I just figured a new way to make reluctant bloomers spike. Just give it away to someone else!! I had a Vulk. Robin Pittman "everglades" AM/aos that just wouldnt flower. I told one of the vendors at our local show he could have it in exchange for future consideration. After going home to get it,while waiting for him to finish with a customer, I noticed a new growth and right next to it was a spike starting. I gave up after 5 years, if I had only been patient for five more minutes......
That's pretty funny. :-) I know plants bloom after you give them away but it usually takes a few months, not 5 minutes! Were you at all tempted to give another similar looking plant division with a decoy tag to see if you could fool them for a while? :-)
Some years ago, a friend offered me a plant that she just couldn't bloom. It was a smal,l what looked like a cymbidium, and without a name tag. Well, the next spring it bloomed for me, and I offered to give it back to her. She didn't remember giving it to me. She said she never had a plant like that.
So, I kept it, and it bloomed again the next spring. This time, I took it with some others from the local orchid society to enter an exhibit at Jacksonville, FL. I would have entered it only as a fill-in, as Cym. hybrid, but on a whim, I took it to one of the venders to ask if he could ID the plant. He gave me a name. On my way back to our display, I stopped at another vendor to ask the same question....same name.
Well, I entered it under that name. It received a trophy for the best cymbidium in show. I also got several offers to buy the plant or for a division. One of the vendors made a offer. I said no to all offers, but I did agree to give the plant to the vendor on condition that he could use it to cross or otherwise develope commercially. I would have the right to get any plants from his success.
The next spring, he entered the plant at the show in Orlando. Are you ready..? The plant got 84 points and an AM/AOS. The vendor's efforts were not successful in polination, so he sent cuttings for cloning. He told me later that it too was not successful. AND the original plant rotted, and died. Oh, well!
Funny thing though. Some months later, another friend was shopping at the vendor's greenhouse and came home with several young cymbidiums of that same name. She gave me one plant, but could not vouch for whether it was a result of my plant.
I have since bloomed it. I expect it to be better each time that it blooms..... Question though. If this second plant should be awarded in the future, is it to be treated as a different plant from the one that was awarded the 84 points some years ago? (I don't think I can trust the vendor for truthful answers.)
Chris in Central Florida (remove the not from the address to reply directly)
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.