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| Well, have had this orchid for about 10 years and wasn't until two years ago that I figured out how to care for it, which meant keeping it outdoors in the sun here in CA. It loved the sun and the chilly CA winter and finally bloomed for me. Just wanted to share the blooms.
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by patrickalan Zone 6/NJ (My Page) on Sun, Mar 20, 11 at 8:56
| Wow. Absolutely gorgeous ! Aftering seeing the photo's of your Den. kingianum, I am almost embarrassed to confess that I have been unable to bloom this orchid on 3 separate occassions. I finally gave up and trashed the plants..... No matter what I did, this orchid would not bloom for me, so now I know there is a real "trick" to growing and blooming this so-called EASY orchids. :( |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sun, Mar 20, 11 at 10:00
| Beautiful bloom, note the absence of keikis. A plant that makes a lot of keikis usually has much sparser bloom. I have a couple of these. One is a big delicatum that is covered with keikis and has relatively few blooms. It is so heavy I cannot lift it anymore but I'm seriously thinking of chucking it as it simply does not cover itself with flowers the way it should. On the other hand I can go to our spring show and during talks hand out tons of keikis which is appreciated by novices. Question for Arthur: If you remove the keikis the moment they show themselves, will the plant produce more blooms? Nick |
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- Posted by mjhuntingtonbeach (My Page) on Sun, Mar 20, 11 at 14:29
| For years I had this orchid indoors in a west facing window and in medium grade fir bark. I wasn't sure of the species. Once I found out the species and did some research, I figured the solution was outdoor growing in almost full sun and leaving it outdoors here all year long. I also switched to fine fir bark. The species apparently needs a period of cool weather to set blooms and our local lows that average in the mid 40's at night in winter and can dip below freezing, 30-32 on occasion in Dec and Jan, was perfect. Before full sun and cool winters it was rangey and had quite a few keikis. But as you see, now it doesn't. Maybe that's the solution to your all-keiki non bloomer? Full sun and kept out in fall until it chills some? In cooler climes I read that a lot of hobby growers keep the plant in unheated basements or up against windows to chill down and trigger blooming. |
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- Posted by greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a (My Page) on Sun, Mar 20, 11 at 15:00
| Beautiful! Rich reward! Josh |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sun, Mar 20, 11 at 16:10
| Mjhuntingtonbeach, I know that and that is exactly what I do. I have some of them the cover themselves with flowers like the one in the photo and others that don't. I'm pretty sure by now it's the ones that form the many keikis that are the less than inspiring bloomers. My climate is similar to yours, Lakewood, CA. Nick |
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| That EASY orchid might not be so easy in some places. Generally it is easier to warm up growing enclosures rather than cool them down. My answer the question is that i do not know except to say that i only tidy up kingianums after they have finished flowering and my best quality kingianum makes a lot of kiekis and flowers from the main stem and the keikis. There are some wild collected clones of kingianum that never flower, they just exist by making keikis. Getting back to the EASY business....The late Wilford Neptune grew kingianum to perfection and understood the conditions needed to produce optimum blooming. I'd imagine that to duplicate an average winter's day here. Min 7 Max 17C with bright sunlight in a centrally heated home would be difficult. |
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