Angraecum sesquipedale blooming

[Djarum Black]

Simply beautiful! I love it!

[smweaver]

I think the "trick" to flowering this species is a combination of two things: light and heat. It goes outdoors as soon as the weather warms up in the late spring, and it stays out there until mid fall. It will take quite a bit of direct morning light between the hours of 7:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.; thereafter, it gets indirect bright light for the rest of the day. Our summers in the midwest are hot and humid, and the plant seems to really enjoy these conditions. I also water it like crazy during the summer (usually every two to three days). It's growing in a one-gallon pot, the bottom half of which is filled with styrofoam peanuts; the top half is coarse coconut husk chips. It also seems to like the RO water. Although I didn't realize until recently that I apparently was giving it far less food than is optimal for RO water, I'm going to start feeding it a heavier dose starting next spring. Sesquipedale doesn't come from a seasonally dry area of Madagascar, so I continue to water it regularly in the winter (although it does go slightly dry between waterings at this time of year when I'm not able to provide it with the continuously high degrees of heat, light and humidity that it experiences in the summer). I also don't let it ever get cold (or even cool). It grows next to my Vanda dearei, and they're the only two plants in my entire collection that experience continuously warm night temperatures throughout the year. During the evenings, both plants are set on top of an electric heat mat in the winter (the kind used for starting beds of seedlings), and the pots, even on nights when the furnace has trouble keeping the temperature in the house at the preset 64 F, stay nice and warm. Hope this helps.

[Barbara]

Stunning display, and good information. I have one that has been growing steadily and produced a spike. However, the flower opened for only one day before it withered, now with reading the above info, I wondering if it got too cold at night with winter low of 55 degrees. Do they bloom more than once a year? Thank you.

[smweaver]

Barbara, my plant blooms only once each year, reliably between mid December and late January. I have heard, however, that there's another line of sesquipedales that are spring blooming instead.

[Barbara]

Thanks for the reply. I've heard about spring flowering ones, but I think the winter bloomers are more common, which is what mine is. I just love the growing habit of this plant, so guess it's ok if it doesn't give me another bloom until next winter.

[cb977]

I picked one up at the Tampa show recently, in bud...and it started opening it's one bloom today. I'll post a pic once it's fully open The spur on it is about a foot long! Amazing!

[Vee Fallon]

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...-blooming.html

Dear Sir/Madam,

The course team of S173 'Plants and People' would like to use your image at the URL provided above this message in printed material and digital format (on their website) for the life of the course.

Our publication date is September 2010 and we are hoping to attract 12000 students over a period of 8 years.

We are happy to credit your photo and I would be most obliged if you would kindly email a digital image (minimum 300dpi) to me at v.fallon@open.ac.uk.

It would be helpful if when you email me you provide me with a contact address and perhaps another email address so that we may contact you again outside of this forum.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Mrs Vee Fallon
Perry B1
The Open University
Walton Hall
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