Phal. Violacea in Bud
 

I purchased this plant in spike last July from Hausermann's. Two of the three spikes originally on the plant blasted while it was adapting to my conditions and I was so afraid I would lose the last one. That spike has yet to produce a bud, though it looks like it probably will soon. The spike this bud is on appeared on this plant sometime around Christmas I think, and it has another one that appeared about a month or so ago.

I have waited for this flower for eight months.

I plan to take pictures of it each morning until the bloom fully opens and post a new photo here. It does look like the very tips of the petals will be tinted green, which is what I was hoping for. I cannot wait to smell it in a few more days!

This is my first success with blooming a phalaenopsis species. I'm so excited about this bud, that it has really been worth the wait!

I did run a filter on these photos to try to get the colors to look as true to the plant that I see as possible. I think I got it fairly close. The leaves are lime green and the magenta color on the bud is just so, so vibrant!

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Congratulations! I have had similar waiting experiences as you have described only to look at the plant one day and see that something has devoured the entire spike. Rats!!!!!!!!

:yikes:

I think I would have thrown in the towel right there! Wow!

Congratulations! :)

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:05 PM ----------

Wow, sorry about the loss of the spike. :(

Ahh, the anticipation! For me, the anxiety while waiting for the flowers is very maddening, but I think the anticipation is the main driver of my orchid addiction. So rewarding when you finally see that flower. Enjoy!

Got home a bit ago and it's starting to open already!! I figured it would open overnight and I'd see it in the morning.

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ive got quiet a few Violacea's non have bloomed though :(

How much light are you giving them? I have seen folks be advised to give these full to part shade and there is a gal on the forum here who is actually growing these in her back yard in Malaysia. Not sure if she is still a member or not, but she grows them in much higher light, near where she grows her vandas. Mine is grown about six inches below my T5s. Other than that, I give it the same care I do my other phals, they are just grown in windowsills or to the outside edges of my orchid shelf, where they are more shaded from the T5s. The violacea I have placed right in the middle.

Hope this helps!

thanks. :) got mine under diy t5's I think its bright enough for them as my phal lueddemanniana had 2 tiny spikes when I repotted it.

think some of them are old enough to flower I just need to be patient.

I had read bellina and violacea can take higher light but am unsure just how bright they can take.

have got a light meter to check light levels and I think it was pretty bright under the lights last time I checked.

I think they can take quite a lot of light, you just have to take the time to acclimate them to it slowly. I am planning to repot my bellina because I am not seeing good growth from it and if that fails, I'll move it next to the violacea in the tray. I've also heard others say that starting with seedlings from either of these is tricky business and that seedlings do not thrive. My bellina is a seedling, so I may look for a mature plant and pass this seedling on to someone who has more success with them.

Added to the light, what about heat? I know certain phals bloom in the summer... This may be coincidence, but most of the novelty phals at the greenhouse didn't start blooming until the temps were warmer.
The last time I was there, it was very warm. All the phals looked very happy, but some of the phrags looked heat stressed.

This is a good point. My plants have had a very warm winter. Only maybe once or twice has the temp dipped below 68 degrees in my growing space. I have seen a lot more blooms this year than I did last year and phals that did not rebloom for me last year, did so this time around.

Wow! That's such a pretty flower!!! I might have to find me one of these some day...soooo pretty. Good job. :-)


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think it should be nearly warm enough, the lowest its been is 66 at night .

its usually in the mid 70's in the living room.

I like it warm, should get warmer still :)

the lights keep it a bit warmer on the shelving which is good.

switched my seedlings over to semi hydroponic since they weren't getting evenly watered.

my hybrid ones are ok but lost quiet a few of the species seedlings and my bellina seedling aint looking too hot.

I did a bit more homework on these and that kind of thing is very typical for seedlings of bellina and violacea. I purchased mine as a mature plant in spike because my bellina was purchased as a seedling and it's not looking so hot. From what I understand about these, they don't start to thrive until they get to a four inch leaf span or larger and many folks keep these on seedling mats during the winter months because the roots of the seedlings need extra warmth.

Yes, I tried two seedling bellinas. They did great in the summer and then, when winter came and the house was cooler, they collapsed quickly. The mature bellina and violacea may not have liked the winter but they both survived. I might get a seedling mat for the two of them for winter 2015-16.

It's open!!!! I caught just the faintest whiff of a scent this morning too. It's kind of spicy. Reminded me of absinthe, a clean, greenish fragrance. Not catching any fruity notes at all, but it was a very faint whiff.

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I thought the shape looked a little odd!! LOL! It's still beautiful though. I am so proud of this little guy!

Is the scent of absinthe like wormwood (Artemisia absinthium)? If so, that is an interesting fragrance. :)
I grow it in my herb garden.

It's like the artificial absinthe scent sold at a local body lotion and perfume shop here. It's very green, sort of herbal, but spicy. I expect it will develop over a couple of days too. That's what usually happens with my fragrant oncidiums. First day, no smell, or it smells weird, then the scent sort of opens up and gets some body to it. Then they'll smell like vanilla or generic floral.

Love that colour. Definately too many sepals though, I've had the odd flower on some of mine that come out with either not enough or too many. I will probably be normal next flowering.

This is my first odd flower. I think it's cool so even if it doesn't bloom correctly, I'll keep it. The color is so intense and the fragrance is amazing. I walked into my office this morning and it smelled like someone had opened a box of lemonheads. When I checked to see what was giving off the scent, it was this flower. It's clearly lemon now, with little bit of spice.

Way to go.

look so lovely. Magnificent colour. I like it.

I like it. Right now my favorite flowers are: amboinensis, gigantea (plant size too big?), bellina, violacea, hieroglyphica, and some others. :D

I'm not feeling brave enough to try more species phals. My hieroglyphica is doing alright but I think it's having a nutrient problem. I think it's being corrected though :) the leaves were really light green->yellow, but the colors are darkening up. The color comes back mottled at first, looks neat! All the leaves are darkening, so I'm not sure if it's Nitrogen, magnesium, or another nutrient, but I am just happy it's improving.

I want a heiroglyphica, gigantea has great flowers, but is too large for my space. I am trying to move away from Phal hybrids and into more species. I still love the great big Oncidium hybrids though. I may never get over those! Huge plants, spectacular show when they bloom though. I'm hoping this violacea will give me a good show at some point too. It looks like it wants to grow several spikes at once. I'd love it to bloom off of all of them at the same time the way my Miltassia does.