We came from here
The thread "Our Orchid blooms in October 2017" in Orchids forum

We had a busy month of October with lots of nice Orchids and good discussions and here we are looking at Nov. 1.
I am starting with Caulocattleya Paul Vondersaar

Cattleya Sacramento Rose, nicely scented

This little Lockhartia lunifera had started to bloom while still outside and keeps it going inside

Dendrobium bigibbum var compactum keeps going

and so does the Ceratostylis retisquama


Please all join in and happy growing!

Oh my, what a way to start a month Ursula! Just gorgeous plants, each and every one.
I have a Sacramento Rose that hasn't bloomed as of yet in six months. Yours encourages me to keep on trying. Some of these mini Catts can be so fussy for one reason or another. Once again I

Thanks Bill!
I mounted the Sacramento Rose a few years ago and keep it (inside now) right under the glass ceiling. I have not figured out why every so often I see some dieback in the middle of the clump in my mini Catts after looking perfectly happy and growing for a couple of years.

Well I think that they have a tendency to grow outward like from the center of a bulls-eye. After 4-6 years, perhaps 7 those central bulbs just die off due to senility.
Mine is on cork and I just looked at it, a sheath but so far:budless.

Makes sense!
Regarding the budless part, threatening with a bowl of salad dressing is known to help....

Ursula's threatening advice is solid advice...I used a salad fork per her instructions and my Maikai almost immediately burst into bud.

The ball is finally rolling downhill as my house is on the open market!
For those who want to see it, Zillow has it: 1702 SW 10th Place Cape Coral FL.
Meanwhile I don't have much in bloom right now but I will follow the forums during what promises to be hectic.

Bill, keeping fingers crossed!

Another fabulous start to the month ,Ursula! Your Lockhartia lunifera is just adorable ...reminds me of two yellow birds in flight.
First time for this one to bloom Bc. Mari's Glory 'H & R'


and my bamboo orchid has some buds, but I don't know if I'll get a better photo,
the thrips seem to like this one...a lot!

Very pretty, thrips and all.

Y

I agree! And nice Mari's Glory too!

It's a busy morning on the bench today...



C. White Reception 'NN#16' with the first of 3 buds open. This was one of my duplicate plants that didn't sell at our club meeting ( it was in bud ). I noticed something interesting yesterday as it was trying to open. See the slits in the petals? They were woven together. I helped them get separated but wonder if they would have done that on their own?


C. Chocolate Drop 'Kodama' with the first of it's fragrant blooms opening. Ursula, I can only imagine how wonderful your green house smells!



And the very tall Ett.. Volcano Trick 'Paradise ' blooming for the second time this year.

Ohh, very nice! Yes, the Chocolate Drop does have a very pretty scent!
I love the Volcano Trick!!

It is hard to say if the White Reception would have opened by itself. But those "slits" I think might be caused actually by too much tissue. I say too much because if you look where the slits are, the dorsal petal surface seems to actually fold over onto itself at the point of the slit.
Will this or has this ever happened before? The answer is probably a "firm maybe". It may happen again or maybe it will happen just once.
I would imagine if it were a genetic based abnormality it would happen again and again.
Something due to an unusual occurrence, as in the plant grew so well that extra tissue was created, would be far less predictable or not regularly seen in this particular clone. It would be very random.
However it seems to be a delightfully HUGE flower! I think it is very pretty.

I added the very nice article written by Steven A. Frowine "Let's have fun growing Orchids" as a sticky to our Orchid forum. This one is geared towards beginners, but this is the first one of 10 articles, so I am looking forwards to reading them.

Interesting, Bill.. I'll take a photo of the other 2 buds on White Reception just before they open to see.
I FINALLY got a chance to fertilize and Epsom salts today ( WAY overdue!) and found a couple more photo opportunities.





First time to bloom Rl. digbyana






Originally with 2 side by side spikes, 2 buds each... clumsy me knocked off a spike and a bud blasted on the other . Blc. Kuwale Gem
Thanks for pinning that series at the top of our forum, Ursula.. I'm sure it will be helpful to lots of folks.. and perhaps encourage them to take the leap ( or at least not be afraid of jumping in! )

Oh my, nice whiskers and floof.

Very pretty flower with those magenta flares. Very nice. Lip ain't to shabby either.
Aren't those digbyanas a treat? Such a fragrant and frilly green flower. They have such good size to them as well. I have a clone that has the buds stretching at the insides of the sheaths! Should be about 10 days before they open.

Oh my! The digbyana is gorgeous! And will you look at that ruffled lip on your Kuwale Gem!