Bulbophyllum pardolatum - a tragic tale

[cmoonbeam1]

I have a tiny bulbophyllum pardalotum that is growing on a mount, and not too long ago, it started growing...

A flower spike!

I was delighted about this, because I hadn't expected it to bloom for quite a while - it was sold to me as near blooming size and it had only been a month.

I watched it closely, day in, day out, until the bud began to elongate, until finally one day, it looked about to pop.

I had heard that this bulbo blooms only in the early hours of the morning, so I went to bed expecting to find it in bloom when I woke up at 5.

I woke up in the morning, but no bloom yet - it was just beginning to open when I had to rush out the door. I told myself I'd be able to see it the next day.

Unfortunately, the next day, it had already started to whither! No bloom for me.

I knew it only opened in the morning, but I didn't realize it only bloomed for one day.

Admittedly not exactly a tragic tale, but I was kind of bummed. Next time it blooms, I'm taking a sick day.

[No-Pro-mwa]

Well the things we have to do for our orchids. You might be an addict if, you take a sick day just to see a flower

[Pattywack]

I hope your bulbo will bloom again for you. I have a Diplocaulobium tentaculata I recently purchased and their blooms only last one day. It bloomed two flowers soon after I received it, I was so excited. It has had 4 more blooms since and they seem to last for about 24 hours.
I really hope you don't have to take a sick day but I don't blame you for thinking you may.

[cmoonbeam1]

Thank you for the replies! It's true, I'm hopelessly addicted :P

It had two more of what I thought were flower spikes, and one was, but it shrivelled up, and the other one seems to be a new pseudobulb - but hey, that's cool too. It's such a small orchid, every new growth is tiny and adorable

[Pattywack]

I love the tiny ones and the weirder, the better! Keep watching, you don't want to miss those blooms.

[Leafmite]

Sorry to hear that you missed it!
I have one of these included in an order...the flowers are really nice. Are they really so short-lived? I heard they open in the morning and close at night...I thought they were to keep opening and closing. Oh well, I do not mind too much. I keep missing some of my other blooms because they are so tiny.... :|

[u bada]

I used to have one, and i killed it after I left i in the darkest corner of my larger growing tank... long story... anyway, when it was happy it bloomed a fair amount in flushes, so you'll have opportunity, if it's happy, to catch it flowering throughout the year, although I recall mainly spring/summer/fall... they should last at least a few days, and open and close over that course those days... it think because yours isn't acclimated quite yet is why the flower didn't last too long and the other spikes have blasted... they do require high humidity and higher light in my experience to be happy and bloom often...

also worth noting, pardalotum is a variable species, my old one's growth was fairly large for a mini and the pbulbs were spaced kinda wide, while I've seen smaller more compact forms as well... where did you get yours?

[cmoonbeam1]

That's good to know that they aren't really that short-lived! It must have been something I did to make it get shrivelly, or as you said, maybe the plant isn't acclimatized yet.

I got my pardalotum from Cloud's Orchids, which is located in Ontario. The plants I've gotten from them have been nice and healthy. It's mounted on a piece of wood about 4 inches long and it lives in a glass globe with some moss to keep humidity up. The bulbs are spaced about 2 inches apart. It seems to be quite the rambler!