Three Neofinetia But On Self Imposed Budget, Which to Buy?

[MattWoelfsen]

Manjushage, with its three spur flower has been on my wish list for many months. Most of the time, what is offered for sale is a single plant. However, this plant has a new fan growing.


BUT here is a plant that I've only seen in catalogs. It is rarely offered: Sekirei. It is a single plant with a lovely form.


OH MY! There is a third plant that is rarer still. It is a small plant, healthy, and very pleasing: Koukaimaru.


Ancient English proverb: if wishes were Neofinetia, I would buy all three. Which one would you buy? Auction ends this Thursday.

[IncurablePlantHead]

Go for #2, love the braided look!

[s.kallima]

I would go for Sekirei. It look great, has a second growth stating at the base and most likely a flower bud on the way. It is a form you won't find easily, whereas Manjushage is very common now (SE has some all the time, just ask her via email another time to get a 2 growths plant).
Koukaimaru is very nice as well, getting to be popular, and is a cross, so IMO will be easy to find another time as well.
Lucky you, I really like Sekirei, but I am not getting more plants for the next 6 months...

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by s.kallima

Lucky you, I really like Sekirei, but I am not getting more plants for the next 6 months...

Ditto that. I was looking at it longingly when it was first posted, but I slapped myself back to being sensible.

I'll guess it may get bid up substantially too.

[Pilot]

Well... Seems you have your answer, Matt.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[jeremiah.chua]

The plant's form grew nicely but for Sekirei, it severely lacks any variegation. Without any variegation, nothing really makes it special. There are other Neos that can grow in a similar fashion for a fraction of the cost.
I think people are buying into names way too easily. Names command a higher price in this market, don't be fooled by it. Judge a plant by the plant's appearance itself, not by the name.

[MattWoelfsen]

I might have 'jinxed' this bidding process by calling attention to these three plants. I do not have much of a war chest to go too far. I think I'll follow Jayfar's example and slap myself back to reality! LOL. I was leaning towards the Sekirei. But all three are appreciable.

[MattWoelfsen]

The stripping is negligible. Even though SE made an attempt to show the white striping on leaf edges, that seemed ancillary to the overall plant's appearance. I do see that the baby fan seems to have some more stripping. I wonder if this stripping can be enhanced further with brighter light? The SE description states: "Mimizuri-stripe...sometimes new growth come with great marginal stripe..." When I look at the pictures with the stripping, it did not occur to me that it was a feature of this plant! So NOT all that great stripping.

Thank you Jeremiah for identifying the stripping, or lack thereof...

[s.kallima]

On the other hand, most of the Sekirei I have seen online look like this one, the stripping is extremely limited to the leaf tips on this form I think, so the one for sale here looks within the standard of the form to me...
sekirei11.JPG - •x‹M—–‚ðˆ¤‚Å‚é�E�E�E�E�E

[MattWoelfsen]

How do you find these blogs? This blog does show interesting white stripping--very minimal, almost abstract and a picture of its flowers. There is a quiet quality to this plant, showing hints of stripping but not so overboard as some other stripped Neofinetia. <sigh>