Re: Blooming Size

I have heard of some plants being like 100 years old or so.  Boggles my mind
:)

My Restrepia antennifera was supposed to be a near blooming size and bloomed
about 2 weeks after I got it :)  Just one flower I needed a magnifing glass
to see but it was there :)  I'm looking forward to it blooming again this
summer :)

Shell


"Myrmecodia" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "Shell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> > How do you tell when an orchid is blooming size or near blooming size?
I
> > keep seeing leaf span measurements and pot sizes but no real ages or
> > anything.
>
> That's because age isn't very useful when dealing with orchids.  Since
> orchids grow indefinitely, there is typically no way to be certain of
> their age.  This is especially true of divisions where there is no way
> to determine how much material has been removed.  The only exception
> is with seedlings that still retain all of their immature pseudobulbs.
>  With such a plant, you can estimate age, but only if you know the
> rate at which the plant is producing new growth.  When growing a
> seedling, you should see each growth significantly larger than the
> previous one.  As the plant matures, each growth should be the same
> size as the previous, never smaller.
>
> "Blooming size" is usually a guess based on a grower's experience with
> other plants of that species or hybrid.  If the grower has lots of
> experience, it may be a very good guess, but there is no way to be
> sure.  Many orchids will bloom for the first time before they reach
> full size, but first-flowering is dependent on many factors (genetics,
> skill of the grower, etc).  The presence of old inflorescences
> indicating that the plant has previously bloomed is the only way for a
> beginner to be sure a plant is blooming size.
>
> In my experience, most "blooming size" seedlings will flower within a
> range of a few months to a few years given proper growing conditions.
> "Near blooming size" plants fall in basically the same range, but all
> things being equal, larger seedlings will bloom before smaller
> seedlings.  Some seedlings will bloom within a year out of flask.  For
> example, my Coryanthes thivii bloomed about 10 months after it was
> deflasked.  Other seedlings won't bloom for years or decades if they
> are missing some critical requirement in their culture.
>
> Nick
> -- 
> myrmecodia-at-yahoo-dot-com