Five Besseae in bloom

[Achamore]

Never had 5 besseae in bloom at the same time before. Ok, one is a D'allesandroi, but even so, I thought it worth taking the trouble to shoot a group portrait this morning.

 

[Sirius]

:clap:

Beautiful. Care to share your growing conditions and practices?

 

[NYEric]

Yay besseae!

 

[suzyquec]

Absolutely gorgeous.

 

[dodidoki]

Any culture tips? I just suffer with them, not an easy stuff.

 

[Achamore]

They're in bark, not repotted often, and I water them heavily every day. I grow them both cool and warm, they seem happy in both halves of my greenhouse. I've begun using those Jobes fertiliser sticks in the past year, as other feeding is difficult with my setup. Oh, and there's LOTS of dissolved salts in the spring water we have here, which is also pretty acidic, about pH of 6.3. The one thing I have learnt the hard way is to never let water sit in the crown of a besseae, as that will bring on rot in the crown more or less overnight. (Unlike kovachii, which is incredibly hardy in that regard.)

 

[adiaphane]

This reminds me I need a besseae flavum. How much light are you growing yours in?

 

[SlipperFan]

Wow, that is a fantastic sight! And a very good photo, also.

 

[trdyl]

Well done, Don!

 

[troy]

Excellent!!! Except the one with no color, throw that one away!!!!

 

[abax]

I've have four in bloom at one time, so you beat me by one. My besseae seem to bloom all at the same time
within a week or so. The flowers and the photo are excellent. Magic Spring Water is his secret! I think Gigha
is a fairrie place.

 

[eaborne]

Fabulous photo!

 

[Hien]

all are very nice , the chubby one is no question a besseae , but to my eyes the other three could be something in between the besseae ...dalessandroi spectrum

 

[Kawarthapine]

I love your group shot.

Great culture... Your plants look extremely happy and I imagine you must be as well, with good reason.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

all are very nice , the chubby one is no question a besseae , but to my eyes the other three could be something in between the besseae ...dalessandroi spectrum

That's what I was thinking as well.

Amazing flowers either way. I like the flower on the one at the top right the most, though I'm glad I don't have to find space for it -- it looks like it prefers to stretch out a bit with its growing habit.

 

[Achamore]

The one on the upper right is my favourite, and to my eye has none of the hallmarks of dalessandroi. And the one in the lower left is besseae 'Icarus' (3N) which I bought about 8 years back from Orchids Limited in Minnesota.

 

[Justin]

Gorgeous

 

[Brabantia]

Beautiful collection !

 

[Hien]

The one on the upper right is my favourite, and to my eye has none of the hallmarks of dalessandroi. And the one in the lower left is besseae 'Icarus' (3N) which I bought about 8 years back from Orchids Limited in Minnesota.

That is a good collection of besseae, I like the fact that they all look different from each other , sort of what nature would produce .
They are all keepers for sure

 

[JeanLux]

Bravo !!!! Jean