Lycaste cruenta season

[smweaver]

Within the next two to three weeks, I should have a nice crop of flowers from one of my Lycaste cruenta plants. This one's on its way to becoming a specimen, and with fifteen spikes and twenty buds (several of the spikes are each producing two buds instead of the customary one bud), it will provide a decent show. Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately), I can never get the cruentas to bloom at the same time as my Lycaste aromaticas, or I might be tempted to cross the two species. I do have another plant of cruenta, but it too refuses to cooperate and usually blooms about a month after this one's blooms have faded.

Steve

Lycaste cruenta in bud on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Stitzelweller]

nice job, Steve!

The source of your cruenta, please?

--Stitzelweller--

[smweaver]

This plant came from Hausermann's. I have a smaller one, just starting to spike, that came from SBOE.

[Stitzelweller]

Thanks for the enabling, Steve. I just added a cruenta from Hausermann's to others from SBOE ('Nisqually' HCC/AOS), Clackamas and Andy. I intend to become the Hunt Brothers cartel of Lyc cruenta in North America!

'Nisqually' has been in continuous flower since late December. I expect it to fizzle right before the local club has its show this weekend It has one annoying habit....it hasn't yet "doubled" on producing new leads from the previous year's pseudobulb after several years.

[smweaver]

You're welcome! And glad I could help you part with more of your money for the sake of an expanding orchid collection. :-)

This is the first year that one of the cruenta's pseudobulbs has decided to produce two new growths (I was actually much more pleased with that fact than I was with the number of spikes it's producing). The plant has produced six large growths for the last six years, but none before now ever decided to be this ambitious.

I also have Lycaste Concentration (there are pictures of it somewhere on this site), but it usually blooms long before the other yellow-flowered lycastes in my collection. If you don't have that one, and you like cruenta, I would recommend it. One of its parents is cruenta, and the blooms are large, very waxy and highly fragrant.

[Stitzelweller]

In the spirit of hoarding, I purchased my second Lyc Concentration 'Santa Barbara' AM/AOS (from a different source) last December.

It doesn't make much sense....the two different plants of the same cultivar DO grow somewhat differently. One originated in Calif, the other one I purchased from Pa. The one from Calif looks "babied"; the one from Pa is sorta "rough".

Thanks for steering me in the right direction, Steve!

[isurus79]

Ohhhhh, this is gonna be nice!! Does cruenta smell as good as aromatica? If not, why cross them? Just curious!

[BikerDoc5968]

Steve, while I love the one Lyc. I have, Takagamine, (just divided it) I don't really know much about them. But couldn't you take the pollen sack from the one that blooms earlier and save it? I know different genera have different "shelf life" for their pollen.... And, in your opinion who do you feel are the better places (several suggestions) to get Lycaste? And is SBOE Santa Barbara Orchid Estate?

[smweaver]

Well, now that you mention it, yes, saving the pollen from the first plant and using it on the second one is a great idea. My only problem (if it's really one at all) is that the largest plant (i.e. the one best suited to withstand the stress of carrying pods) is the one that always blooms first every year. So unless pollen can last for a year, the intended "mother" is never available to accept pollen when she's in flower.

I wouldn't in a million years say that I'm qualified to judge which commercial grower would be able to provide the best plants. But I like both Hausermann's and SBOE (and yes, that's Santa Barbara Orchid Estate). One of the best traits of these two firms, in my opinion, is that there always seems to be someone who's willing to talk to me whenever I give them a call and tell them what I'm looking for. And they frequently have what I'm looking for, even when it's not listed on their web sites. So I don't think you could go wrong with either company (again, that's just an opinion).

Steve, to my nose, aromatica and cruenta have completely different scents. Aromatica's scent (and I know you already know this) is famously cinnamon-like; cruenta's is much more floral. I've read cruenta's scent described as kind of like a really sweet root beer. That's true of its hybrid, Lyc. Concentration, but I still think cruenta's is a bit more floral. I like species too much to ever seriously consider crossing the two. I just think it might be kind of neat to see what their offspring would look like.

[Angurek]

Wow, that's quite a bit of spikeage. I can't wait to see it when it opens.

I have to ask the question - Have you detected fragrance from this one when you've had it in bloom? I'm a bit of a fragrance freak.