Phrag. pearcei

[The Orchid Boy]

Here's my Phrag. pearcei, the first phrag I've ever bloomed! It opened on Monday.

(A little better picture coming soon)

I really like that there is more color to it than others I've seen that are so green. I had a little trouble with this plant a while ago but now with increased water (a ton more water) and a little more fertilizer, it is doing excellent. It has at least 14 growths and 6 new starts. I like how this one looks even out of bloom because it is full and bushy unlike some of my smaller ones that can look a little "barren" when not blooming. I need more phrags now!

 

[Susie11]

It's nice.

 

[SlipperKing]

Interesting. I don't know that I've ever seen a pearcei quite like this one. Most pearceis have a single row of dark dots ringing around the inside of the pouch just below the green dots. Yours bleed down into the pouch similar to caricinum.

 

[SlipperFan]

I agree the spotting is unusual, but maybe just darker than normal inside the pouch.

 

[Rick]

The staminode looks like something you'd see in a Victoria Secrets catalog

 

[Rick]

http://www.slippertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14967&highlight=pearcei

Here's some comparisons of pearcei and caricinum.

The red spotting in the pouch can be variable (although this one has more than I've seen before).

Also caricinum has almost no hair on the staminode.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

I got some pollen from a Phrag. dalessandroi or Phrag. dalessandroi v. besseae to make Phrag. Petit Anquette or Phrag. Olaf Gruss, depending... It was pictured here a while ago. I want to enjoy the bloom as long as possible but don't want to miss an opportunity. It had 2 buds but 1 blasted. I'll be away for a long weekend. This has been open since last Monday. How long do they usually bloom? Also, would it be worth taking in for judging???

 

[SlipperFan]

... Also, would it be worth taking in for judging???

Only one way to find out...

 

[Cheyenne]

The flower quality is good. Even though the judges are techinically looking at the quality of one flower, having a big plant with only one spike is going to count against your plant in my opinion. Even if it is not right I commonly see the judges pass on a plant because it has alot of growths and very few spikes or flowers. My response always is "but you could cut the spike and send it in and you would judge it without even seeing how many growths the plant had".

 

[Rick]

I want to enjoy the bloom as long as possible but don't want to miss an opportunity. It had 2 buds but 1 blasted. I'll be away for a long weekend. This has been open since last Monday. How long do they usually bloom? Also, would it be worth taking in for judging???

Phrag flowers are pretty short lived (1-2 weeks) compared to paphs so if you want to breed it, you don't have much time after full opening to get pollen into it.

As a sequential bloomer, this spike should keep producing new buds/flowers for several months. You should get 6-10 flowers on a happy pearcei spike over its lifetime.

 

[The Orchid Boy]

Some better pictures...

 

[SlipperFan]

Thank you. Nice pearcei!

 

[SlipperKing]

There's no reason the stake a pearcei spike. You end up with noding flowers if you do it too early. Let the flower(s) open completely and then stake it if you want to.