Tiny buds! (L. astrophora "Stalky") - Orchid Board

Fishkeeper · #1 05-23-2021, 03:42 AM

Here's a phone pic, and zoomed+cropped phone pic, of some of the buds on my Lepanthopsis astrophora. I count four or five new flower stalks on the plant, though I'm not sure on the numbers, there are some old flower stalks left. I'm halfway expecting the buds to fall off, mostly so I won't be disappointed if the plant winds up freaking out for some reason, but I'm really excited.

I'll have to dig up a proper camera to take better pics, if those flowers stick around. I don't know if we have one in the house that'll zoom on tiny things, but at the very least, I can photograph through a magnifying glass.

I didn't realize how small these blooms would be! I've only ever seen pictures of the plants. Will update with a pic of the flowers against a dime, if/when they open. I just hope they don't mind having water sprayed directly on them, this lil guy is right in the path of one of the mister heads. It doesn't seem to mind water droplets hanging off its flower stalks sometimes, so far, or having them on its leaves.

WaterWitchin · #2 05-23-2021, 11:32 AM

Now THAT is teeny-tiny! I'd need a magnifying glass just to see it's blooming....maybe even to see the plant itself!

Fishkeeper · #3 05-23-2021, 05:52 PM

Know how I said that the flower stalks get water on them sometimes?

Yeah. Just, you know, a tiny bit of water. A slight trace. Not at all enough water to engulf the buds entirely.

Now, this seems to be fine! It's been in this spot for almost a month and a half, and has been getting droplets on all its old flower spikes the entire time. It's also presumably been getting droplets on the new spikes, and the buds are continuing to open. The water evaporates off eventually, and it's pure distilled water, so it won't leave any residue. It's a Mistking unit, the spray is really fine. Those stalks just seem to be custom-made to collect water. It's a good thing no pollinators need access.

Iphone cameras have a painfully short focus length up close. I really need to find a proper camera before this blooms, so I can get some nice pics.

SADE2020 · #4 05-23-2021, 08:08 PM

Wow I love 💕 it!!

Leafmite · #5 05-24-2021, 03:11 PM

Clawhammer · #6 05-24-2021, 03:21 PM

One of my favorite micro mini's

Great pics!!

Fishkeeper · #7 06-01-2021, 08:49 PM

Some of the flowers are starting to open! They're just so tiny, I love this plant. I'm planning to divide it after it's done blooming, if I can manage to tease off a little blooming-size division without hurting anything, because I want to share it with friends.

Also, I think we can safely say that having water on the buds periodically is not a problem. They get as wet as you see in the picture (if not more) five or six times a day, stay like that for a little while before drying, and it seems to be perfectly fine with the computer fan circulation. I think if it was an issue, the buds would have fallen off, not continued to grow and open.

There's two more miniature flower spikes starting up, all of the buds still whitish and not showing any purple yet. Judging by that, and how slowly the existing buds are open, this thing is gonna be in bloom for a while. I should make sure to get some nice fertilizer for it, give it some nutrients to help with this show.

WaterWitchin · #8 06-02-2021, 09:58 AM

Incredible. And incredible photograph as well.

Fishkeeper · #9 06-16-2021, 05:29 PM

The oldest blooms are starting to fall off, so it looks like they go about a month and a half between buds properly appearing and flowers falling. More buds are appearing, though! And you can see I've got a little keiki going on the left there.

Shadeflower · #10 06-16-2021, 05:36 PM

that's more like it.

I actually discovered on one of my mini's that I suspect it flowered but the flowers were so small I completely missed them

Dried up flower stalk and I never saw the flowers making me wonder when I missed it lol. That's the problem with these mini's they are so small it easy to overlook the flowers.