Blc. Hilo Grand ‘Waldor’s 100 Grand’ Original Division

[southernbelle]

The plant I ordered (below) came in spike. After two weeks in my care It bloomed.
Photo of my fully opened bloom below (7 days). It is getting whiter as it ages. It was shipped with a heat pack on the roots but the box and leaves were quite cold even after sitting unopened at room temp for 3-4 hours, then into my grow room at 72 day 62 night temp. Bummer, what I liked about it was the contrast of the lip and flare against the white/very light pink blush background of the petals. Oh well…

 

[abax]

Poor thing. It's been shocked and will do much better once it acclimates, I betcha.

 

[LWP]

Cold temps result in more red pigment and chill from shipment would easily provide more color suffusion. Color will be lighter during warmer conditions with more distinct flare patterns.

 

[southernbelle]

Cold temps result in more red pigment and chill from shipment would easily provide more color suffusion. Color will be lighter during warmer conditions with more distinct flare patterns.

Yay, that’s great news! I didn’t think 2 weeks in my environment could have made that much difference, but it certainly was colder on arrival than any other and the first I’ve received with a heat pack keeping roots warm. I’ll hope for a second bloom to be better.

 

[NEslipper]

It's still beautiful, but I agree the lighter petals look more pleasing. I've been eyeing this on their list as well, but I'm quickly running out of space....Is it fragrant?

 

[southernbelle]

I’ll check tomorrow. If I recall it’s got a mild sweet fragrance.

 

[southernbelle]

At noon it has a mild to medium pleasing perfume like fragrance. Hard to describe otherwise.

 

[NEslipper]

At noon it has a mild to medium pleasing perfume like fragrance. Hard to describe otherwise.

Thanks! Hope the next flowering is closer to expectations, but it's interesting to learn about the factors that can influence the flares!

 

[southernbelle]

I heard back from Dave Off. I had asked about his current growing conditions. Here is his info:

“Apologies for the delay.
Mine just bloomed with a similar tone. Not sure why. We have high light levels this time of year and cool temps.”
Dave Off

So it seems his conditions contributed. whether or not the cold in transport had any further effect. I will eagerly anticipate the next bloom. (Seems to be becoming the story of my orchid life ).

 

[DrLeslieEe]

I just hung out with David the other night and completely forgot to ask for you. I’m glad he answered. He’s a cool and funny guy lol.

My take on this different flamea development: sometimes it’s individual cultural conditions (eg kelp auxins) and sometimes it’s luck of the gene expression for that period for the general populace (drop in night temperatures with contrasting hot days). My flameas can vary from year to year. That’s why they are unstable for their expression and can look very different plants when they rebloom (which confuses people as you’ve been experiencing).

 

[southernbelle]

I just hung out with David the other night and completely forgot to ask for you. I’m glad he answered. He’s a cool and funny guy lol.

My take on this different flamea development: sometimes it’s individual cultural conditions (eg kelp auxins) and sometimes it’s luck of the gene expression for that period for the general populace (drop in night temperatures with contrasting hot days). My flameas can vary from year to year. That’s why they are unstable for their expression and can look very different plants when they rebloom (which confuses people as you’ve been experiencing).

Thank you. Yes, Dave is very personable and very helpful, and an incredibly knowledgable 3rd generation orchid grower/hybridizer (and his plants are top notch). He has spoken at our VOS meetings in the past. I mentioned that this plant arrived in mid 20 degree day temps. It was during the extreme early cold spell the northeast US had in late Dec/Jan (so even colder in NJ when it set its buds). At least knowing this, and that his bloomed looking the same this time, gave me the opportunity to learn more in this regard. Maybe next bloom, I can play with the conditions a bit.
Oh, I do usually use kelp once a month on all my plants but stopped it in Sept. this year (for the winter) as an experiment. I will start it back up again in Feb. I have a note on Rlc. Toshie Aoki ‘Pizazz’ to hold off on kelp this spring as an experiment. The plant I have is a division of the original and has not bloomed for me yet. We shall see…