Dendrophylax Lindenii (Ghost Orchid)

[aaronsaxton]

Currently with a 2-2.5" flower spike. Hopefully the bud will start to form shortly.

[Pantoufle]

Good for you. You must be excited. Tell us about your culture.

[Marci in SoFL]

Thanks for the folo-up, Aaron. That looks like one happy Ghost. Nice fat roots and just look at that spike! Looking forward to the next photo!

Pantoufle, you might want to check out Aaron's first post in 'Introductions' re his Ghost Orchid culture.

[Pantoufle]

Thanks Marci. I throughly enjoyed the Dendrophylax lindenii articles by Keith Davis.

[aaronsaxton]

It has been a long time coming, but there is some news on the Ghost Orchid.

I planned this Ghost Orchid as a wedding gift and have held off having the flower spike form a bud and bloom until we set in stone our marriage.

The Ghost Orchid started it's flower spike in 2012. February 2012. Yes, more than 14 months ago.

It is now April 2013 and I set in motion the conditions to turn the flower spike into budding flower spike. This is one advantage to an artificial environment, I get to tell the orchid what season it is, and for 14 months I have told it that it is between March-April, now I am telling it that it's June conditions.

Last year, in case it had been left too long, I instigated the conditions to create another flower spike in case it had been ruined, so in these photos, the flower spike you see at the bottom is 14"-16" in length, and has the bud forming.

The new flower spike at the top is only 4 months old or so, and looks like the original flower spike picture I posted, but it is not - it just looks that way because of where it formed - next to the old flower spike.

I anticipate the bud should finish forming in the next few weeks or so and be in bloom I imagine within 6-8 weeks - this is my first Ghost Orchid flower so it is all-new to me.

[aaronsaxton]

Here is a picture showing the development of the flower bud.

Taken 23 April 2013.

[aaronsaxton]

Two flower spikes, 2 flower buds about 10 days apart on the Ghost Orchid (Dendrophylax Lindenii), so there should be two in bloom at the same time. I think it is about 4 weeks away!