# Neofinetia falcata (Shutennou x Koto) x sib



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 27, 2015)

Finally my second plant of this cross is in bloom.
This one turns out much darker than its sibling, and I'm loving the color!
The flowers are also slightly larger, but not so shapely.
Another difference I noticed is that first three flowers opened up at the same time and then the rest on this plant while the other plant opened up its flowers one at a time with a day interval between.







Flowers on the sibling plant for color comparison.


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 27, 2015)

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not another beauty!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Marco (Aug 27, 2015)

I like these a lot. I thought koto was a white flower. Most of the shutennou x koto's weren't as deep in color.


----------



## SlipperFan (Aug 27, 2015)

Great color on both of these!


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 27, 2015)

Marco said:


> I like these a lot. I thought koto was a white flower. Most of the shutennou x koto's weren't as deep in color.



Koto is pink all the way. 
Shutennou is white with pink spur and very dark pink peduncle.


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 27, 2015)

Erythrone said:


> NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not another beauty!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!



I have more coming! oke:


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 27, 2015)

SlipperFan said:


> Great color on both of these!



I can't wait to see how others will turn out. 
I am happy with these two, and now I want something very close to Shutennou.


----------



## abax (Aug 27, 2015)

Gorgeous color on both plants. Typical Neo. fragrance???

I'm with Erythrone...too much beautiful and I can't bloom
them to save my life! Neoenvy.


----------



## naoki (Aug 28, 2015)

Happypaphy7 said:


> Koto is pink all the way.
> Shutennou is white with pink spur and very dark pink peduncle.



It is very nice and deep color. Are you sure about the color of Koto's flower? I don't know much about Neo yet, but reading about them a little recently. Koto (古都), which means "old capital city", is derived from Higashidemiyako (it became smaller and Tsuke changed). So I thought that it should have white flower, right? Is there another 'Koto'?


----------



## myxodex (Aug 28, 2015)

Nice colour on these. Did you make the cross yourself ?
When you say that you want one like Shutennou do you mean that you have more of these and you're hoping this cross yields some more like the Shutennou parent ?


----------



## Ozpaph (Aug 28, 2015)

really pretty


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 28, 2015)

abax said:


> Gorgeous color on both plants. Typical Neo. fragrance???
> 
> I'm with Erythrone...too much beautiful and I can't bloom
> them to save my life! Neoenvy.



Perhaps you tried an expensive picky one??
Neos are very hardy plants that are easy to grow and flower without the need of something special to accomodate them.

The most common issues I see people "commit" are underwatering and not enough light. I took a look at some neos whose owner complained how they do not grow much at all, well, it turns out they were so dry. 
No wonder they did not grow much. lol

Also, I believe cold winter really helps in flowering them and overall health for the long term. I cannot give my neos ideal winter ( my winter does not go much below 65). So far so good, but I had much better results when I grew them as a kid with cold winter.

Yes, these all smell wonderful!!!


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 28, 2015)

naoki said:


> It is very nice and deep color. Are you sure about the color of Koto's flower? I don't know much about Neo yet, but reading about them a little recently. Koto (古都), which means "old capital city", is derived from Higashidemiyako (it became smaller and Tsuke changed). So I thought that it should have white flower, right? Is there another 'Koto'?



It's strange because I could not find any pictures of Koto. Must not be so common? 

The one I saw was at a show a while ago, and it was soft pink all theoughout.
It is possible that it was mislabeled.

Are you reading neo books in Japanese?


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 28, 2015)

myxodex said:


> Nice colour on these. Did you make the cross yourself ?
> When you say that you want one like Shutennou do you mean that you have more of these and you're hoping this cross yields some more like the Shutennou parent ?



No, I did not make the cross. 

I have quite a few of these, but they are much smaller at the moment.
I could easily buy Shutennou as they are readily available at great price, but Shutennou tends to be a bit large for my taste. 
This cross tends to be on the smaller side, so I'm hoping Shutennou flowers on the smaller plant. 
I still have a chance, I guess, since I'm nursing quite a few.
Wish me luck! 

I'll of course post pictures a couple of years down the road.


----------



## abax (Aug 29, 2015)

My problem with Neos. was not enough bright light in winter
and temps. in the greenhouse too warm. I could grow
them rather well, but without that winter cool down, they
pouted and refused to bloom for me. Dot has them now and they're much happier.


----------



## MattWoelfsen (Aug 29, 2015)

abax said:


> My problem with Neos. was not enough bright light in winter
> and temps. in the greenhouse too warm. I could grow
> them rather well, but without that winter cool down, they
> pouted and refused to bloom for me. Dot has them now and they're much happier.




Sorry you had a problem with growing and flowering Neos! But you certainly have a generous heart by re-homing them to someone like Dot! She has a great ability to grow orchids!


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 29, 2015)

Happypaphy7 said:


> I have more coming! oke:



Gosh...:sob::sob::sob:


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 29, 2015)

Happypahy7: did you google "Neofinetia Koto"? You should find a few pics of true Koto amids many untrue ones...

I saw some pics of Koto on FB. Peter T. Lin (Diamond Orchids) showed some... one of my friends bought one in Hawai too. and no... bit it is not a common plant! Maybe you could join the International Neofinetia group on FB?? There are some European growers who grow it too (saw pictures on Cattlaelia forum -France).


