.

As soon as my camera battery is charged up, I'll see if the photo can be posted, otherwise I'll take another photo tomorrow morning.