Bud watch, Phrag. Green Hornet!
 

My baby Green Hornet (longfolium x pearcei) is working on its first spike. This is my first Phrag that I've had for about a year (we celebrate our 1 year anniversary this Sunday).

It came to me with two mature growths, one flowered and one unflowered, and two smaller growths. The first thing I did, was to kill the oldest growth, because I couldn't believe that I couldn't water it too much, and kept it too dry. After that, I removed one of its smaller growths, since this one had decided that growing about an inch or two, above the substrate, was a great idea. Mommy begged to differ.

I put a soft, see-through, plastic pot around its base, put some sphagnum in it, watered and sprayed it, and lo and behold! It grew some roots. I cut the growth from the mother plant, put it into its very own little pot, and now, this baby growth (which has a new growth of its own), is about to flower!

Mother Green Hornet though is too busy filling her new pot with roots, to bother about flowering (it has gone from two growths, to soon five in a year...).

Here's the first bud on baby Green Hornet:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3811/1...b71c7f85_o.jpg

Wonderful! It's exciting to get the first bloom. I have a phrag that I have had for at least 7 years and it is finally going to spike! I got it as a seedling and the grower couldn't remember which 2 he crossed, so this will be a real surprise when it blooms. It has been in s/h in lava rock for about a year now, and boy does it love it! Phrags are great because very few insects bother them, in my experience.

That sounds really exciting! I have two phrags now, one green and one red (possibly a Sunset Glow), and I'll settle for that. Oh, I wouldn't mind a purple one though, kovachii, but I've heard that they are difficult and get rather big...

This primary hybrid grows like a weed. It only worked on roots for half a year, and after that, it started with new growths. They're so much faster than Paphs!

YAY! I cant wait to see it in bloom :D post lots of pictures when it does bloom :biggrin:

They are a lot faster than paphs. I would really love a red one, but I doubt that this one will be. The green are most common, I think.

Trust me, I will! It's not like anyone can stop me.
:rofl:

Maybe the green ones are more available, but the reds are the ones I see most often posted on different forums.

I got lucky and found my red darling at my local flower store. They normally don't have such "unusual" orchids, but they had a special orchid event, and I walked home with a lighter wallet, and arms full of Phrag. :blushing:

You are lucky! The most unusual orchid I have seen in the town is a miltonopsis. I am thinking that a red phrag is just what I need next, if this one isn't red.

It's a nice cross. I hope it turns out well. Based on your comment, it sounds like it's an extremely vigorous plant putting out all those new growths.

For sure, the hardest part about growing phrags (for the average orchid hobbyist) is overcoming the fear of over watering. Most, but certainly not all, phrags LOVE water. There is no such thing as too much, aside from being completely submerged. The only consideration is that you have to use decent quality water and you shouldn't let it sit and get stagnant.

Once you get over that, most phrags are a breeze to grow -- at least for me.

They are pretty easy. Once I put mine in s/h watering was no longer a problem. I did find that I have to be careful not to over fertilize and they don't like too much heat.

I was indeed lucky. Normally they only have Phal NoID:s, Dendrobium NoID:s and those other, more common orchids. Once in a while though, they have special orchid events, and then I'm immediately there, prepared to snatch up anything interesting looking. :nod:

It's insane... At first I thought the comments about Phrags being faster growers than Paphs, were over exaggerated, since mine wasn't doing anything, but then it took off. I think it, the mother plant, will probably do the same now as it did then, and develop more roots, before starting to grow more above the surface again. I'm hoping for more spikes next summer, to make up for the lack of them this year. ;)

Yeah, the fact that you can't over water most of them, takes a while to sink in. I give mine RO-water (with a weak solution of fert) since I can't collect rain water, and they both stand in a saucer of RO-water (or sometimes, RO-water with a drop of seaweed extract). I water and change the water in the saucer every other day. I know I don't need to do it that often, but I figured that in the wild, they usually stand with their roots in moving water, so I don't think they'll object. :D