Rhyncholaelia digbyana
 

This is a first-bloom juvenile plant that I purchased two years ago from a grower in Callifornia who said he made it from an outcross of two superior-flowered plants of the species. Easy to grow and bloom, provided you give it lots of light and let it dry out thoroughly between waterings. Most surprisingly, it's also quite adaptable to much cooler temperatures than you would think it would be accustomed to in its native Yucatan habitat (although it clearly prefers our hot and humid summers).

Steve

Rhyncholaelia digbyana | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Rhyncholaelia digbyana | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Very nice!

Beautiful!

nice frills...very good growing!

I really like the digbyanas that have some red in the flowers and yours has a lot! Congrats on this one!

Awesome! :wtg:

Nice one Steve. This is a real cool plant and I am always on the hunt for digbyana. Just missed getting one at our meeting today, but the grower has a couple more coming.

Beautiful form! That's a stunning digby.

Cool.

Kim

I can't believe you flowered this in Indiana. How did you do this? It's beautiful.

I am not familiar with this plant but I am putting it on my wishlist...its just a gorgeous flower with a unique lip

Our summers are hot and humid, which helps. In the colder months of the year it's just a matter of finding a window with an unobstructed southern exposure and making sure the plant gets as much light as possible (being a bit stingy with the watering helps too, as I've discovered--through trial and error--that this species doesn't like to have its roots remain wet for an extended period of time).

Did you grow it under lights? This is a very nice digby. Is it as goldish as the pic shows or is it the light? I love the color. I have always wanted one but no one throws the things away. I'll get one some day. Nice flower. Thanks.

Hello, James. No, it's not been grown under lights. I didn't adjust the colors on the photo either; it was photographed indoors in an eastern exposure. The large glass-block window may have had something to do with the color, since the glass blocks may filter out some of the light. But since I'm colorblind I'm probably not the best judge of color anyway. I got the plant from Gold Country Orchids in California. I would imagine that they still have some left for sale if you're interested.

Thanks. I was wondering what you lit your orchids with. When I had a house down in San Diego I had a huge glass block wall where I grew my orchids. The light is just right for almost all species. Mine was a south exposure. I don't buy too many orchids but I will find the location of GC and stop by to see what they have. I travel a lot. I almost always get my orchids from donation tables at shows or get the two year old plants at the different nurseries here in SoCal. I'm not averse to buying anything but thoroughly enjoy bringing castoffs and the dead back to life. I love the growing part. Being incredibly obsessive/compulsive I'd quickly run out of room if I started buying what I fancied ;) Oh yeah!!! I'm already out of room. Hmm. I wonder if my landlord would let me build a third greenhouse? Keep up the good work. I expect to see this in tweo or three years as a specimen plant :)