First new neo spikes of the year!

[Hakumin]

Yay, I was giving my plants a look-over, and I found two new spikes beginning to emerge. Tiny yet, but hopefully they'll grow nice and healthy.

This one's on a Kibana




This one's a Gekkeikan



Of course my new shinkoto is also well into its spike, but since it had the spike when I got it I didn't really count it. I do have photos of that one though here.

[Call_Me_Bob]

nice!!! when my neo bloomed last year, i saw the spikes in winter. is that typical? i have a small spike on my 'setsuzan' thats been there since winter. same thing as last year.

[Hakumin]

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

nice!!! when my neo bloomed last year, i saw the spikes in winter. is that typical? i have a small spike on my 'setsuzan' thats been there since winter. same thing as last year.

I think it depends on your culture, and maybe also on the variety. I have had spikes appear and stay seemingly dormant over the winter and others where they seem to have appeared during the spring. Generally mine seem to develop spikes in the spring. It could just be that I'm noticing them in the spring too

I swear though that these two didn't have them a couple weeks ago.

[Call_Me_Bob]

i only have one, 'setsuzan', so that could be it. but it happened last year and it looks like it will happen this year as well

[Bud]

I am excited for you...I cant wait to see the pictures of its blooms

[Wjs2nd]

I agree, can't wait to see those blooms. What do you do to keep winter temps down? For now, I have been using a basement with heavy curtains around the window and orchids.

[WhiteRabbit]

Nice! Can't wait to see bloom pix!

Originally Posted by Call_Me_Bob

nice!!! when my neo bloomed last year, i saw the spikes in winter. is that typical? i have a small spike on my 'setsuzan' thats been there since winter. same thing as last year.

My large Neo (only tagged as Neofinetia falcata - I'm guessing it's Amami Island due to it's very large size), has started spikes both years I've had it not too long after finishing blooming in summer, and then they sit there til late spring-early summer before starting to grow. I'm glad you asked about this, cos I thought it was strange.

I'm watching my 'new' Neo that I got last summer for spikes - spotted a couple little nubs, but I think they are new fans

[Hakumin]

These little spikes on mine were probably there all through the winter, but because of where they are, I probably didn't notice them. They were both nestled deep between the leaf and stem. I guess I shouldn't call these "new spikes of the year" but more like "newly growing spikes of the year" or something like that haha

[Call_Me_Bob]

this is all very interesting!! ill keep you guys updated on mine!

last winter, mine developed 2 identical growths. in early spring one turned into a fan. and in late spring/summer, one turned into the spike

[Hakumin]

I've had plenty of random little nubbers show up in the late summer and fall, staying dormant through the winter. However, the vast majority of the nubbers that I noticed during the winter end up becoming new growths rather than spikes. It seems that for me at least, the spikes almost always show up as a surprise. Weird eh?