Brassia verrucosa and Brassia longississima

[emydura]

The first photo is of my Brassia verrucosa which is currently in spike. The spikes have grown very strongly towards the light. I think this has worked out very effectively as the spikes have all tended to run parallel to one another at different heights resulting in a nice display. The only negative is that it takes up a lot of valuable Paph bench space in my glasshouse. But I think it is earning its keep.

The second photo is of Brassia longississima. This is one of the biggest Brassias if not the biggest. Mine has flowers greater than 40 cm long. The petals are very brittle and are so easily broken which can be frustrating. I'm not finding it multiplies in growths as easily as verrucosa.

The third photo is a comparison of the two species to give you an idea of the size difference.

If you like the photos and have never grown Brassias, give them a go. They are pretty easy to grow and put on a great display every year. Verucosa in particular grows like a weed.

David

 

[JeanLux]

2 great plants and superb picts. of the blooms!!!!
What is your secret for growing them? Light / temps / humid. ??
I killed several and have one verrucosa 'vegetating' since more than 5 years! I mounted it on tree fern after it almost perrished in its bark mix! It survives, small new growths, but none of these exquisit flowers! Jean

 

[P-chan]

Stunning!!! :clap:

I only have one- Brassia caudata alba 'Jem' AM/AOS. I'm seeing how I do with that before I go any further.

Your plants take my breath away!!!

 

[emydura]

2 great plants and superb picts. of the blooms!!!!
What is your secret for growing them? Light / temps / humid. ??
I killed several and have one verrucosa 'vegetating' since more than 5 years! I mounted it on tree fern after it almost perrished in its bark mix! It survives, small new growths, but none of these exquisit flowers! Jean

I grow them with my multi-floral Paphs which seems to be ideal. So quite bright light but not direct sunlight or anything. The minimum temp in my glasshouse gets down to 16oC. So it is quite warm. I'm sure they could go a bit cooler than that though. My glasshouse is setup for Paphs. The temps barely go above 30oC either. I have a fogger in my glasshouse so it gets quite humid (generally 60-70%). I have them in a coarse mix in a pot. They are ephiphytes so you should be able to grow it mounted. In fact I do have one plant mounted that grows and flowers well.

Verrucosa shouldn't be too hard to grow. Or maybe I have just got lucky. Maybe you should try a hybrid such as Rex (gireoudiana x verrucosa). It should be a lot easier to grow and the flowers look little different to the species.

David

 

[Elena]

They look fantastic. verrucosa in particular, 7 spikes, wow!

 

[NYEric]

Very nice, any spicy fragrance?

 

[Candace]

Wow. Looks great. I have a couple brassia hybrids too. They do take up a bit of space but are worth it.

 

[JeanLux]

thanks David!!! Jean

 

[nikv]

Splendid!

 

[emydura]

Very nice, any spicy fragrance?

Yes, the verrucosa has a bit of a fragrance at the right time of day. Nothing from the longissisima though.

David

 

[bench72]

Wonderful display David.

ACE??? I think u deserve it!

 

[NYEric]

OK, thanx for the info.

 

[goldenrose]

:clap: I would GLADLY give up bench space for ANY plant that blooms like the verrucosa, it EARNS it's place! :clap:
:drool::drool: Awesome David! :drool::drool:

 

[SlipperFan]

The verrucosa is spectacular! Excellent photo, also. I think you are growing it very well.

I've heard that Brassia's don't like to be repotted -- have you found this to be true?

 

[biothanasis]

Amazing display in that verrucosa, but longississima is great too!!!! Thanks!!!! I am so jealous...:drool:

 

[PaphMadMan]

It looks like the primary hybrid of these 2 species has not been registered. oke:

 

[Rick]

The verrucosa is very well bloomed.:clap::clap:

Cool flowers:clap:

 

[emydura]

The verrucosa is spectacular! Excellent photo, also. I think you are growing it very well.

I've heard that Brassia's don't like to be repotted -- have you found this to be true?

Not with the verrucosa. I was given a 4 growth division of that plant. It did take a little while for it to establish. But once it did it was fine. I have potted it up since without a problem. As you can see from the photo it is definately time to put it in a bigger pot as the growths are hanging over the side. So I will see how it goes with this repotting.

I need to try and grow the longississima a bit better. It is growing and flowering ok. But I'm not getting the vigour of the verrucosa. Maybe that is just natural for this species.

David

 

[SlipperFan]

Not with the verrucosa. I was given a 4 growth division of that plant. It did take a little while for it to establish. But once it did it was fine. I have potted it up since without a problem. As you can see from the photo it is definately time to put it in a bigger pot as the growths are hanging over the side. So I will see how it goes with this repotting.

I need to try and grow the longississima a bit better. It is growing and flowering ok. But I'm not getting the vigour of the verrucosa. Maybe that is just natural for this species.

David

Thanks, David. Please keep us informed.

 

[emydura]

Dot - Because of issues beyond my control I only got to repotting the Brassia longississima at easter (3 weeks ago). I was looking at the plant today and noticed to my astonishment that there were new growths popping out everywhere. These were coming primarily from this seasons new growths which are yet to flower. So within the one growing season I have had 2 periods of growths. This has never happened to this plant before. Normally new growths appear from early summer which mature and then flower the the following late spring. After they flower then new growths appear and so on.

So rather than set the plant back, the repotting seems to have encouraged the plant to push out a whole lot of new growths. I will be repotting this plant in autumn in future, that's for sure.

David