Masdevallia Spike Question

[RandomGemini]

Where do the spikes grow from? I googled some pictures and I can't see any that show where the spike comes from at the base of the leaf. Do they always crop up from beneath the dried tissue at the base of the leaves?

I have a bunch of new growth on my masdevallia veitchiana and I wondered if there was a simple way to tell between a spike and a leaf.

Thanks!

[Vanda lover]

The spikes appear from the stem of the leaf, right at the base of the leaf. It is quite easy to see when these are going to bloom.

[RandomGemini]

Excellent! Thank you for the info! I have one growth that might be a spike from that description then, the rest are leaves.

[Vanda lover]

Good luck! It should be beautiful. I imagine that it is orange. I have an orange hybrid but it isn't a really good bloomer.Mine isn't a veitchiana

[RandomGemini]

It did have one spike when I bought it. Really lovely colors in the flower. Orange and pinkish with purple streaks through it. I don't know if it will spike again this soon, I'm sort of hoping it will. I have seen pictures of veitchiana in large baskets with flowers all over and I'm hoping mine will look like that one day.

This is the only shot I got of the bloom.



I'm just amazed that it's growing for me. I'm doing everything wrong for it right now because I found a mealybug on it when I got it. So, I've been keeping it isolated and have it on my kitchen counter in bark, inside a plastic pot that's sitting inside a glazed ceramic pot. There's about a two inch gap between the bottom of the plastic pot and the bottom of the glazed pot. There's a bit of water in the bottom and I think that helps keep things nice humid around the roots. I plan to repot this into spaghnum moss and a clay pot when I'm done treating it for the mealies, though I haven't seen one since that first one and now suspect the mealybug I saw may have been a lone hitchhiker from another plant.

[Vanda lover]

Mealy bugs are horrible little things! I had them and scale attacking my plants but I think it is under control now. Yours is a beautiful blend of colours. Mine is called Andean prince and isn't quite as pretty as yours. Mine grows in sphag in a clay pot which sits in a larger clay pot with some clay pellets in the bottom. I sit this in a saucer of water during the summer and the evaporation keeps the plant nice and cool.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

Where do the spikes grow from? I googled some pictures and I can't see any that show where the spike comes from at the base of the leaf. Do they always crop up from beneath the dried tissue at the base of the leaves?

Google Images will not pull images of where the spikes come out of.

The best photo that shows the area that they grow out of is best seen in "Bulbofett's" thread where she asked about Masd coccinea.

The sheath the flower spike emerges from is not always dry, it can be green.

Originally Posted by RandomGemini

I have a bunch of new growth on my masdevallia veitchiana and I wondered if there was a simple way to tell between a spike and a leaf.

Thanks!

If you use a magnifying glass or a jeweler's loupe, (both of which you can get for under $5), it is very clear and straightforward as to where the spikes emerge from.

It is far easier to tell if your Masdevallia(s) are in bloom compared to whether or not the Cymbidium(s) are in bloom.