Phal Bellina questions
 

I have had this plant since july 2007.Arrived with a forming flower stem..which has since grown only a couple of millimeters although put out a new leaf which was growing very very slowly!
In January I decided to house it in a huge plastic water bottle on a bed of leca and it has been growing lots of new roots...and the growing leaf developped .Today when I took her out to water her I have noticed that it looks like she is sending out an other flower stem !? Can anyone confirm this is what it is? Do you think they will both flower eventually?
Thanks in advance for your help

here's a photo, the one on left is the one it's always had the one on the right is the 'new' one

She certainly appears to be spiking! Congratulations.

Sure is :) and yes both will probably bloom , they are slow slow to develop .. Gin

hehehe, very slow to develop, would love to give mine a kick in the behind to wake it up. I have had mine for over a 1 1/2 yrs and has produced one new leaf, not as sure formed as yours, mines wavy, not sure it's a natural curly leaf or something I have done in the past culture. Recently I put mine in aliflor and has started to take off, no bloom like yours so with this I am jealous, but my day will come. :goodluck: with your's...great growing. :clap:

:biggrin: well, thanks guys !!
You've reassured me enormously ! guess I'll just have to be keeping on being patient !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! can I ask you one more question ....what kind of light levels does it need ideally?
I used to have her with other phals but has been in the 'bottle' next to my cattleyas since I bottled her... she seems to like it..so I guess I'm leaving her there...
merci beaucoup!
Nenella

oops sorry Cheryl I really hope yours 'wakes up soon' my new leaf had one bend in it before I bottled it... I believe it's got more humidity now....

The species Phals. do like a little more light then the hybrids but beware of burn , yours looks great .. gin

I would keep it out of direct sunlight but adapt it to as bright a light as it can take ..

Thanks Very very much all of you !
I believe Dorothys point to be a very valid one for pointing out that the 'trick' is as much light as 'tolerable' !
I hadn't thought of this before.. but :) a couple months ago I noticed that the sun was shining directly on the bottle so, I'd put a magazine over the bottle..but took it off about 3/4 weeks ago as sun no longer shines on it!..
Thanks again guys I'm feeling happier & happier at thinking I may have got the bellina 'cracked' :biggrin:
& :goodluck: cheryl !Keep us posted ! Please keep up the link with what happens to yours as I would love to find out different peoples experiences in growing Violaceas/ Bellinas as there's not that much written about "nurtureing" them.
nenella

Congrats Nenella! :bowing I have a violacea x bellina that is going to bloom from last years spike and is sending up 2 new ones. I'm just over the moon that it's doing so well. Gin is right they are very slow to develop. Mine is getting pretty bright light, it's sitting with my catts. No direct sun though. Cheryl mine has curvey leaves too. I don't think it's anything to worry about. I'll try and get a :photo: of mine tomorrow.

All my violacea leaves are wavey :nod:

I am so happy. My bellina is the first orchid I've gotten to spike (so its my first bloom). I now have orchid board cred.

hoping the two paphs i bought also will flower next.

Mel, it is so important and so much fun to have earned orchid board cred! You did good. . .throwing down the hand signal and saing "word", like I have a clue what it really means. roflolol

Nenella, it's looking so healthy and happy! I can't wait for pics of the blooms!

Here are a couple of pics of my violacea x bellina. The spikes tend to kind of lay over instead of grow straight up. Doesn't make for the best flower presentation. They're not the best :photo:. I was in a hurry.

I have spikes that are erect on one and hang downward on my other violacea. :nod:

Oooo...I can't wait to see a double-spiking Phal Bellina!
It's going to be a beauty!!!

I keep my species Phals just outside the area of bright light used for most of the Cattleyas.

I think you have been doing everything right and are going to get a huge reward for your efforts! :cheer:

You devil girl...............:evil:

Al

:yikes: AL! :blushing: I'm innocent, I tell ya, Innocent! :biggrin:
:coverlaugh:

Sure you are, me too!
:rofl:
Al

Hey I was behaving .. I didn't say the spike that hung down was flaccid
Oops .. I guess I just did :blushing:

Guilty as charged!

