Anything with spots is a winner in my book. Spotty flower, spotty leaves... It must have a hidden 'wart' somewhere. Does it smell like skunk?

The Paph.?
No aroma at all.

This one came out of nowhere (must have been caused by the monsoon rain last night )
V. Saidah Nafisah
This was a cross of Kultana Fragrance X luzonica. According to Bart Motes it was improperly registered without permission from the breeder. Now for the life of me I can't find it on RHS.. do I need more caffeine or could the registration have been revoked?

What a pretty Vanda!!

Pretty Vanda and a pretty good photo too.

Its here!!!!!






And I found this developing today. No tag anywhere to be seen on this Bulbophyllum. It may be one that I have already bloomed this season mounted or may be something else for @BigBill and @Ursula and others to ID!

My basket of 3 little 'gift' orchids from Apopka has finally bloomed. Beautiful deep red flowers on this nice NOID Dendrobium.


Sisters, also of the $3 Den group, blooming beautifully still.

Elaine, pretty blooms!

Woohoo, Gina! "Crispy Bacon" - Schomburgkia!

Bulbophyllum Elizabeth Ann 'Buckleberry' is a reliable October bloomer. Flowers kind of creamy yellow background covered in pink bars, stripes and spots. Look in our database for examples.
Blooms are very tall and slender from top to bottom.

I do have that plant, have had it for many years. This could be it showing up. Thanks @BigBill!

You are welcome!

And if you had other pieces of it, they would be in bloom now too. This Bulbophyllum is always blooming from September 25 to November 7th, give or take. They won't be found blooming in late December, March or mid July. October is their month!

My old Aerangis biloba starts up - ( from Hoosier Orchids many years ago)

Good ole Hoosier Orchids!!
What a beautiful little plant Ursula! I'll bet that little gem is fragrant at night?!?!?!

I need Elaine, Lindsey, Jim and Ken to "please report to Ann Arbor ASAP!" I am doing a Cattleya repotting lecture and demo today for the Ann Arbor group.
I think you guys could add immensely to my presentation! Ursula, I have not overlooked you, you are my ace in the hole!!!

Well, when it comes to repotting Cattleyas, I need all the help I can get. I am truly bad at it! You buy a plant and before you know it, that thing attaches roots all over the edge and then covers the outside of the pot. How do professionals remove that plant without damage to the roots escapes me. Then the other scenario is that the roots are firmly attached and then hang down 3 feet long.
Usually I tell myself, well, in nature the plant sits in the fork of a tree and does the same....
I am truly the one in the hole!!

I have to remember to sniff the Aerangis in the evening, will do.

Well most white African species are white I believe in order to attract night time pollinators, moths primarily!
Cattleyas are not easy to repot and unifoliate are different then bifoliates. Take a bifoliate as an example. You MUST repot them when you just begin to see new root growth. If you wait until the new roots are an 1" or 11/2" long, you may have waited too long!! Why?
Because Cattleya roots are very EASY to damage. Once damaged, they typically stop growing or die back.
Just for the purpose of a discussion, let's say a new growth on a bifoliate Cattleya makes 5 new roots on every new growth, no more, no less. That growth rarely, if ever, produces more roots. Let's us say each root grows to 10" in length. That is 50" of roots, 5 X 10= 50". Then because it is repotted and the roots are too long, you break 2 off. They die back to nothing. 2 other roots reach 5" combined length and stop growing. But little old root #5 grows to 10", so instead of 50" of roots possible, you end up with only 15"! That is already just 30% of what you SHOULD of had.
This is why you set back bifoliate Cattleyas when you repot. Without that missing 65% of roots, the new growth is smaller, it is thinner, weaker and maybe blooms, maybe it doesn't, and you have one smaller flower instead of three larger flowers! WHY? Most probably root loss. The plant could not take up adequate water and fertilizer. It was handicapped by potting at the wrong time or potted incorrectly!
You CANT water more to make up for the difference because the remaining roots can only absorb so much. With more water, the plant doesn't dry out properly and more roots die. AND IF you do not correct your error, this snowballs into a weak, sickly Cattleya that finally gives up and dies! Now I have no real hard evidence that this is what happens but experience, logic and knowledge makes me think that this is exactly what happens!!
At least that is my messsge. I have heard 3-4 prominent orchid growers harp on roots, roots, roots and roots over the last 5 years. Maybe I am slowly reaching everyone?!?!?!

@BigBill That was interesting ! Will take your advice and stop re-potting whenever the mood strikes.

I Know you're not a fan of Super Thrive... but what about the use of Liquid Kelp as a root stimulant? Would it not encourage Bifoliate Cattleyas to activate dormant root nodes ?

My trick is to repot BEFORE all that drama! Especially with the bifoliates. Usually they are just putting out roots as they are putting out flower buds/sheaths. . . and sometimes I have to choose between possibly loosing a cycle of flowers to benefit the plant. If the roots are a little longer than an inch and are beginning to stick to the outside of the clay pot, I can usually tease the bifoliate roots off by soaking the pot and using a little butter knife to help them on their way. If it's a unifoliate (and not so fussy) I grab the plant towards the top of the bulbs , grabbing a big handful if I need to and pull TOWARDS the side with the most roots , tipping it out of the pot (pivoting on the pot rim) if the pot is good and wet, I've teased what I can apart from the pot, it usually just tips right out and off we go! After removing as much of the old media as possible , trimming any dead roots and bulbs without leaves and sometimes the oldest back bulbs ( so I can reuse the original pot) I will soak the plant in a fungicide for 10-15 minutes. If it's a bifoliate , I am a lot less ruthless in removing old media and only do the minimum of root and bulb trimming.

It is not that I am not a fan of Superthrive or Kelp extract, it is just that I do not think that either will help me much with generating new roots.
Cattleyas do not have dormant root nodes. Just dormant vegetative eyes that developed and in turn produce roots.
This summer I repotted perhaps 30 Cattleyas. I had several rootless divisions. I left them outside in the shade and within a month or so there were new growths and roots. Then I potted them up. No Superthrive, no kelp.

Bill, I totally get that! Which means one can have two options, either repot early enough before the roots attach themselves all over the place or leave them alone. I usually miss the boat and then have to leave them alone.
Lindsey, you are good at this!!