Armeniacum

[BrucherT]

My very first blooming of this species!!
The developing bud was disappointingly small and malformed, but the final result isn't too bad after all. Phew~
It is still very small at 6cm width. I looked up and the record shows 6-10cm range.
I like it regardless.

I had my first armeniaum in bud back in the summer, but the heat and lousy watering killed off the bud.
Then, a second plant started a sheath at the same time as this current one.
It never rose above 2 inch tall and eventually turned brown and dried up.

This one made it!

I love this one for the purity of the yellow. I had what must’ve been a wild-collected plant in the 90s. Produced growth after growth, really galloped along with stolon production. No blooms. I gave it to a person with a greenhouse, who put it in the coldest corner, on the floor, near a cracked window. It would get hoarfrost. And it bloomed its guts out on every fan.

 

[Don I]

Beautiful.
Don

 

[user 9150]

Parvisepalum are typically slow, however Paph. malipoense are as quick as complex Paphiopedilums from community pot. Paph. malipoense is one Pari that prefers to be kept a bit more wet. The key is to keep them watered and fertilized on a regular basis. We water our community pots about once a week in the winter and fertilize about every other week to push them along. The greenhouse temperatures are at around 60 deg. during the day or more when sun is shining which is rare in the Pacific Northwest. Night temperatures can go to 55 deg. this time of year. In the spring and summer we water and fertilize a bit more often as daytime temperatures rise.

 

[Happypaphy7]

I love this one for the purity of the yellow. I had what must’ve been a wild-collected plant in the 90s. Produced growth after growth, really galloped along with stolon production. No blooms. I gave it to a person with a greenhouse, who put it in the coldest corner, on the floor, near a cracked window. It would get hoarfrost. And it bloomed its guts out on every fan.

I believe the temperature is very important and the main reason why many people don't see their armeniacum and micranthum bloom regularly.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Parvisepalum are typically slow, however Paph. malipoense are as quick as complex Paphiopedilums from community pot. Paph. malipoense is one Pari that prefers to be kept a bit more wet. The key is to keep them watered and fertilized on a regular basis. We water our community pots about once a week in the winter and fertilize about every other week to push them along. The greenhouse temperatures are at around 60 deg. during the day or more when sun is shining which is rare in the Pacific Northwest. Night temperatures can go to 55 deg. this time of year. In the spring and summer we water and fertilize a bit more often as daytime temperatures rise.

Thank you for your input, Theresa.

 

[Greenpaph]

Super color!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Good for you on blooming it! Mine continues to grow, and this year with increased attention and limestone added to the compost it is even throwing new growths all over the place. I'm hoping it flowers before I'm dead

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Blooming an armeniacum is quite an achievement. Bask it its glory! I have an armeniacum album form var markianum that I hope grows well. It is in the cold section of my growing area where the malipoense bud opened (where all my parvis are). They have a fan blowing over them 24-7. I think that's the trick to keep them from blasting. Before you give this one up, try to flower it again. It will be a bigger flower if plant is strong.

 

[Elite Orchids]

Blooming an armeniacum is quite an achievement. Bask it its glory! I have an armeniacum album form var markianum that I hope grows well. It is in the cold section of my growing area where the malipoense bud opened (where all my parvis are). They have a fan blowing over them 24-7. I think that's the trick to keep them from blasting. Before you give this one up, try to flower it again. It will be a bigger flower if plant is strong.

do you think generally colder conditions reduce the amount of parvis blasting? what temp do you keep yours at? and for how long?

 

[DrLeslieEe]

I don't think its the cooler temperatures that prevent the blasting. I think its the constant air flow around the plant, which does two things I believe:
1. prevents water from rotting plant (dries by night time)
2. prevents stagnant stale air around the flowers (different gases like ethylene may blast buds)

My small cool area is 15C nights, and 22C days.

Maybe Theresa can comment as she is a fantastic grower.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Good for you on blooming it! Mine continues to grow, and this year with increased attention and limestone added to the compost it is even throwing new growths all over the place. I'm hoping it flowers before I'm dead

I remember seeing your post from a few years ago. The ones in the large dish like container with mostly small stone chips as potting mix, right? Do they at least make sheaths?? Do you leave them outside year around in your area?

 

[Happypaphy7]

I don't think its the cooler temperatures that prevent the blasting. I think its the constant air flow around the plant, which does two things I believe:
1. prevents water from rotting plant (dries by night time)
2. prevents stagnant stale air around the flowers (different gases like ethylene may blast buds)

My small cool area is 15C nights, and 22C days.

Maybe Theresa can comment as she is a fantastic grower.

Based on the habitat info, and how other people report their success and failures with regards to their growing conditions, I do think it is the consistent cool temperature. It is necessary for the spikes and buds to properly develop over the span of several months. Severe dryness between watering may cause the spike/bud to abort itself for an obvious reason of water conservation and survival mode, and this is true for many plants in general.

