"Monster" Neo (Amami Island ?) in bloom - Orchid Board

WhiteRabbit · #1 08-04-2011, 07:28 PM

I lucked into this plant last summer - found it tucked between much larger orchids at a retail nursery/garden center. It had finished blooming - they normally pull them off the shelf when they have finished; I think this may have been missed due to it's more diminutive size among the much larger plants. Because it had finished blooming, I asked for, and received a discount! It would have been a bargain before the discount (marked at $20! $16 after discount!)

Ten fans!

The tag just says "Neofinetia falcata" - due to it's size, I wonder if it might be the Amami Island variety ?? Leaf span on the largest fans is 7.5 - 8 inches. I don't know how the size of the blooms compares to the 'standard' Neo - have included pix with a nickel for size comparison. I have also included a pic showing the size difference between this and another Neo I have.

There is a subtle pink hue to the blooms, most noticeably on the spurs - I think you can see it a bit in some of the photos.

Spikes started growing at different times - the earliest, which was ahead of the others by a few weeks, just finished blooming. Currently there are three spikes blooming, total of 12 blooms. Two more spikes not yet blooming, total of 11 buds

(The spike that just finished blooming had 3 blooms.)

Thanks for looking

Kelo · #2 08-04-2011, 07:49 PM

How wonderful! My ONE flower should be open by Monday LOL.

WhiteRabbit · #3 08-04-2011, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelo

How wonderful! My ONE flower should be open by Monday LOL.

aww - I bet it will be fabulous! I was lucky to find such a big plant - and that still fit into my extremely tight budget. I'll be happy if my new, smaller one gets one bloom next year

Kelo · #4 08-04-2011, 08:00 PM

I watered all my plants today and the mounted neo's are romping away like crazy!!!! WOOOHOOO! Next year should see a 1000% increase in flower numbers lol.

WhiteRabbit · #5 08-04-2011, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kelo

I watered all my plants today and the mounted neo's are romping away like crazy!!!! WOOOHOOO! Next year should see a 1000% increase in flower numbers lol.

woo hoo! that's awesome!

I hope my small mounted one may be big enough to bloom next year - idk ;p but it's been growing great!

LinhT · #6 08-04-2011, 10:26 PM

Good growing and happy Neo season!

WhiteRabbit · #7 08-05-2011, 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LinhT

Good growing and happy Neo season!

thanks Tracy!

Cattleya17 · #8 08-05-2011, 10:59 AM

That is an amazing find!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta love that they cant charge full price for out of bloom plants! thats how i first started building me collection. i would go to my local greenhouse and i would see an orchid i loved and i would wait sometimes unsuccessfully for the plant to be out of bloom and for some one not to buy it, and then when it was finished i would take it to the counter and he would mark down 34$ plants to anywhere from 5$-10$ love that they have to do that!!!!

Norris · #9 08-05-2011, 12:57 PM

What a great deal! I like that cool pot you have it in also, it looks good in there.

WhiteRabbit · #10 08-05-2011, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cattleya17

That is an amazing find!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta love that they cant charge full price for out of bloom plants! thats how i first started building me collection. i would go to my local greenhouse and i would see an orchid i loved and i would wait sometimes unsuccessfully for the plant to be out of bloom and for some one not to buy it, and then when it was finished i would take it to the counter and he would mark down 34$ plants to anywhere from 5$-10$ love that they have to do that!!!!

Hehe - I'm pretty sure if I had just walked to the register with this plant, I would have been charged the marked price, but I have read OB members posting that they would ask for, and sometimes get, a discount on orchids that had finished blooming, so I figured it didn't hurt to ask (I might have paid the marked price anyway, as it was still a bargain for a neo of this size). I would have loved a bigger discount, like you have gotten, but like I said, for being a neo, and such a big one - it was a fabulous bargain!

You've got some great bargains - sort of annoying how much more they charge for blooming orchids ...

The day I got this, I was riding my bike, so I figured I was 'safe' to look at the orchids, as I couldn't really bring one home - fortunately, Neos (even really big ones, like this) are small enough to tuck into a backpack