:coverlaugh:

heheheh !
Thanks for showing us photos of your bellinas Terri & Dorothy they look superb! Please keep us posted when they flower & I hope mine will as well....this year? :) got 6 Months to go yet .....
ps: I bet mines the 'droopy' kind !:)

Update on growth
 

Hi all, I watered today and noticed that the 'new' flower stalk is quickly overtaking the 'old' one !I'm really excited as this plant has never grown at this speedy pace ...:biggrin:

WOW !!!! They seem to be very slow growers. You posted the first message a while back ago and it still hasn't flowered. I guess that mine won't flower until the end of the year...Patience

I think you've hit on something with that big bottle-- those leaves are just gorgeous. And yes, I see a tiny spike nub on the right as well as the spike on the left.

Congratulations! Really great growing-- a beautiful plant.

update !
 

The second flower stem from this year has 2 developing buds ....it's growing & growing albeit very slowly but surely ! I just have to share my excitment...
here's some :photo:

Yay! You don't have long to wait now....maybe another 3 weeks. :evil: Just kidding. It just seems like it takes that long for those buds to develop. My violacea x bellina has 1 flower open on each of the 2 new spikes, with a 3rd flower about to open on one of them. It's pretty exciting stuff!

On your existing nubbin. My plant came with a spike nubbin and it never developed. It's still there, still green, just doing nothing. I don't know if it's a dud or what. Yours may or may not do anything. If the new spike took off and the other still looks the same I'd be inclined to say it probably won't fully develop. Hope I'm wrong.

hi Terri ,
If & when you have the time would be super cool if you could post photos of your ones as it develops too ... as they take so Looooooongggg would be interesting to see ... Dorothy, be nice to know more about yours too...
How long have you had the nubbin/plant with it that's never developped? Mine is 13 months old ! :) and No, I refuse to give up !
I hope you're wrong about them NEVER developping....especially if they stay green !!! I'll wait years if necessary ! :) I love this plant more if not as much as white cattlyas...maybe more 'cause it makes you wait & wait !!

Hi Nenella. Sorry it's taken so long for me to post :photo: . Here is my plant today. A single flower is blooming from each new spike, and there is a big fat 3rd developing next to the first flower to open. I also took a shot of the "nubbin" that hasn't done anything but sit there since I got it. It's to the left of the roots and kind of under that first leaf.

Wow! Thanks for posting ;very nice plant Terri, 2 spikes (&1/2 ! :) ) as well as 2 open flowers!!! I hope mine does that in the next ...few years ?
How long have you had it ? (how long has the 'nubbin' been that size?) Sorry for all the questions!

I've had mine a little over a year. It has grown a lot since I got it.....at least 3 new leaves in a year. The nubbin has been there just as it is since I got it. That's what makes me think it's a dud.

Terri, that dud nub might be a good chance to try Keiki-pro.......wonder if it would kick start it???
Al

I have had the same thing happen with violacea and bellina species. Eventually, the original spike nub that just sat there for a year did start growing and bloom.

It is rather an odd phenom since some of the plants started blooming on spikes #2 and #3 before the original would grow and bloom.

Brooke

That's good to know Brooke. Thanks for the info. This is the only one of this species I have so I wasn't sure what it would do. :scratchhead: I'll keep an eye on it for future activity.

update on bellina flowering
 

Here it is it's "puffing out"! doesn't seem to have any of the 'purple' colouring for the moment...
I have a couple more questions for the experienced;How long do the flowers last? and what humidity do you keep yours at?
Terry, you have fantastic growing conditions and the magic touch! 3 leaves in a year ! as well as the flowers!WOW :bowing

Mine set spike in the spring and flower late July. I have noticed that if a leaf start growing it will stop the development of the the flower spike.
Yours must have flowered by now ;)

Hi Spider,
No unfortunately it's still taking its time! maybe next week?? ...At least I can now see some purple! here's a couple shots.

:hello
Maybe it will start to flower when the new leaf finished growing. About the scent, I think mine smell lemongrass. :blowkisses:

Hi Tindomul, I agree as long as it keeps growing...
Mine has a bud from when I first got it a year ago - thats just 'frozen' - it put out a leaf (took all year for it to become as big as the previous) and now this bud which has been forming for months ! I look forward to it opening! go & look every evening as soon as I get back from work...