Phrag besseae flavum

[dmcmkl]

I purchased this beauty from Woodstream Orchids in October of 2023 as a NBS seedling. Not sure about the parents. Bill only said that Broadwaters is one of them. Given how finicky these can be I was quite surprised when I went looking for when I purchased it at how fast it grew to blooming size. There are three growths, one old and two that have spiked and are now blooming. I can tell you I have killed more than my fair share of these. Hoping I can keep this one going for a long time to come.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Great photos of beautiful flowers!

 

[Tom-DE]

A very nice clone IMO!

 

[Morja]

Wow that is sooo pretty. Nice pictures. What makes these challenging? Just besseae being a bit more finicky?

 

[littlefrog]

Wow that is sooo pretty. Nice pictures. What makes these challenging? Just besseae being a bit more finicky?

I've found them easier to grow than the red ones... But that might just be the clones I have. For me besseae grows much better under lights, probably because they don't get as hot in the summer.

 

[Cody]

Very nice!

 

[Hilmar]

absolutely perfect

 

[southernbelle]

I feel your pain about growing these. I fell in love with ‘Broadwaters’ when I saw it first awarded at a show and later that year bought an original division from Bill. It bloomed beautifully, then deteriorated and died! Now I grow besseae placed in its own saucer with about 1/2” of R/O water (after watering with fert and draining). I rewater, etc. when the saucer is almost dry. And I grow them at ambient room temp under lights. In my grow room with a summer high of 84 F for catts, they would bloom in the winter/spring, then deteriorate and die as temps rose.
I have 2 blooming sized seedlings of besseae flavum ‘Broadwaters’ x self (which is likely what yours is) and they grow well. They are terrible climbers though! That cross produced some really nice ones like yours. I also have a flavum ‘Green Gold’ x self from Tom Kalina. It was tiny, but has slowly grown and is blooming now. I’ll post soon.