Nice Oncostele (hint hint ;) Wildcat 'Redcat' now be cautious with the clone name, I'm not sure the different clone lines are that "fixed"… ;)

That poor earwing had nothing to do with it, as it eats aphids and the like. there's more chances it's been a snail/slug or any kind of herbivorous thingy that came and ate the new growths.

If you can show the bits remaining we may have hints of the offender.

For slugs you can try a beer trap to catch and down them. If it doesn't work, it's not of the snail/slug sort.

Yeah, I'm not keeping up with names changes. lol

By the way, earwigs can damage plants by eating them. They eat lots of stuff, insect, dead&live plant parts...

Very beautiful, Rosie. Is it still with us?

Yes it is :biggrin: and even better it has two lovely long flower spikes at this moment with buds starting to form. It's been quite a reliable bloomer since it got going again, with spikes each winter. Slightly behind this year compared to others but it's still got the spikes :biggrin:

---------- Post added at 03:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:17 PM ----------

Just last night I was sorting some photos and the ones of this in flower last year show a much redder lip. I noted the difference between the 2011 photos and the 2010 ones in the lip colour. I think it's probably the old camera not showing the colours so well (or I didn't take the pictures in the right light).

The plant is doing well, good growth each year and flowering reliably in the winter each year, with big sprays of flowers. This year's spikes are a little late, but the largest is looking like it will develop into a good display :)

---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:23 PM ----------

As this thread has been bumped up I'll try and update it with the pictures from last year. Having trouble getting into my flickr account just now though :duh:

I noticed in OrchidWiz several photos of Colm, Wildcat 'Bobcat' that have as much or more barring on the petals as yours. They look pretty much the same as your photo. So that is likely what your Cambria tag meant. This sure is a variable hybrid with all the different clones! My Wildcat 'Redcat' is in spike now as well.

I'm glad to hear the great news and congrats on your two even larger spikes!!!
That must be exciting! :)

Yeah, photos will be nice.
Have you posted them yet? lol

So this blooms once a year for you? I thought wildcats bloom more frequently.
Well, with the quality of blooms you have, once a year is also great I think.

How do the leaves look by the way?

Here are the pictures from Jan 2012, which show the colour much more accurately than the pictures above. I keep watching these current spikes progressing... they are slow :tapfoot: but keep growing :)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8089/8...6a2e992e92.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8...871c419f6d.jpg

Good! thanks for posting!

Beautiful pics! look forward to seeing more of your new spikes when they bloom

The colour is an interesting thing on this orchid. The red shown in my pictures from 2012 can only be seen to the naked eye in bright natural light. It can be picked up by a camera in slightly lower light, but still needs enough natural light to be seen.

Here are some pictures from a few days ago. The one with the white background shows a pretty accurate colour compared to what I see just now on the plant.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8104/8...6a625b4fbb.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8378/8...c269a050f1.jpg

---------- Post added at 01:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 PM ----------

A couple more pictures of the current spikes

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8101/8...8e34dc6233.jpg http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8382/8...310c5a532f.jpg