Habenaria rhodocheila (orange)

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Here's one of the blooms from Habenaria rhodocheila:

[Royal]

Interesting bloom, almost vulgar. Looks awsome with the blue background! Great pictures, King!

[RosieC]

Wow, cool flower. I agree with Royal that it looks really good on the blue background.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Thanks Rosie and Royal.

I'd like to also give a special shout-out to mother nature for providing the beautiful blue background, and for blessing this world with such an unusually beautiful flower in Habenaria rhodocheila.

Just out of curiosity Royal, what makes this flower "almost vulgar". What are you seeing that I'm not seeing?...

Inquiring minds want to know...

[Royal]

Well, it's probably just me. Anything with intricate folds or protuberances just gets my mind wandering. Orchids have always seemed sexual/sensual to me, maybe that's because I know what they're up to.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Well, it's probably just me. Anything with intricate folds or protuberances just gets my mind wandering. Orchids have always seemed sexual/sensual to me, maybe that's because I know what they're up to.

Ohhh....

Okay.

Hey, you're not alone. No biggie.

And yeah, thems dastardly orchids and their conniving ways!

[musicloveranthony]

This bloom is BEATIFUL! can you post a picture of the whole plant? I'd love to see the foliage. Also, i'd be interested in the medium and pot it's in, also

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by musicloveranthony

This bloom is BEATIFUL! can you post a picture of the whole plant? I'd love to see the foliage. Also, i'd be interested in the medium and pot it's in, also

Thanks!

I'm actually a bit embarrassed by the foliage itself though as these are not quite nearly as attractive as the plant itself.

It's nearing the plant's period of dormancy and I suspect that's part of the reason why the leaves are dying back.

The first pic is of the plant itself and has the flower I posted pics of on it. It's deteriorating probably because I pollinated it correctly and is starting to wilt and produce a seed pod. The second bud I anticipate blooming in a couple of weeks. The third bud is a bust.

The second pic is of the algae covered moss I use as the surface dressing for the potting mix. It's got algae 'cause of how much water it needs during growing season.

The third pic is of the soil mix. It's potting soil with silica sand, pumice, and limestone.

All I'm going to say about this mix is that I'm unsure of it. It seems alright, and about a month ago I saw awesome roots on it, but I'm still not certain about it.

I do however, have a Habenaria carnea in full limestone with moss covering the top. These seem pretty good too. Again unsure of how it'll hold up.

I'll also post a link to how Habenaria rhodocheila grows in nature and you be the judge of it.

It's a narrated video. I think it's awesome, 'cause stuff like this is ubber rare!

Sunlight picks out plant shapes and colours

[hydrophyte]

Nice work! I think I remember that this one is rather difficult. Is that right?

I might have asked you about this some time ago, have you ever had any experience with Habeneria repens?

What a cool video. I have never run into earth-touch.com before.

That little taro like plant on the rocks looked a lot like Colocasia affinis var. jenningsii. I wonder if it might have been that or something close(?).

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by hydrophyte

Nice work! I think I remember that this one is rather difficult. Is that right?

I might have asked you about this some time ago, have you ever had any experience with Habeneria repens?

What a cool video. I have never run into earth-touch.com before.

That little taro like plant on the rocks looked a lot like Colocasia affinis var. jenningsii. I wonder if it might have been that or something close(?).

We did talk about Habenaria repens. I don't have any experience with this plant.

Habenarias aren't the easiest to grow because of the roots forming tubers. Can't break 'em or you lose the next year's growth(s). Also, root tubers only have one "eye". Stem tubers have many "eyes". If the root tuber starts declining, it's pretty much over. There're no other eyes to make a new growth, that tuber's gone. Unless...there's enough material left to clone. I'm attempting to clone Habenaria medusa (myriotricha) btw, because that's exactly what happened, the tubers started rotting.

Then there's the whole deciduous and dormancy thing.

I haven't over wintered this plant yet, so I'll be very watchful of it as well as Habenaria carnea.

Both these plants grow on limestone somethings or others.

Habenaria repens is a whole different thing. I don't even want to hazard a guess as to how it really grows and what not. All I know is that it's not a bog plant.

As for the plants in the video. I'm not aware of what all of them were. But I would guess there were a lot of Begonias,Alocasias, and Callocasias.

That video is very soothing to me. The images are very calming and the narrator's voice just pacifies any kind of anxieties I had prior.