One of the amazing things about being an orchid hobbyist is watching the various plants blooming for the first time. I personally will have up to a half a dozen of the same plant in various types of culture. I will pot in clay and in baskets using different mediums and mount the plants to a selection of materials; keeping records of the growth stages and eventually photographing the first blooms that appear. I am often asked about the size of a plant before it blooms for the first time. That answer varies depending upon the genera and species of the individual plant. This post will show what I have experienced in the last six months with some of the Angraecoids that are in my collection.
Neobathiea perrieri, the flower is about 2 inches (5.1cm) high, 1.5 inches (3.9cm) wide and the nectary is 4 inches (10cm) long; the plant is mounted to a small cube of cork that is about 2.5 - 2.75 at its widest. The plant itself is compact and barely reaches 2 inches (5cm) high with leaves that can be 4 inches (10cm) long. Watered every morning and late afternoon when temperatures are above the low eighties (27 degrees C); light is now stronger than 1,500 fc and air movement is steady.
Angraecum Longiscott is the Angraecoid that started it all. My first bloomed in the summer 0f 2000. The above plant is one from a batch I obtained from H & R Orchids about two years ago. This plant is nearly 15 inches (38.2cm) tall with the stem reaching 9 inches (23cm) long. The leaves are 8 - 10 inches (20.5-25.5cm) long. Average flower width is 2.5 inches (6.3cm), the vertical measurement is 4.75 inches (7cm), the nectary is 8 inches (20.2cm). The above plant is potted in a 6 inch (15cm) clay pot with a medium to coarse coconut husk material; it is watered every other morning when temps are above the low eighties (28 degrees C) and every third to fourth day when below 80 degrees F (26.5 degrees C) and receives direct sunlight until about 12pm and then the light level drops to about 2,500 fc for the remainder of the day. As long as the flowers are protected from the elements, they can last 5 - 6 weeks. FRAGRANT!
Aerangis mystacidii, the image on the left is just now starting to bloom. It is a plant that was a part of a group I obtained two years ago. The image on the right is that of a plant that bloomed a year ago for the first time. Although they were from the same group of seedlings, the first blooming of each plant was a year apart. Each are mounted to a cork slab that is 5 x 3 inches (15x7.6x3cm) in size. These plants are watered daily and when temperatures are 85 degrees F (29.5 degrees C) or above will get watered in mid to late afternoon. They receive about 1,200 - 1,500 fc. These blooms will last about 10 - 14 days.
Neobathiea perrieri, the flower is about 2 inches (5.1cm) high, 1.5 inches (3.9cm) wide and the nectary is 4 inches (10cm) long; the plant is mounted to a small cube of cork that is about 2.5 - 2.75 at its widest. The plant itself is compact and barely reaches 2 inches (5cm) high with leaves that can be 4 inches (10cm) long. Watered every morning and late afternoon when temperatures are above the low eighties (27 degrees C); light is now stronger than 1,500 fc and air movement is steady. 
Angraecum Longiscott is the Angraecoid that started it all. My first bloomed in the summer 0f 2000. The above plant is one from a batch I obtained from H & R Orchids about two years ago. This plant is nearly 15 inches (38.2cm) tall with the stem reaching 9 inches (23cm) long. The leaves are 8 - 10 inches (20.5-25.5cm) long. Average flower width is 2.5 inches (6.3cm), the vertical measurement is 4.75 inches (7cm), the nectary is 8 inches (20.2cm). The above plant is potted in a 6 inch (15cm) clay pot with a medium to coarse coconut husk material; it is watered every other morning when temps are above the low eighties (28 degrees C) and every third to fourth day when below 80 degrees F (26.5 degrees C) and receives direct sunlight until about 12pm and then the light level drops to about 2,500 fc for the remainder of the day. As long as the flowers are protected from the elements, they can last 5 - 6 weeks. FRAGRANT! 
Aerangis mystacidii, the image on the left is just now starting to bloom. It is a plant that was a part of a group I obtained two years ago. The image on the right is that of a plant that bloomed a year ago for the first time. Although they were from the same group of seedlings, the first blooming of each plant was a year apart. Each are mounted to a cork slab that is 5 x 3 inches (15x7.6x3cm) in size. These plants are watered daily and when temperatures are 85 degrees F (29.5 degrees C) or above will get watered in mid to late afternoon. They receive about 1,200 - 1,500 fc. These blooms will last about 10 - 14 days.
As more first time blooms appear, they will be added to this post.
My Aerangis mystacidii just bloomed for the first time. The flowers look a little different than yours. Are therdifferent varieties of A. mystacidii? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeletePictures of mine are posted here: http://raindaylights.blogspot.com/2014/09/aerangis-mystacidii.html
There are NO variations of Aerangis mystacidii; it is a single species, as is. I did notice there is a difference between what has bloomed for you and what I've been growing for the last dozen years or so. I have had and do have numerous plants of my own and access to other growers and I have NEVER seen the flowers open with so much green tint in the sepals and petals as yours. I also noticed that the spur was much thicker and a deep green. It is interesting how mother nature throws the differences at you. I would very much like to see another photo taken in a few more days. I see NO curl in the petals at all (a somewhat dominant trait in A. mystacidii). Let me say that the flowers are beautiful. Congrats to you!
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DeleteHi Tom - I just posted updated pictures of my Aerangis mystacidii. Since the last post the green tint has faded but there is still not really any curl. What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeletehttp://raindaylights.blogspot.com/2014/10/aerangis-mystacidii-updated.html
Hi Darlene, The images of your plant are phenomenal and really show the structure and substance of the flower as well as the plant. I am doing some research on characteristics of other Angraecoids to see whether your plant may be a hybrid. I will keep you informed as to the amount of info I can get from the RHS database as well as a couple of other growers. The flowers are beautiful and you should be very excited about what the plant will look like next blooming season. I am going to copy and paste your images to keep a record of their shape and use those images to try and dig deeper as to what they really are. Some of the shape is a standard trait in A. mystacidii but the severe lack of curl and the very thick green spur do say otherwise. I will let you know more as I gather information. As before... "Great job on blooming the plant!" TomK
DeleteOne more thing I didn't mention... the tips of the sepals and petals are usually pointed; the lip even more so. Yours have a very round tip to them compared to anything I have grown or have seen from other collectors and growers. I do love a challenge!
DeleteTom - Thank you so much for doing this research. I am super excited to hear about what you find out! I really like the blooms - substances and shape. I have another mystacidii seedling from the same batch. It has not bloomed yet. It will be interesting to see how it blooms out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, here is my photo stream from flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/84677716@N05/
You can download the pictures of the mystacidii from there. The downloads maybe be a better quality.
Darlene, I have looked at several hundred images of various Aerangis mystacidii and have found a small handful that somewhat resemble your flowers. I am going to continue doing some research and see what comes up. Talk to you soon! TomK
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