poll: place your bets on bloomtime - paphiopedilum micranthum v. eburneum
 

ladies and gentlemen, orchid servants of all shapes and sizes, races, creeds, and identities...come now and take a tiny gander at the diminutive marvel of the micranthum!

yet it is with the greatest of joy that we have witnessed movement in the bud, and implore you all to wager your immense fortunes on the date this little guy will open up.

admission to the game is admittedly large as well: free.

but the winner this time will receive an orchid in the mail from a regional grower near them, provided they want to pm me their address upon winning.

so now here the details to help inform your decision. the plant came to us with juuuust the tiniest fuzz open on the bud. it was moved to semi-hydro around 2 months ago and just in the last couple days is showing some signs of movement.

keep in mind, paphs seem to take approximately the short side of never to bloom...at least in our care!

rules as always:

type A: bud blasts ( provide date of death )
type B: flower opens ( provide date flower first cracks open)

only 2 options, cause it’s a 1 flower paph. we here wish you the most enourmous amount of luck to win the first, official, awarded edition of bloom time to ever hit the webs!!!

Attachment 160165

oh, and it’ll be a cheap orchid (like max 25 bux) cause, you know, money don’t grow on orchids and you lot don’t deserve any better :goodluck:

:waving

as usual, we wanted to give a tiny addition to the op this time to take the shortest moment and recognize the really tiny accomplishments of the past winners here at bloomtime.

1st edition winner: camille (within 2 days of opening on paph. germaine vincent)

2nd edition: no winner, due to the naeivitee of us (new growth on fdk. after dark black pearl)

3rd edition winner: mygreenpets (within less than a week of opening on phal. ld’s bear king yk 10)

4th edition winner: ??? you ???

congratulations

you could also have your name in lights along with these two other random people on the Internet! think of all the glory!

also, we forgot to remind you all that there will be an official closing date on guesses. not the smallest idea when that is yet, but the window will at least be as long as the median ear hair length on an african elephant. so, you’ve got some time.

and while our vision remains narrow, our hopes abound that all of you never-participants will wade into the scary waters and place your bet. you never know the full outcomes of even the smallest actions....

You've hooked me :rofl:

Christmas day - Option 2/Type B

I'll be a cheap winner - no one ships plants to us here!:((

fuerta, first on the board!!! thanks for being a willing victim, fuerta....we all know you spaniards know how to have a little fun :bowing

and being that the better half is from spain, if this is your lucky day, perhaps we can work something out

Can I give a guess for each type or do I have to pick one? Since I have no experience with paphs it would be just that...a guess.

January 17th

Just to confirm, I'm talking 2022 :rofl:

The Ides of March 2023 (That's March 15) Option 2/Type B

December 4 (it’s my birthday :))
Not that I have any idea, but I do have a bud on my Spicerianum, my first paph!

well well we’ll, there are some new faces in the crowd here! and, as usual, dustyolman tryin to bend the rules (and so you newcomers know, it’s just cause he has a hard time bending over)....but dusty, sorry the rules committee has decided it’s a 1 vote game. and, just to ease your dis-ease a little, we have no idea either.

and for such a small plant, it’s probly worthy to note the gigantic spread of guesses. roberta....March??!! everyone keep an eye on her.

dalachin, welcome to the biggest opportunity to lose this side of the mason-dixon! and keep us posted on your spicerianum! ours just keep growing new fans. however, your early december birthday may put you in a superior position.

and another big newcomer welcome to hazeldell! mid-january is the safe bet....for now. but best of luck to you, and may all your tiniest wishes come true.

thanks for playing everyone, and stay tuned for the flood of 11th hour guesses that are certain not to arrive! we truly have nothing but immense hope for you, yet we know that most of us will sulk away in despair when an option A winner takes the cake ;)

There's a reason why one of the largest Paph flowers has a name starting with "micr-" ... when discovered, the teensy little bud just sat there, the discoverers thought it was going to be small. This one takes awhile.

hol’ up a hot second....are you saying that you are applying actual knowledge and reason to this game?!

hmmmm, this might be a violation.....or, the longest, boringest, most spectacular debacle since the fredclarkeara mishap of earlier this year.

or you could be a winner!!! time will tell.

