Bulbophylum Jersey in flower
 

I find this one difficult to bloom, no problems getting it to spike and produce buds but they blast quite easily. It has three spikes a few months back, but two of them have come to nothing. The third has produced this flower though, and has another small bud (but experience tells me that will blast.

No detectable fragrance, well maybe very faint if I stick my nose right in it.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8033/7...18d9de53ce.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/7...c14a2c5f21.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8320/7...a3961dd858.jpg

Nice bulbo, big flower eh?!

Love it!

Good looking bloom! Glad this one didn't blast.

Thats an adorable flower....and slight fragrance at that....the trick is not to wet the buds as they are forming into a bloom....this happened to me several times and when I detected a nubbin of a bud....I started to soak the plant instead of spraying it

great photos too, Rosie!

Great growing! That's a wonderful bloom!

Thanks everyone. I was thinking that it looked a lot paler than last time it bloomed, but now I think the colour deepens as the bloom ages, as that's what I'm seeing since taking these pictures. If it lasts long enough I might have to get some more taken.

Big thanks to hubby for the photos. He takes a lot of them for me these days as he as started getting into a photography hobby as a result of trying to help me get good shots. Sometimes we work together on it, this one I only had a little input on the angles I wanted pictures from.

Beautiful bulbo Rosie. I hope the other bud doesn't blast.

Good growing Rosie. I have had my bulbo produce two spikes but they blasted each time :(

Duanne McDowell told me elsewhere that that bud blast in bulbos can often be due to not enough water. It certainly matches that mine had got dry when they blasted and I kept it wetter while this bud was developing. As Bud said above, they don't like water on the bulbs/leaves/buds. New growths can rot and buds can blast as a result. However they do like plenty of water and I am coming to the conclusion that if it is allowed to dry out at the wrong point as the buds develop them it will blast. :dunno:

The fact that you are in the UK brings into question what your minimum growing temperature is. My minimum is generally about 62F, and I don't have any problem from wet foliage or buds.

My min temp is probably about the same. In the summer it's mostly a lot warmer than that.

I've mostly had problems with too much water around new growths. They seem to start rotting within 8 hours so if I've left it in the morning with water on the new growths they will be in trouble by the time I get home from work. I've never actually lost a growth that way though, I've always packed cinnamon around the dodgy looking bit and it's seemed to do the trick.

The buds I'm not totally sure about why they have blasted, it could have been water on them, but could have been lack of water at the roots, or moving them at the wrong time or... I'm working on it being lack of water at the roots at the moment and trying to make sure I keep it moist enough.

Thanks Tindo,

Unfortunately this orchid hasn't been so well recently and I thought it might not survive, however since I re-potted this summer it's started growing again so I'm more hopeful now.

oooh... I love the shape on this one!!! It is very unusual :biggrin:

Rosie, how do you grow this one? I have mine mounted and it's not doing well. I was thinking about potting it up in bark with perlite and some spag. Any suggestions?

nice and a big flower

Guy at seattle orchids talks about their shallow root system - they only go a few cm into the medium, and he puts packing peanuts about halfway into the pot.

They do have a shallow root system. It used to be in bark with some peanuts in the bottom but still stayed to soggy for me. I had it like that a couple of years but then it started to go downhill.

In May I re-potted in a wooden basket which is naturally quite shallow, and I use moss. It dries relatively quickly and I water a couple of times a week. It's been doing well since moving to that with lots of new growths just now. I have another bulbophylum potted the same way, and plan to put my third into a basket as well.