Thanks, I was lucky enough to get one that is a pretty dark yellow. I like this plant just fine but I think I'd love it more if the spurs were longer and curved like the regular neo flowers. Not sure what's up with my short spurs. Maybe there is too much ascocentrum in this particular plant. Perhaps that's why it's so yellow, who knows...

I am rather anal retentive about certain things. Guess it shows in my neo remounding.:blushing: There is a Fukiran Society of America now. Here is a link with lots of photos of the last two judging events, if you're interested.
2010 Inaugural Fukiran Judging - Fukiran Society of America
2011 Fukiran Judging - Fukiran Society of America

I've never exhibited before. Don't think my plants are good enough to compete with the others at the FSOA yet. I have a few that I would like to enter in maybe, 5 yrs from now. I think most of those growers have been growing for about 10 yrs and have very large specimen plants. It does smell a bit differently than the regular neos. The white flower is generally more spicy, perfumey and can be overpowering to some folks during the peak of it's "smelliness". This yellow flower still smells like a neo but more on the lines of fresh, clean and subtle.

:rofl: I've heard that before! I was told by an OB member who's a fan of Catts and Phals that he'd never grow these because they just look like boring pineapples.

And thanks, all, for the nice comments.

Wow Tracy! Great plant, pot, and mounding. I'm so jealous. ;). I picked up a single fan plant earlier this year so it'll be a year or two before mine looks as good as yours.
:rofl:

You might be able to answer a question for me. Lately I'm seeing a lot of Neofinetia falcata 'Yellow' and Neo. falcata var. Yellow (yes, different ways of describing the same plant) at my local garden centers. Are these Kibana or something else? The plants look exactly like any other Neo, but I'm seeing whole nursery flats of these. Single fan, all the same size; like the Taiwan or Malaysian nurseries have figured out how to mass produce Neos now.

Cheers.
Jim

GG
 

Jim, I think those are definitely seed grown NOID yellows. So many neos are seed grown these days it's practically impossible to know if you're getting a green, pink or yellow neo until the said plant actually blooms at least once. I'm not very familiar with the yellow neo varieties. Guess I'm more of a "leaf fetish" person. I thought Kibana was usually suppose to be a darker yellow than some of the other yellows, such as Ogonmaru but I'm not positive. There's nothing wrong with getting a seed grown one as long as you're ok with not knowing how the flower will turn out. You may get very dark yellow. You may get cream yellow.
If you're looking for a certain degree of yellow in the flower, correct flower shape etc, then it might be better to get one that has previously bloomed and confirmed to be the color and shape you want.

Ah! Seed grown. Why didn't I think of that? That would also explain the variation among the plants in the amount of red pigmentation in the stem area as well. :blushing:

Cheers.
Jim

Jim,
There is an interesting thread about that question in another forum, I hope it is okay if I put the link here ...
Short note on neofinetia falcata cultivar disillusions - Slippertalk Orchid Forum- The best slipper orchid forum for paph, phrag and other lady slipper orchid discussion!

Wow~ This is going to be on my wish list now. :biggrin:

By the way, I love pineapple and grow pineapple lilies. so exotic and cool! only wish it came in yellow like real pineapple that has been peeled, but oh, well...

maybe I should get one of these and follow your setup and I will be set! :D

Oh, by the way, does this plant have fragrance like the white ones do?

Wow! Roth seems quite a bitter and disappointed man in that thread. I know stuff like that happens in the horticulture trade in general as I have seen it first hand with aquarium plants like Cryptocoryne and in nursery stock when a hot new plant is introduced where unscrupulous nurseries relabel old plants with the new names. This is why buyers need to know what they are buying and who they are buying from. If you've read about A new plant like Hydrangea 'Pink Passion' in Horticulture or American Nurseryman 2 years ago, and you see a sale for 5-year old plants at Lowes or Home Depot for $20 and all the real garden centers only have 3-year olds and younger starting at $50, you're probably getting hosed if you buy from Lowes or Home Depot.

Truth be told, the buyers at the big box stores don't know what they are buying. They're just buying a shipping container of pink Hydrangeas at a cheap price. Real garden centers generally do their homework on plants and visit trial gardens and look at the new introductions before they even think about picking up the phone to order from the source. That is why they are more expensive and unfortunately a dying breed. The customer is paying for product knowledge as well as the plant.

Plants I've purchased so far have come from a few select reputable sources who I trust as having done their due diligence and if they may have unintentionally misled any of their customers it is because they were misled themselves.

In this case, it actually was more of a senior moment as I was wondering why they were labeled as Neo 'Yellow' instead of Neo 'Kibana'. I had completely forgotten about seed propagated plants.

Cheers.
Jim

Sure, not a problem. It was interesting to read.

Hi, yes it does have a nice smell. Maybe not as pungent as the regular white flower. I think you should definitely give one a try. IMHO, many neo varieties are much easier to grow and bloom than Phals, Paphs etc. I've killed so many phals I eventually had to find new forever homes for my remaining ones for their safety.

My setup is pure sphag moss without the void. If you want to try the moss mound, I would encourage you to mound it WITH the void in the middle. I've heard too many horror stories about neos dying in the moss mound. Neos can also be grown in S/H, bark mix, lava rock etc. So maybe check out their culture and see what you can do with your growing conditions. And watch out, they can end up being like potato chips. Can't have just one;)


Jim, after I read over that ST thread three times, I completely forgot what your original question was :rofl:. Whatever Roth was ranting about...I feel the same way about Louis Vuitton purses!! I'm sure my Kibana is seed grown as well. It just happens to be a pretty dark yellow. Much of the info on Neofinetia is very confusing.

Yeah, my response was a bit of a rant to. Sorry about that everyone.

Back to my original question, I was asking about how the large number of Neo. 'Yellow' was coming about. You answered it. For some reason I had a senior moment and completely forgot the obvious that they were probably seed grown and not divisions of 'Kibana'. :blushing:

Cheers.
Jim

I mentioned this ST thread because it is what came to my mind when you asked about those Yellow Neofinetia being more and more abundant in stores. It is true that you can find them easily on ebay too, but not even much cheaper than a Kibana from a reputable grower.
They could be grown from seed indeed, or meristem culture as explained by Roth...