Coelogyne Fimbriata mislabelled?

[callym]

I have two orchids labelled Coelogyne Fimbriata but I think one is mislabelled because they both look totally different.

The smaller one seems to have the growth pattern that Fimbriata has according to my searching, whereas the bigger one seems to have a super linear, non-rambling growth pattern so I'm wondering whether it is just a grown-up Fimbriata or whether it's a different type?

[Ray]

You'll have to wait until they bloom....

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

If the smaller plant does truly have long sections of rhizomes in between pseudobulbs and tends to ramble as you say it does, then there is good reason to believe that it might be Coelogyne fimbriata, although, you would get a better idea of what it is if there were flowers to help with the identification of your plant.

I will also say this about the smaller plant...with the pic you have provided, it is not readily evident that it is indeed a rambler and that there are long sections of rhizome between pseudobulbs. At the moment, all I can say about it is that it looks like a Coelogyne, I just don't conclusively know what kind it is.

The larger one clearly does not look anything like Coelogyne fimbriata vegetatively. All the pseudobulbs on the larger plant are growing too close together along the rhizome, which, as you stated, is unlike Coelogyne fimbriata. Without a flower to help with identification, it is difficult to tell you what kind of Coelogyne it is. Unfortunately, many Coelogyne, (not all), look exactly like what the larger Coelogyne looks like vegetatively.

The other distinguishable characteristic between the two Coelogyne are the size differentials. Coelogyne fimbriata is a miniature. Although it has a rambling habit where the pseudobulbs grow in between long sections of rhizomes, (which takes up a lot of space), the size of the pseudobulbs and leaves are pretty small. So, if the smaller plant in the photo is a blooming sized plant and not a seedling, then this is another reason it could possibly be Coelogyne fimbriata.

[callym]

Originally Posted by Ray

You'll have to wait until they bloom....

I'm so excited for blooms but I've got a feeling I'll be waiting a little while yet!

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

If the smaller plant does truly have long sections of rhizomes in between pseudobulbs and tends to ramble as you say it does, then there is good reason to believe that it might be Coelogyne fimbriata, although, you would get a better idea of what it is if there were flowers to help with the identification of your plant.

I will also say this about the smaller plant...with the pic you have provided, it is not readily evident that it is indeed a rambler and that there are long sections of rhizome between pseudobulbs. At the moment, all I can say about it is that it looks like a Coelogyne, I just don't conclusively know what kind it is.

Thanks so much! It's still super small and young - it was in a seedling sale in the Orchid Society show, so I'm not sure exactly whether it's rambling exactly, but compared to the bigger one where you can see the line of older to newer ones, this one has shoots growing in every direction, so more rambling than linear but obviously it's still too early to tell what it'll grow up to be like. I'm not sure why it would have been mislabelled, so for now I'll assume it's fimbriata until it flowers

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

The larger one clearly does not look anything like Coelogyne fimbriata vegetatively. All the pseudobulbs on the larger plant are growing too close together along the rhizome, which, as you stated, is unlike Coelogyne fimbriata. Without a flower to help with identification, it is difficult to tell you what kind of Coelogyne it is. Unfortunately, many Coelogyne, (not all), look exactly like what the larger Coelogyne looks like vegetatively.

Yeah that's why I made this post - the differences between them seemed too big for them to both be the same plant. I know I can't get any sort of positive ID until it flowers (and even then maybe not? I don't know a lot about Coelogynes) but I was more interested in the negative ID at the moment, as in whether the bigger one is actually not fimbriata but is something different?

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

The other distinguishable characteristic between the two Coelogyne are the size differentials. Coelogyne fimbriata is a miniature. Although it has a rambling habit where the pseudobulbs grow in between long sections of rhizomes, (which takes up a lot of space), the size of the pseudobulbs and leaves are pretty small. So, if the smaller plant in the photo is a blooming sized plant and not a seedling, then this is another reason it could possibly be Coelogyne fimbriata.

That's so interesting to know, thanks! I love the ones that have strange growth habits. By miniature, do you reckon they'll get much bigger than they are now (assuming it is fimbriata), I got it labelled as a seedling so I'm not really sure what to expect, or how miniature that means, as I know some orchids are super tiny, but then miniature Phals are still quite big (compared to the teeny orchid species).

Are all Coelogynes roughly the same in terms of care? As in, if the bigger one isn't fimbriata, does that mean I have to do anything different to care for it properly, or is it going to be roughly the same? At the moment I have it probably around 1m away from a south-facing window, but shielded by the direct sun by being behind my Monstera. It's with a Brassia at the moment but if there are more ideal conditions I can always move it

[Keithj]

I bought a Coelogyne fimbriata from Burnham Orchids last weekend. The pseudobulbs are well-spaced with around an inch between each one. They are tall and slender. Here are a couple of photos.

Keith

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Some Coelogyne can tolerate cooler or warmer temperatures than others, but generally speaking, most of them grow in intermediate temperature ranges, 15.6℃ - 29.4℃ (60℉ - 85℉).

One thing that I've found is that many of them don't like high dissolved mineral content in water. They tend to get leaf tip die back very easily because of this.

They grow well in moderately bright indirect light.

A moderate relative humidity of 50% - 70% is fine.

Many of them like a fair amount of water too. They need to dry out a little bit before they get watered though.

As a group, Coelogyne are not the easiest orchids to grow in my opinion, but they are not very difficult to grow either.

[callym]

Originally Posted by Keithj

I bought a Coelogyne fimbriata from Burnham Orchids last weekend. The pseudobulbs are well-spaced with around an inch between each one. They are tall and slender. Here are a couple of photos.

Keith

Thanks for the pictures! They really are ramblers then aren't they
My small one has pseudobulbs that are roughly the same shape, long ovals, instead of the almost perfect spheres of the bigger one I have.

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Some Coelogyne can tolerate cooler or warmer temperatures than others, but generally speaking, most of them grow in intermediate temperature ranges, 15.6℃ - 29.4℃ (60℉ - 85℉).

I'm in Scotland, so the temperatures are usually on the lower side, so at least I won't be cooking them!

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

One thing that I've found is that many of them don't like high dissolved mineral content in water. They tend to get leaf tip die back very easily because of this.

Ah that's good to know! Luckily our water here is pretty low in mineral content, low enough to grow carnivorous plants happily, so this hopefully shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

They grow well in moderately bright indirect light.

A moderate relative humidity of 50% - 70% is fine.

Many of them like a fair amount of water too. They need to dry out a little bit before they get watered though.

As a group, Coelogyne are not the easiest orchids to grow in my opinion, but they are not very difficult to grow either.

My humidity is usually 50+ so that sounds good! Should I let them dry out to the point the pbulbs wrinkle slightly then water, or is that letting them dry out too much?

Thanks so much for taking time to answer my questions

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Drying out till the bulbs wrinkle slightly is too dry. The potting media has to dry out before watering.