I don't Understand Nervilia! (flowers!)

[Bulbopedilum]

Well, so this starts when I got another Nervilia punctata earlier this year, since my last was killed by "mysterious Nervilia rot"...

It went well, and I unpotted 2 tubers at dormancy. Well, immediately after that, one of them sprouted just after supposedly "going dormant"!! And guess what it grew into!



Description:
Stalk: 14cm from the base to the tip of the floral bract.

Flower: 3 cm from the tip of the lip to the end of the ovary. The lip is 2.5 cm x 1 cm, and has a callous running along the middle. No fragrance.

Flower close-up


There is one more tuber, still asleep but doing well.

I don't think I'll pollinate this one, I don't know how long the flower will last, whether the seeds will germinate on cardboard, or if it can even be pollinated with itself and produce viable seed.

[Ray]

How were the “dormant” tubers stored?

It’s great that you got that to flower. It’ll be interesting to see what happens going forward.

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by Ray

How were the “dormant” tubers stored?

It’s great that you got that to flower. It’ll be interesting to see what happens going forward.

Thanks Ray

The dormancy process went like this: It starts with the leaves yellowing and eventually turning brown. The petiole will start to shrink soon after and the leaf will collapse. If I can pull the leaf and petiole out with a slight tug, then I unpot it and declare it "dormant".

I then stored the tubers in a small plastic cup in my room with moss at the bottom to keep them moist and put a sheet of tissue on top of the cup to deter fungus gnats just in case. I water it a bit when the moss gets completely dry.

I see a small growth at the base of the stalk, probably the leaf.

[DirtyCoconuts]

that is a fine surprise!!!

way better than unexplained rot!

[Ray]

Thanks for the reply, Saka.

I was curious if the storage affected the early sprouting.

I know nothing about the plant, but my only experience with plants that do dormant (pleione and cypripedium) was to keep them cool and moderately dry. The pleiones were left potted and unwatered for the entire winter. The cyps were unpotted, placed in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerated.

[Bulbopedilum]

Originally Posted by Ray

Thanks for the reply, Saka.

I was curious if the storage affected the early sprouting.

I know nothing about the plant, but my only experience with plants that do dormant (pleione and cypripedium) was to keep them cool and moderately dry. The pleiones were left potted and unwatered for the entire winter. The cyps were unpotted, placed in a sealed plastic bag and refrigerated.

I sort of doubt that the storage method is affecting the sprouting here. I have some more tubers in similar storage and they are still dormant as expected. I haven't had a too good experience storing Nervilia tubers in completely dry conditions without the moss.

I suspect this is just because of where the plants originate; these Nervilias come from areas closer to the equator than Pleiones and especially Cypripediums, so will expect less seasonal variation.

I unpotted the tubers because I just really like them, I could have just let them in the pot.