# Shun Fa Golden bud



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 9, 2022)

Hangianum x malipoense. 
Finally it is getting ready for its second bloom. It last bloomed in the fall of 2020 with a massive fragrant flower. 
That’s my thumb for size reference and it has just started to rise up


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## Bob in Albany N.Y. (Aug 9, 2022)

It should be a great big healthy bloom. Sending good wishes your way.


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 9, 2022)

Bob in Albany N.Y. said:


> It should be a great big healthy bloom. Sending good wishes your way.


Thank you!


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## Ozpaph (Aug 10, 2022)

Good Luck


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## Guldal (Aug 10, 2022)

Best wishes, Happy!


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 11, 2022)

Thank you, thank you!


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 14, 2022)

Thought I would put in some info regarding culture since it is suggested here to included "how you grow".
I got this plant and one more from the same batch in 2017 as mid-sized seedling. They were about 6-7inch from leaf tip to tip.
When they bloomed for the first time in late 2020, each leaf was longer than 8-9inch!! 
They are both getting ready to bloom again in two years.
They are both sitting in the same potting mix in their 3.75in square plastic pots. I would guess that the plants had been in this pot at least 1-2 years at the time of purchase. The mix is mostly orchiata with some perlite in it but very little of it. 
All I did was to add thin layer of sphagnum moss on top to keep the top roots covered. 
Both plants look very healthy with not a single disease spots or suspected salt burn on the leaf tip.
I water with my tap which is very low in dissolved mineral contents at around 40-50 TDS. 
I fertilize about twice a month during the warmer months at about 30-50 ppm N. I do 100ppm N occasionally but most of the time it is on the lower end close to 50 or lower.


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## tnyr5 (Aug 14, 2022)

Is this the one with the close to 20cm flower? I wonder if it will suffer the same fate as Wotan ( blooms eventually got so big they could no longer support themselves)


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 14, 2022)

tnyr5 said:


> Is this the one with the close to 20cm flower? I wonder if it will suffer the same fate as Wotan ( blooms eventually got so big they could no longer support themselves)


Yeah, 20cm vertical and 18cm natural spread. Surprisingly though, the spike was like a trunk. quite thick and sturdy that it did not require staking. Did Wotan make bigger flowers on the subsequent bloom?


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## tnyr5 (Aug 14, 2022)

The stems could support the flowers, but the petals flopped under their own weight. Had they remained flat and true like when it was awarded, the flowers would be well above 20cm. It lives with Tyler now, I've all but disowned it lol. 
Meanwhile, its sibling has 6 new growths with more yet to come this year.


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 14, 2022)

tnyr5 said:


> The stems could support the flowers, but the petals flopped under their own weight. Had they remained flat and true like when it was awarded, the flowers would be well above 20cm. It lives with Tyler now, I've all but disowned it lol.
> Meanwhile, its sibling has 6 new growths with more yet to come this year.


I thought you decided to remove all those spikes for a potentially bigger show? Or am I thinking of one of your multis that you said something similar about? 
My first SFG took a long time before it finally started to grow in more than one direction. Like five years after initial flowering. 
It was a nice and compact plant with a huge flower.


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## NYEric (Aug 15, 2022)

Good luck. How often do you water?


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## tnyr5 (Aug 15, 2022)

Try feeding it more.


Happypaphy7 said:


> I thought you decided to remove all those spikes for a potentially bigger show? Or am I thinking of one of your multis that you said something similar about?
> My first SFG took a long time before it finally started to grow in more than one direction. Like five years after initial flowering.
> It was a nice and compact plant with a huge flower.


I usually remove spikes from most of my plants after the first bloom, until they are full adults. Get to the good part faster, ya know? There is one exception, if growths start going out of sync, I let the precocious ones bloom and cut the spikes of the stragglers. Sometimes I'll even set a dummy pod to slow the early growths down until they line up again.


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 16, 2022)

tnyr5 said:


> Try feeding it more.
> 
> I usually remove spikes from most of my plants after the first bloom, until they are full adults. Get to the good part faster, ya know? There is one exception, if growths start going out of sync, I let the precocious ones bloom and cut the spikes of the stragglers. Sometimes I'll even set a dummy pod to slow the early growths down until they line up again.


I don't think fertilizing speeds up or "makes" plants break out multiple growths at once.
My first SFG was purchased as a second blooming plant and the nursery owner said it was always painfully slow and he blamed it being half hangianum. The commercial growers usually go heavy with feeding. At least much heavier compared to how I do it.
He had multiple growths plant that was grown exactly the same way.
Some plants are super growers right from the start. Some take a bit of time to get there after a few blooming cycles. Others just never get there no matter what the growing conditions. 

Hmmm....my delenatii and brachys that are growing a seed capsule are not slowing down one bit. They are all busy growing a new lead as usual and in the case of the brachys, they are breaking out growths and getting ready to bloom again all at the same time.
I think it really depends on the plants perhaps?

Not paphs, but my neofinetia that are carrying multiple seed pods are (two of them) sending up a few new flower spikes at the moment. It will be the second blooming since spring for one of them, and it will be third time for the other plant. The one that's going to bloom for the third time usually blooms three times a year for me (which is strange for neos) is the one carrying three seed pods.
Some neo growers snip off all flower spikes. I tell them this story and they just gasp. lol


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## Happypaphy7 (Aug 16, 2022)

Tony
While the topic is up, I'd like to share this bit also.
So I had this compot of Liberty Taiwan. the babies took their sweet time to grow. Once they bloomed, one particular seedling broke out four new growths. One other seedling broke out two. The rest of the seedlings nada. One has not even bloomed yet and it's been over ten years!
Go figure! Genetics are the strongest factor I believe. Some just are better than others.
I see this again and again. Sometimes, do you see completely crap flasks or evenly successful flasks where nearly everyone does well.
I suspect seeing quite a bit of individual variations is the norm.


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