Brassia 'Spider' First Blooming

[CR7cristiano]

I got this from a parent plant that I was admiring at an orchid farm that wasn't for sale. I was very shocked to hear him say "here you go", as the worker just randomly broke off a piece and handed to me after I expressed my love of its blooms. This was in April of 2012. It was a small piece with very little roots and about 3 or 4 small leaves.
I carried it home and and i kept misting the roots daily. I eventually wired it to a piece of driftwood and hung it high in a mango tree in my back yard to mimic what I had read to be its natural environment; living in the canopies of trees. It enjoys the cool breezes and the dappled sun through the leaves of the tree it seems as it just a few months it was firmly attached to the driftwood and had an extensive root system and some strong leaf growth. By December 2012, 8 months later it had a spike; and now finally this month (Jan) the blooms have all opened.
The are very large for a first blooming of a broken off piece of an orchid, and the sepals are looong; about 6 inches.
Enjoy!

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[billc]

Good growing and a great story.

Bill

[silken]

Very nice!

[WhiteRabbit]

Awesome!

[MrsSky]

Thanks for the pics of blooms and sunshine!

[CR7cristiano]

Thanks everyone; I was really excited about this one. I'm even proud to say that the blooms are bigger than the mother plant it was taken from. although not as many blooms clearly. Hehe

[Vanda lover]

I have one that may be related to this one. It is a Spider's gold hybrid. I also have a brassidium that looks similar, and both have large flowers with sweet hint of fragrance at times. These are beautiful. The only drawback I have found is that scale insect like them a lot.

[CR7cristiano]

Well I hope for my sake that I don't encounter any scale pests. It seems to be quite happy high up in the tree thought where it will be going back to after I finish enjoying the blooms. No worries though, my monthy insect & fungi/bacteria spraying is scheduled in 2 days.

[shams]

That is a really nice plant! I used to live in JA, and I'm always sad I can't bring plants back when I visit my folks down there.

Right now I think they have 3 or 4 little orchids living in almond trees.

[CR7cristiano]

That's kool. Not going to suggest you do the same, but I have bought orchids when I go back to my place in the states and brought orchids in my suitcase. It is possible granted you have nothing to declare and you wrap them nicely in paper with you shoes or something. Lool
I do that for ones I can't find locally or from my asian wholesaler.
I'm a bad influence...so just get them some locally when you come to Jamaica next time.