This blog is an eclectic mix of orchid culture, tropical fish keeping and Amazon parrot behavior. It also has stories just about anything I find interesting. Este blog es una mezcla eclectica del cultivo de las orquideas, el cuidado de los peces tropicales y el comportamiento de las cotorras Amazona. Tambien tiene historias de todo lo que encuentro interesante.
Saturday, May 2, 2020
Phragmipedium hirtzii Dodson 1988
I brought this plant some years ago. It was an import from Ecuador. When I brought it, the plant had only two or three fans of leaves. I cultivate it on a semi hydro regime. The plant surprised me by surviving the climatic chaos that followed the destruction of the canopy of the forest that surrounds my house by hurricane Maria. A lot of my other orchid plants were not able to deal with the wild swings in humidity, rainfall and temperature in the months following the hurricane. I wondered why it had not bloomed. So I did what I always do with plants that don't bloom for any obvious reason, I carefully moved it so that it got more sun for a longer period of time. I also gave it fertilizer with more nitrogen to promote bigger, more vigorous growht. That did the trick and it bloomed in April 2020. This is its first flower.