Air is the least important part in my opinion. I grow indoor and I don't run fans for plants. The air constantly moves around due to temperature differences (warmer air rises and cooler air falls) even if you may not perceive its movement. I do agree that gently moving air benefits plants in a few aspects but I doubt it is as crucial as it is commonly mentioned in typical orchid care instruction. Otherwise, I would have bud blasts all the time, but I rarely have such issue. I rarely, if ever, have rotting issues, either, and I water by pouring all over the plants. not all of them, but most of them. and all of them have water poured on them every now and then just so I can clean the dust off the leaves and stuff.

For me, bud blasts happen mostly with just certain parvis, namely armeniacum and micranthum and its hybrids like Fumi's Delight.
Delenatii and other parvi hybrids have been blooming fine for me. Delenatii among parvis come from area with warmest "winter" temperature range. So this is again, consistent with what I said about temperature above.
Other plants do perfectly fine. Phalaenopsis, Oncidiums, Paphiopedilums of all kinds, Cattleyas...I rarely have bud blasts if ever. The only thing I can think of that is vastly different is that parvis come from area where the temperature is mild year around with winter being cool to cold (even slightly freezing at night). This cool winter last for at least 2-3 months.
Armeniacum comes from the highest elevation among the parvis followed by micranthum. Two most troubling ones for many people.
I've had a bunch of armeniacum form sheath/bud and eventually blast after a few months. I've had more success with micranthum and this species has a very wide distribution in the wild. I have even less problem with malipoense although still not that easy. It is simply too warm in my apartment for this species to thrive and bloom well. Last, delenatii, as I have already mentioned, remaind old faithful.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

I also agree with you HappyPaphy. If it wasn't for the cold, none of my parvis would bloom. I say that as I see my vietnamense in bud!

 

[marriott orchids]

I love this one for the purity of the yellow. I had what must’ve been a wild-collected plant in the 90s. Produced growth after growth, really galloped along with stolon production. No blooms. I gave it to a person with a greenhouse, who put it in the coldest corner, on the floor, near a cracked window. It would get hoarfrost. And it bloomed its guts out on every fan.

Don't know where you live, but here in NC our weather in December was half the heating degree days as the previous December. All Fall was much warmer. This pushes the buds and bloom cycle along too fast and can cause deformities, especially in really cool growers like armeniacum. She should come around next year!

 

[Justin]

May I aske where you got malipoense flask? I rarely see them. Hillsview? Orchid Inn? How are the seedlings coming along?
I find malipoense quite slow to mature. Parvis in general seem quite the pain in the rear when it comes to speed and blooming department with the exception of delenatii.

I got my malipoense flask in 2014 from Orchid Inn. They are growing well, but slowly.

 

[Happypaphy7]

I also agree with you HappyPaphy. If it wasn't for the cold, none of my parvis would bloom. I say that as I see my vietnamense in bud!

Congrats!! I have a few vietnamense primary hybrids like Ho Chi Minh, Wössner Vietnam Love, Wössner Vietnam Beauty, and a couple other newer crosses. I love their smaller plant size and beautiful leaves, but I'm still rather reluctant to try them seeing their habitat info. A lot cooler growing than delenatii and I'm having enough headache with certain parvis and I have lots of them.
I do hope to have a nice vietnamense one day! Hope that yours will open up nicely.

 

[Happypaphy7]

I got my malipoense flask in 2014 from Orchid Inn. They are growing well, but slowly.

Oh, that's right. I think it's either you or someone up in Canada who started a thread about it back then. I have gone through quite a few of them (all purchased as mature plant) and have kept three to myself. and I bought one seedling from Piping Rock hoping that it would stay smaller than typical but the latest leaf on it is twice as big as the previous one. Oh, well...
I grow them (as well as some other parvis) as foliage plants. I no longer think much about flowers on them. Just the beautiful leaves and any flower is considered an added bonus. Looking at them this way is good for my mental health.

 

[BrucherT]

Oh, that's right. I think it's either you or someone up in Canada who started a thread about it back then. I have gone through quite a few of them (all purchased as mature plant) and have kept three to myself. and I bought one seedling from Piping Rock hoping that it would stay smaller than typical but the latest leaf on it is twice as big as the previous one. Oh, well...
I grow them (as well as some other parvis) as foliage plants. I no longer think much about flowers on them. Just the beautiful leaves and any flower is considered an added bonus. Looking at them this way is good for my mental health.

I am the same; the leaves are my joy. Flowers are a bonus. I would love a great big malipoense!

 

[Happypaphy7]

I am the same; the leaves are my joy. Flowers are a bonus. I would love a great big malipoense!

I think Orchid Inn still has some malipoense.
I have one from his breeding line. It had such a nice flower on its first bloom. The plant is indeed large and beautiful.
Then, I have a few other large malipoense from Taiwan. They also have nice big flowers as well as large beautiful leaves.
If you were my next door neighbor, I would have given a couple away as I randomly sort plants out and make room for new plants.