Phragmipedium andreettae!

[xiphius]

My Phrag andreettae decided to bloom! I've been watching the first bud slowly develop for the past couple weeks and was itching to share my excitement, but didn't want to jinx it since I have been looking forward to it. The past couple days it finally, slowly, opened :clap:. It is also pushing a new growth at the base.

It's a lot pinker than I imagined it would be from pictures. Also the fuzz at the center of bloom is quite thick. Certainly a little charmer for sure!

Flower!

Full plant:

It's been growing nicely in my recirculating water table along with my other phrags (all of them seem to be doing great here so far and many have started pushing new growths since being moved over a few months ago).

I am not entirely certain what exactly happened in my move from IN to VA, but my andreetae, along with several others among my phrags have developed a very distinctive yellow band on the new leaves. This band corresponds to the section of the leaf that was growing at the time of the move and appears to be permanent. Playing with the amount of fertilizer they received for a few weeks didn't seem to have any impact. None of my paphs show(ed) signs of this banding either. Strange. I chock it up to the change in culture conditions and the stress of the move.

 

[NYEric]

Nice, thanks for sharing. I think the amount of people who have flowered andreettae here is about the same as Pk. Interesting about the leaf issue. BTW, where in VA are you?

 

[xiphius]

Nice, thanks for sharing. I think the amount of people who have flowered andreettae here is about the same as Pk. Interesting about the leaf issue. BTW, where in VA are you?

Thanks! Yeah, when I saw it start spiking, I was super excited. I truly don't know what to make of the leaf issue. At first, it looked like some kind of deficiency (which is why I started playing with my fert regiment). But then the question arises - why only some of the plants, and not others? I thought it might be just the plants that were faster growing (thus requiring more nutrients), but my longifolium is probably the fastest-growing phrag I have and shows no sign of the yellow banding. Truly odd.

I moved over to Charlottesville, so kinda like north/central-ish.

 

[mrhappyrotter]

Pretty flower.

I've been considering a DIY project like that, but I haven't quite found the time and energy for it, plus for the most part, my Phrags do alright with frequent watering and water sitting in their saucers.

I doubt this is your issue, since you didn't mention anything that would lead me to suspect it, but did you spray any disinfectants on your plants or is it possible they had some chemical exposure? I had an issue with Erwinia this past fall, and after having lost a considerable portion of my collection to it about 10 - 15 years ago, I decided to pull out the big guns. Anyway, I repeatedly sprayed the plants once a week with physan. Most plants did fine but at random some developed chlorotic splotches while others developed pale, yellowish bands.

 

[xiphius]

I've been considering a DIY project like that, but I haven't quite found the time and energy for it, plus for the most part, my Phrags do alright with frequent watering and water sitting in their saucers.

Highly recommended. It's been working great.

I doubt this is your issue, since you didn't mention anything that would lead me to suspect it, but did you spray any disinfectants on your plants or is it possible they had some chemical exposure?

No, there was nothing sprayed on my phrags, except for the phrag hirtzii which got a copper treatment for some leaf spotting (interestingly though, this is one of the ones that does NOT show any banding). Also, nothing new added to their watering regiment. There is a possibility that they may have unintentionally gotten exposed to something during the move, but what that would be, I have no idea...

 

[NYEric]

heat or cold can do that to leaves!!!

 

[Phrag-Plus]

Very nice!
You may have a look at your water Ph too...
I'm using rain water almost all year long but sometimes when winter are particularly long I have to use well water.

I had similar problem once at the end of the winter and I though it was a lack of nutriment add some more fertilizer but worsen the problem. Than I look at the PH and I was chocked the water who is 6,8 turn out as 8,3. I add acid to bring it back around 6 and solve the problem...

 

[xiphius]

heat or cold can do that to leaves!!!

Really? I didn't know that! That's probably the answer then. They DEFINITELY got chilled during the move (my heating system failed and it was cold driving through the PA mountains in December!). A lot of my African Violets didn't make it because they got too cold and ended up with crown rot . Orchid-wise I only lost one phal though... so pretty lucky.

 

[xiphius]

Very nice!
You may have a look at your water Ph too...

pH should be OK. I checked it a little while ago and it was around 7-ish. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[SlipperFan]

Very sweet flower.

 

[xiphius]

The second bloom.

Interestingly, not nearly as pink as the first bloom. However, it got a LOT warmer here while this bud was developing. So, I am guessing that, like besseae, the color is somewhat temperature dependent (cool temps = more pink, hot temps = more white).

Dorsal sepal is a lot more open on this one though!