My Spathoglottis is blooming! I thought the flower would be bigger than it actually is. Do the flowers get bigger as the bulb gets bigger? Also can someone give me a species and cultivar for this one please?

These are landscaping plants south of you in Fl, so massed produced. Maybe hard to get names. Btw, when did you move, I thought you had a beautiful place and gardens in South Carolina? I found you on the GH forum with a DIY project you put up your own GH! Congradulation, good job!

Thanks! I moved about 2 months ago .. still in the same town and only a mile and a half from my old place. The new garden is still a work in progress with a very long way to go.

That's right, Bert. We Floridians can buy these at big box stores where they just call them ground orchids. The clerk won't even know they are Spathoglottis let alone that they have a name. It's the same as the Phals on the big table. Elaine and I have had some luck buying some with names up in Apopka which is where I like to get them.

Jim

Absolutely. Anne, that's a pretty one but no clue as to a name. There are many, and as said above are now mass-grown for the big box stores here. The flowers stay fairly small, under 2in. or so but once they get going, there will be many flowers in succession for months at a time. That spike will keep elongating and adding buds.

I'd rather have many small flowers than one big flower any day, myself. Here's a white one I scored at Lowe's last fall, and one of the nice multi-color ones from Apopka that didn't have a name except Spathoglottis (which is more than you get at Lowe's).

They are pretty .. just wish they were zone 8 hardy! I always LOVE bi-colored flowers.

My spaths are dying terrible, slow deaths, except for one. The leaves are turning brown and falling off. There is new growth but it never makes it. The one healthy one is excellent! It bloomed for 5 months, no exaggerating. They are under areca palms, LOTS of shade. Mixed up with bromeliads. Everything is doing very well except for the spaths.

Kate, I have to admit, the ones I planted in the ground petered out and died, too. I think they don't compete well with any tree roots or other competition.

I now keep them all in pots, with a very loose, humus-y mix and just move them around to where I want them to bloom. Sink the pots and cover the pot edges with mulch, then I can also move them under the tent in winter if it gets too cold.

This year I gave them all a little handful of alfalfa pellets each, some pelleted fert, and they do occasionally get the dilute fert spray that the other orchids get as well.

All of mine are in pots and I really pay little attention to them. Replacements are cheap.

Jim

Yes I don't think I will replace them if I have to keep them in pots It's OK, means more room for the bromeliads.

I adore Bromeliads, but they don't bloom for 5 months running like the Spaths do.

True!!!

Well, it sort of depends on the variety and what you call "blooming". My Neoregelia 'Voodoo Doll' and 'Michii' have been changing color/blushing for a year and still have lots of color to put on before they are mature. They are also loading up with pups and that's where another 1-2 years of color will come from.

I agree, some of the colors on my broms are way more interesting and exciting than their blooms.

Yep, those two varieties have flowers in their "urns" , but the flowers are not very interesting, at least to me. Those neon colors are what makes these plants pop. All these pictures were taken 4-6 weeks ago. Their coloration is much more advanced now. Because I have so many of these two varieties, I will have color-change going on for at least another year. The nice thing is seeing all those pups growing. Some of the "mother" plants have pups that are almost as large as she is and have filled a 6" pot. I think the reason I have so many pups, something rarely found in big-box store plants, is the fact that I don't force growth/blooms on my plants. They grow at their normal rate and thus have time for pup-formation. At least that's my opinion.

Hi all,

Does anyone have tips on growing Spathoglottis? What I think may be the cultivar 'Sorbet Berry Banana' followed me home from the nursery and I'm trying to decide whether to keep it or return it. I don't have any other orchids and it won't be hardy here in zone 7b/8a. Are they fairly easy to grow and keep blooming? I've done some googling but most seem to grow theirs outside year-round, which is clearly not an option here. Will they go dormant in the cooler weather and store well in a basement or do they need to stay green and have a sunny window over winter? What's the chance of successfully growing this in northern Georgia? I can return it as long as it remains in salable condition, so I have to decide quickly before I kill it!

The flowers are just so adorable that I succumbed to its siren song.

Thanks much!

p.s. Pretty photos, everyone!

Danita, I can only tell you what I do with my Spathoglottis plants here in NE Mississippi (8b). They are hardy in zones 9'ish - 11, but not here. I bring all my plants inside in mid-October to early November and they overwinter in a greenhouse. They remain outside, under oaks and cedar trees from early April till fall. I just don't know whether they would go dormant during the fall and winter months if water and light were withheld. I have a feeling they won't. All I have that do go dormant during those 4-5 months are plumeria, but those have to be brought inside as well, since freezing temperatures would kill them, dormant or not.

I kept mine in the greenhouse and watered sparingly .. they did just fine.

Danita, once they start blooming Spathoglottis will keep right on as long as they don't get too cold. So, yes you'd have to bring them in when the nights get down into the 40's but if they like the spot where you keep them they might actually bloom right through winter for you. I'd give them a bit of morning sun, at least.

But no, they won't overwinter outside or in a basement. Mine never go dormant.