Grammatoheadia Boynton Leopard, my plant that has the largest flowers and inflorescences

When I brought this plant I decided to buy three plants because I wanted the see the variation of the flowers. One plant, the one on this photos, produces large inflorescences with deeply colored flowers.   Another produces smaller flowers on shorter inflorescences, the last one bloomed and then deteriorated and almost died.  All are cultivated the same way and were grown on the same spot.

Encyclia cordigera [HBK] Dressler 1964, this is the type known as var. rosea

The color of the leaves is not due to a disease.  The color is a response to growing in a high light intensity area.  The plant is potted in chunks of coconut fiber and small pieces of tree ferns.

Encyclia Borincana (Encyclia alata x Encyclia bractecens)

I few years ago I tied this plant to a piece of a teak branch,  I hung it from an ornamental bush in the garden, and that was that.  I had not been fertilized in years, it gets watered infrequently and irregularly, if it doesn't have flowers I don't look at it for months.  And yet it survives very well and blooms better than some plants that I fuzz over and cater to their every wish.  This hybrid is well suited to the hot tropical climate of coastal Puerto Rico.  It can get by entirely with the local rainfall and the dry season doesn't bother it at all.

Encyclia Orchid Jungle (Ency. alata x Ency. phoenicea)

I brought this Encyclia as a tiny seedling.  It grew vigorously and eventually turned into a large plant.  Then root rot struck and almost all the plant died.  Only a single scrawny two pseudobulb piece with hardly any roots survived the debacle.   Having learned my lesson, I potted the pseudobulbs using medium sized pieces of charcoal and a few stones so that even if the media decayed somewhat it would still remain relatively open.  The plant responded well to the repotting and has been blooming for the last two years.  This year inflorescence is larger than the one it had last year.  The plant has develop a good root system and I expect and even better blooming next year.  After I water this plant I don't water again until the media is approaching dryness.

These plants grow well in the hot coastal lowlands of Puerto Rico.  I live near the coast and the wind and humidity is favorable for these orchids.  They tolerate the worst of the dry season and, if potted in the right media, the wettest spells of the rainy season don't bother them either.  Perhaps the only thing that can be a bit bothersome is the long inflorescences which can become damaged when the wind blows strongly.

Phaius tankervilleae (Banks) Blume 1856, an old heirloom clone vs a plant for sale in a recent orchid show.

The top photo is of an old heirloom plant that seems to have been in cultivation in Puerto Rico for decades.  The bottom photo is of a plant in an orchid show, last January.  The heirloom clone has flowers that hold their floral segments parallel to the ground so normally one only see the white backing of the floral segments and the lip.  As you can see in the lower photo the flowers of the plant at the show hold their flowers in a way that you can really appreciate their rich coloring, also the flowers are much larger, as is the plant.  A few years ago I brought one of this large and beautiful plants, it thrived as long as I gave it devoted care, the moment my attention flagged the plant produced significantly smaller growths.    Th heirloom plant survives and blooms with a bare minimum of care, such was not my experience with the newer richer, larger colored clones.  The newer clones can produce amazing bloomings, but to perform at that level they need devoted care during their growth phase.

Oncidium Heaven Scent 'Sweet Baby', a fragrant Oncidium

This hybrid is similar to Oncidium Sharry Baby "Sweet Fragrance'.  However the inflorescences are shorter, and more densely flowered, at least in the plants I have seen.  The flowers have the same  fragrance, the main difference is in the color of the flowers.

Oncidium Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance'

This Oncidium hybrid has many virtues, it is relatively easy to grow, can be forgiving of neglect and if well cared for, it can produce large inflorescences of deliciously fragrant flowers that produce a powerful chocolate fragrance.  A single large mature pseudobulb can produce two inflorescences at the same time and those can carry dozens of flowers.  I have read that some people don't like the leaves of this orchid because they are not the smooth green of other Oncidium but can be covered with tiny blemishes, but to me this is a minor defect.  The flowers are so nice that it is easy to overlook the leaves.  Best of all mature plants can be found in many places from specialist orchid vendors to department stores.  Good sized and well bloomed plants can often be obtained at reasonable prices.

How I cultivate this plant:

Light:  Young plants get bright shade, adult plants get a few hours of sun in the morning but are sheltered from the harsh midday sunlight.  Giving the plants as much light as they can stand without burning has given me the best results.

Watering:  Almost every day when the plant is producing its pseudobulbs, particularly the phase where the pseudobulb is increasing in size.

Fertilizer:  In every watering when the plant is producing new growths.  No fertilizer when it is blooming or not growing.

Potting media: It seems to grow equaly well in bark, tree fern and coconut husk pieces. 

Temperature: Summer: 85F day, 75F night, winter 75F day, 65F night.

Potinara San Damiano x Cattleya Chocolate Drop

A nice hybrid, larger than the Cattleya Chocolate Drop parent and with a pleasing red orange color.  Seen at the 2012 Mayaguez Orchid Society annual show.

Encyclia Orchid Jungle (Enc. alata x Enc. phoenicia)

This orchid is a hybrid, the cross of Encyclia alata and Encyclia phoenicia.  My plant is the product of a selfing of Encyclia Orchid Jungle.  My plant strongly favors the alata parent and the influence of phoenicia is mostly shown in the enhanced color of the flowers which are more colorful than those of alata.  The flowers are very flat in the sense that the petals and sepals are all in one plane, in a side photo they are barely visible, this makes for a wonderful presentation of the flower when seen from the front.  The flower segments borders are barely recurved back in contrast with those of alata.  I had an alata in which the flower segment would curl back in the mature flower.  The flowers have a dark chocolate color at the ends of the sepals and petals but the color changes into a light green toward the base the floral segments.  The chocolate and green floral segments strongly contrast with the yellow lip.  The lip has ridges and these are decorated with maroon lines, the lip margin has a narrow yellow line along its lower end.

My plant grew vigorously and bloomed well for years but sadly most of the plant succumbed to root rot during a particularly wet summer.  All that could be saved from the root rot was a single pseudobulb.  In time this pseudobulb produced new growths and started blooming again.  The lesson here is to be alert to signs that the media in which your Encyclia plants is becoming decayed and its killing the roots. This is harder that you would think as the media can look quite good on the top and be in a crummy condition under the surface.  That’s why I am planting my Encyclias now either in pots with rock or in very open baskets that allow the roots to have an extremely good access to oxigen and that lets any piece of decayed media to fall away when I water the plants.