:rofl:

Can't help being an orchid nerd. Patience, patience...If you're gonna do Paphs, you can pleasantly pass the time watching grass grow.:biggrin:

I'm gonna be an ass and vote option A, something will go awry and the bud will give up by December 22!

Ok, ok. I'll play by your makin' up da rules and go with type A. And just to try everyone's patents (because we all know orchid growers are long on patience) I'll place the crack on New Years Day.

I vote type b - 12/18/22

holy smokes, it's a small miracle that we now have some death option takers on the table!!

mr f, and dustyolman, both going with option A....something smells fishy, and it ain't escargot....

all contestants please note that an armed guard will now be posted around this plant with nothing but grass and paint to watch.

in other enlightening news, another newcomer, birdwomn, has joined in the fun with an optimistic 12th day of the 18th month vote. birdwomn, i hope you are ok with european dating conventions. buuuut, we appreciate your optimistic participation and will grant you the date of december 18, 2022!! thanks for playing, and we here at dilapidated orchids galore extend you this laurel, and a hearty howdy'do!

:harvest:

---------- Post added at 10:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 AM ----------


and for all of our sakes, we are also sort of pulling for option a....and the sooner the better. :biggrin:

Tmoney, or they are another dastardly Option A taker, and are politely telling you it’s gonna bloom on the 12th of never! 🤣

hello ob

per the usual, here is a very small update on the progress of this hugely important game. a little change to report, and a seed of curiosity as to how minuscule the number of 11th hour guesses that will trickle in will be!

and thusly here is your/our kernel of hope ....

Attachment 160524

while we acknowledge that this scant attempt at a competition dwarfs in comparison to like, the lottery, let us just remind you that the stakes are, one could say, microscopic. how huge is that?! you all have an inkling of hope!

and finally, in a minor attempt to reign in the crumb of credibility that is bloom time, we must shrink the window of guessing until 7 days from today. for you with massive brains you know this means 27.10.2022.

of course we reserve the right to break our own rules. hey, what is life without a little autonomy?

all bets are welcome, and we wish you all an exigous amount of luck!
:waving

I'm going with February 1, 2023. Option B

I will admit I am more in it for something to keep me occupied after daylight savings plunges MA into darkness next week than I am for the prize...

alas! another first time contestant! thanks for playing sdk, though our sources tell us that if you aren’t in this solely for the disproportionately large winnings, then your priorities are all in the wrong place.

we would like to take a moment of your moment filled day and invite you all to harken back to childhood...

(clouds and whispy harp music playing in background)

remember how important it was to win? like, i know none of us ever did or we wouldn’t be sitting inside growing orchids, but place yourself on that field, or on the free throw line at the buzzer, 4th and goal with seconds on the clock and down by 2....remember that feeling?! a spark of hope, deep down inside that told you, one day, one day, you could have been somebody?

well, that spark is gone now and replaced with the ashes of all the possibilities we once had. we beg you all to sweep those ashes into the dustbin of reality and replace them with the glimmer of potential that this flower will continue to grow. and one day, perhaps, you will be regailing the tale to your grandchildren about when YOU won the most important game ever charaded about on the glorious webwideworld. OH, the thought!! BEHOLD, the possibilities!!

all this is to say, you winners out there who haven’t yet placed your bet are just letting the real aggressive life players to just pass you by. tell that to your grandkiddies, it’ll make them proud. OR, place your bet in the shrinking window of time you have left...5 days, only 5 short little days

a short one this time...

