# Pterygodium catholicum



## Berthold (Nov 7, 2013)

I am cultivating this species for 7 years now but it will not bloom. I tested bush fire and every thing else without success.
This year I didn't care about the plant at all and it tries producing a flower


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## Dido (Nov 7, 2013)

looks great cross fingers for you


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## cnycharles (Nov 7, 2013)

You finally played 'hard to get' and it started paying attention to you 


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## NYEric (Nov 8, 2013)

Very cool, keep us posted.


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## TyroneGenade (Nov 8, 2013)

These plants grow during winter in South Africa in well lit areas. The problem may be that you are not giving them enough light during the growing season?

If you haven't smelt these before you are in for a shock. Imagine a well used urinal that hasn't been flushed in a long time...


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## NYEric (Nov 8, 2013)

Wow!


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## Berthold (Nov 9, 2013)

TyroneGenade said:


> The problem may be that you are not giving them enough light during the growing season?



I can't imagine because the flower stem is triggered below substrate surface already.

O.k. I am lucky that there is no flower yet.:wink:


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## paphioboy (Nov 9, 2013)

Interesting species... Would love to see it in flower. I assume it grows in very exposed places like the South African Eulophia species..


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## Berthold (Jan 17, 2014)

The first flower after 7 years waiting. But I still can't say how to trigger blooming. Its not bush fire, its not nutrient, may be its missing nutrient


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## Dido (Jan 17, 2014)

very interesting and congrats on the success.


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## Erythrone (Jan 18, 2014)

Interesting species.


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## NYEric (Jan 18, 2014)

Beautiful and congrats. I killed mine.


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## Daniel Herrera (Jan 18, 2014)

I've never heard of this species before. Congrats on the flower!


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## NYEric (Jan 18, 2014)

Aussie orchids are almost never available here. Asuka is the only place I know that has them regularly.


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## Berthold (Jan 19, 2014)

Eric, Pterygodium is from South Africa


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## Rick (Jan 19, 2014)

Berthold said:


> The first flower after 7 years waiting. But I still can't say how to trigger blooming. Its not bush fire, its not nutrient, may be its missing nutrient



If you ignored it this year, how would it have received that missing nutrient (or do mean lack of nutrient as the trigger)? 

With my bromiliads, the less I give them (except plain old water) the better they to do.

This also reminds me of people trying to bloom Maxilaria tenufolia. They try dry then wet, cold then hot, shaded then bright. Then when none of that works they throw it on the compost pile and it blooms!!


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## Berthold (Jan 19, 2014)

Rick said:


> If you ignored it this year, how would it have received (or do mean lack of nutrient as the trigger)?
> 
> Then when none of that works they throw it on the compost pile and it blooms!!



Rick, lack of nutrient I mean like with Amaryllis belladonna.

I didn't test yet throwing it on the compost but last year I was very close to do that.


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## Rick (Jan 19, 2014)

Thank you Berthold. It's pretty bad that after 10+ years on Slippertalk, I can still have problems with English translated German


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## NYEric (Jan 20, 2014)

Berthold said:


> Eric, Pterygodium is from South Africa


Hmmm, my connection s are better than i thought. Thanks for the clarification.


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## Berthold (Jan 31, 2014)

For pot culture in Germany it seems to do better in nutrient poor anorganic substrate


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## SlipperFan (Jan 31, 2014)

Cool flowers. Benign neglect!


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## Andrew (Feb 1, 2014)

Berthold, 
So long as the tubers are large enough, they can be stimulated to flower by storing the dormant tubers in a bag with a banana peel for a week or two, similar to how you make the Australian species Leptoceras menziesii flower. They'll occasionally flower without it but not particularly well. This is mine from a couple of years ago after banana treatment.








Andrew


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## eggshells (Feb 1, 2014)

Wow Andrew. That is nice. What a show. I wonder what does the banana peel simulate.


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## Andrew (Feb 2, 2014)

The ripening banana peel is used as a source of ethylene. Ethylene is released during bushfires and it's thought that some fire-dependant plants use ethylene as an indicator of fire. I guess that other fruit could be used but in Australia, bananas are relatively cheap and you use the peel and still eat the fruit.


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## Berthold (Feb 2, 2014)

Thanks Andrew. I will start collecting banana peels immediately.


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## eggshells (Feb 2, 2014)

Thanks Andrew. Very helpful comments.


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## Berthold (Feb 2, 2014)

eggshells said:


> Thanks Andrew. Very helpful comments.



But we will test it before further applause. It should work on my clones also.


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## cnycharles (Feb 2, 2014)

was wondering if florel would work in any way for ethylene? it is supposed to break down in the plant into ethylene


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## Berthold (Feb 2, 2014)

cnycharles said:


> it is supposed to break down in the plant into ethylene


What do You mean by this?


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## NYEric (Feb 2, 2014)

Very nice bloomings, thanks for sharing.


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## cnycharles (Feb 2, 2014)

Some terrestrials are supposed to flower if exposed to ethylene. Part of florel's mode of action is to break down into ethylene after being sprayed onto a plant. So, there's a slight chance that florel might be able to be used to trigger flowering with terrestrial tubers instead if liquid smoke or banana peels 


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## naoki (Feb 2, 2014)

Interesting information, Andrew. Thank you! I have thought that the general effects of ethylene is to delay the flowering (opposite of gibberelins). Here is an example in A. thaliana. But I did find that it was mentioned in this paper. Well, this paper mentions that flowering of fire-lily is induced by smoke, and ethylene wasn't the cause, but it mentions that other people has shown that ethylene can induce flowering in some species (Freesia and Narcissus tazetta). Good to learn something new!


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## Berthold (Apr 4, 2015)

I can only say "banana peel, banana peel, banana peel" or it may be something else


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## NYEric (Apr 4, 2015)

Yay! thanks for sharing.


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## Migrant13 (Apr 4, 2015)

Excellent. So does it smell as bad as advertised?


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## Berthold (Apr 6, 2015)

Migrant13 said:


> So does it smell as bad as advertised?



No, nearly not. The advertising is bad.


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## TyroneGenade (Apr 6, 2015)

Just wait... You only need a few blooms in an enclosed space for the place to stink like urine.

But the urine smell is worth it. The flowers are lovely.


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