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 29, 2015)

abax said:


> My problem with Neos. was not enough bright light in winter
> and temps. in the greenhouse too warm. I could grow
> them rather well, but without that winter cool down, they
> pouted and refused to bloom for me. Dot has them now and they're much happier.



Too warm? But you are in Kentucky!
How much do you heat up your greenhouse in the winter and for what kind of plants??


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 29, 2015)

Here is a Koto (from my friend Carol)



Neofinetia Koto Carol by Erythrone, sur Flickr


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Aug 29, 2015)

Erythrone said:


> Gosh...:sob::sob::sob:



I just deflasked a bunch yesterday. 

All were pretty much of the same size except for one very small one, which I almost tossed but kept it. 
One plant was quite different compared to the rest of them and that's my favorite for now. 
I hope they grow on well in the coming years. 

I don't do Facebook. 
Plus, I'm sure neo group might be full of people discussing tiny details or super expensive plants that I do not really care much for. So, I'll pass. 

I'm happy with what I have ( two Amami Island strain, a bunch of this pink cross, two bean leaf types, and a bunch of primary hybrids).

The only thing I would add in the future is tiger leaf plant. But I would have to see one in person and like the way patches are arranged. 

Other than that, my current goal is to grow out these deflasked seedlings and see the variations. 

In the meantime, I am also aiming for growing what I have into specimen size that will give me tons of flowers every summer.


----------



## Linus_Cello (Aug 29, 2015)

Erythrone said:


> Here is a Koto (from my friend Carol)
> 
> 
> 
> Neofinetia Koto Carol by Erythrone, sur Flickr



nice pot!


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 29, 2015)

Linus_Cello said:


> nice pot!



My friend Carol made almost all her Neof pots... She's a very talented woman!


----------



## naoki (Aug 29, 2015)

Happypaphy7 said:


> It's strange because I could not find any pictures of Koto. Must not be so common?
> 
> The one I saw was at a show a while ago, and it was soft pink all theoughout.
> It is possible that it was mislabeled.
> ...



Yes, I got 2 books in Japanese.

Thank you, Erythrone. It has intense pink. So there appears to be more than one kind of Koto. Japanese Koto has fukurin, and straight tsuke like this:

http://fuukiran.seesaa.net/article/4899170.html


----------



## Erythrone (Aug 29, 2015)

naoki said:


> Yes, I got 2 books in Japanese.
> 
> Thank you, Erythrone. It has intense pink. So there appears to be more than one kind of Koto. Japanese Koto has fukurin, and straight tsuke like this:
> 
> http://fuukiran.seesaa.net/article/4899170.html



Right! I remember having read there are 2 kinds of Koto... !!! One is an hybrid of course (the colorful one on this thread). Confusion...


----------



## KyushuCalanthe (Aug 31, 2015)

Pretty pot! Yeah, it is confusing enough to follow all the Neo names in kanji, and once you start romanizing them it gets positively messy. What's more, people can name anything whatever they want, so you end up with a VERY confusing situation. That is the norm here in Japan for many collectable plants. Only the experts really know what is what, and even they will be confused by some plants because they "came out of nowhere". 

I like these deep purple hybrids, but to be honest I'd never spend big bucks on them. Besides, the overpricing of Neos is an artifact of Japanese culture, and I suspect likely to change in the future. Of course the economic situation here is pushing that point even more, and combined with a ton of Korean produced seedlings flooding the market, prices will continue to drop (IMO).


----------



## Lanmark (Aug 31, 2015)

Neos are the best plants! It's nice to see others who are having success with these.


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

Some notes on my neos..

To my great disappointment, the smallest seedling dried up and died a few days after being out of flask.
Maybe I should have left the agar on.
I have great results with agar on method. Oh, well...
At least all others are doing well so far, but I thought this super tiny seedling might be one of those variant among the crops. 

My largest clump of neo (white flowering type) is finally settling in its new pot sending roots down the bark chips. It was not happy in its new pot and mix for the first few months of repotting with no new roots and only one spike in June. I am hopeful that this plant will give me lots of flowers next summer.

Bean leaf varieties and these pink ones are doing well sending up new leaves and more babies. Yay!!!


----------



## neo-guy (Sep 4, 2015)

The koto used in this cross is indeed a hybrid. I have a plant of it that came from Japan. The label had "Ascf. Koto" written on the tag in english along with Japanese words. When I was at the Tokyo Dome show this Feb, I bought about 10 clones of Koto. Unfortunately all were destroyed by US Ag dept as there was some "fungus" on them. My suspicion is that there is Asctm. ampullaceum in the background of this plant. 

I have bloomed about 15 plants of this cross. About 40% are white or pale pink, about 30% a light pink, 20% are a medium pink, and 10% are a very dark pink. They tend to have very long pedicels and the flowers are on the small side.


----------



## Happypaphy7 (Sep 4, 2015)

I have to disagree about the length of pedicles. All of this cross I have seen so far had short spikes like "regular" neos.

The intense color does pose for possibility of having something other than neo in this cross, but I am not really sure. Who knows! There are so many muddy/shady areas in the world of orchid breeding/trading.

By the way, sorry to hear about your loss.
How in the world did they find there was some fungus on your plant??
To me, that sounds ridiculous because tons of foreign fruits and veggies ( not to mention houseplants) are shipped into USA on a daily basis with so many bacteria, fungus, virus, insects and mites. There are never stopped. lol
Big money, I guess.


----------