we hope you new comers are still with us this time, even after being subjected to the grumpy diatribes of the pesimistic fertilizer mixer who wandered up from the cellar, because it is in fact one of our new contestants who is poised to seize this massive victory from the jaws of fate!!!

that's right, dalachin sits out front heading in to turn 3, as things have progressed at a stopshort pace! if this thing bursts in the next month, it's possible that mr.f could have the death nail. but if it lives....

and that's it! thanks to all the newcomers for joining us, and shame to all you oldbloods! see...told you it'd be short

Attachment 160664

and if you think you can weasel in with a last minute guess....you're too late. our complaint department has been overwhelmed in the past, so we r sticking to the rules this time!! after all, there's big bux on the line

Nah, that's a fake pic, you are just trying to wind us up! All pics must show a newspaper with current date to be believed! :rofl:

Rah rah Dec 4! Go little bud, you can do it!

only the finest in technology over here at bloomtime :photo:

paphiopedilum micranthum var. eburneum
 

well ladies and gents, this took far shorter than anticipated, and the bud is shorter than we thought, too!

but alas, it is with pleasure that we officially declare dalachin as the winner of this gigantic contest of chance! thanks to all of our contestants for their guesses and their patience, and we wish all of you huge success in the next round :biggrin::biggrin:

dalachin, if you wish to claim your prize, please send us a pm with your name and address at which you would prefer delivery of your prize. and to the rest, better luck next time!

Attachment 160715
(your president approves of this bloom)

please see our running what’s in bloom thread for better hi-if pics in the near future....and enjoy your sunday basking in the knowledge that you won’t be subjected to another bloom time episode for the foreseeable future!!!

Congrats Tmoney for blooming your paph and congrats to the winner, dalachin.
Newspaper :goodjob :rofl:

sorry this wasn't your round, fuerta...you know we are always rooting for the spanish contingient. maybe next time stop looking at all that beautiful beach and sky that surrounds you (and volcanoes) and get your head in the game!!! for you we would pay the shipping....as you are now officially the biggest loser in the game having played and lost each round, hehehahahahah.....that's gotta be worth somethin

Super congrats on the bloom, it is lovely. Floored that my guess was the closest. Just goes to show how darn unpredictable our little green friends are.

thanks, and congrats to you on your winning guess!! your oder has been submitted, and your mystery plant should arrive soon from a vendor located next to a small river. (name withheld cause they probly don't want to be associated with drivel such as this!!)

thanks for playing along, and best of luck on future episodes!!!

Oooo, fascinating! The suspense!

The prize has arrived… a dendrobium laevifolium! And it is in bloom!!! So very adorable! What an adventure, I don’t have any dendrobiums, any advice on how not to kill it?

How beautiful and how aptly named :)
I've no idea how you look after one though - your luck is running well so I'm sure it will be fine!

Cool, humid, bright, don't let it dry out, use pure water, fertilize regularly, watch constantly for spider mites and treat instantly.

Baker sheet shows it growing over a range of elevations in the tropics... If it were mine, i'd grow it on the warm/intermediate side (GH not outside). Could tolerate cooler but I don't think it needs it. House temps should be fine.

Hmm… so maybe where the neos are, house temps (68 ish) and in the same room as the humidifier (has been averaging 70 relative humidity).

@tmoney thank you!

hey, you earned it kid! but honestly that’s not the plant i ordered you! hahahaha, it was supposed to be a phal hygrochila. oh well...don’t look a gift horse in the bloom, i always say

hope it grows well for you!

Big difference! Of the two, the Den laevifolium is likely easier to manage! Small and well-behaved, obviously blooms on a small plant, should be very happy with indoor growing conditions. Phal hygrochila (Hygrochilus parishii) can be something of a beast, grows more like a large, cool-growing Vanda than a Phal.(I grow one of those in a hanging basket on my patio, roots are about 3 ft/1 m long) I'd say that Dalachin lucked out. :lol:

Haha! That’s quite a mixup! But it is lovely all the same!