Paphiopedilum Gold Dollar

[Happypaphy7]

I got this from Piping Rock Orchids back in the summer.
The spike has been very slowly developing over the course of 4 months, and now it begins to open.

These pictures are from the past two days.
The pouch is swelling up quite fast.

Can't wait for the color development, but a bit disappointed.
I've seen others whose pouch was golden yellow at this stage, but mine is very pale. Hopefully the color gets better in a few days.

The plant is about 8 inch width and the leaves are very narrow like armeniacum, yet the flower is about the same size as those on my Deperle, which is at least twice as big in plant size.
I quite like this plant.

I hope the flowering habit improves in the future as I have seen others that had two more buds visible when the first flower was open.
Mine shows extra empty bracts. hmmm. Oh, well...

 

[Migrant13]

Not bad!

 

[jimspaphs]

looks good to me.

 

[NYEric]

Not bad.

 

[17andgrowing]

So far so good

 

[Happypaphy7]

Two days passed and open now.
Still green, but I like the color green!

 

[Migrant13]

Looks even better now. I like the Green Giant colors!

 

[SlipperFan]

One of the better ones, I think.

 

[abax]

I'd love to see another photo in a week. I'm betting the
color will get better. I like the basset hound petals.

 

[Ozpaph]

quite green

 

[chris20]

Nice.

 

[Happypaphy7]

So, this is probably the last time I see this plant flower because I just found that it had rot at the base.
It is a three growth plant, and the one with this flower got hit hard, and upon taking the plant out of its pot, I saw that the next growth was also tender and fell off. The last one is still fine, but I doubt it will live more than a couple of days.

What a bummer.

I cut the flower stem and placed in a glass to enjoy it, but now I'm thinking, 'oh, wait, the germs might already be inside the stem and now the water has it, and do I microwave the glass to kill off whatever might be left in there?'
Probably just dishwasher since microwaving might break the glass.

I hate dealing with rot.

 

[SlipperFan]

That's most unfortunate. But maybe you can still save the plant. Dry up that rot.

 

[Happypaphy7]

Unfortunately the last piece also went bad.
Oh, well...

 

[PaphMadMan]

What a bummer.

I cut the flower stem and placed in a glass to enjoy it, but now I'm thinking, 'oh, wait, the germs might already be inside the stem and now the water has it, and do I microwave the glass to kill off whatever might be left in there?'
Probably just dishwasher since microwaving might break the glass.

I hate dealing with rot.

Definitely a bummer about the plant, but don't worry about contamination of the glass. Ordinary washing should be all that is needed. Maybe wipe with bleach or hydrogen peroxide and re-wash if you are really concerned. Or, unless the glass came with a no-microwave warning you can safely boil water in it in the microwave.

 

[Happypaphy7]

The flower is still looking fresh.
I think I will run it in the dishwater hot water setting in case it shatters in the microwave. It is rather old glass and any markings had been worn out over the years. lol

I tend to freak out over germs rather easily. I just can't help it.
Een handling veggies and fruits sometimes me make me wonder, and I wash hands like crazy especially after seeing rotten parts of onions, which seem to happen more common than I want, or potatoes, which is not so common for me.
I feel like I'm introducing germs by bringing in these vegetables home. Maybe it's just in my head. lol