My patience has been tested with this one. Oh, it has. I have had it for... 8 years? And this is the first time it has bloomed for me!
I admit that I got it as a very young plant, but according to the nursery, it should bloom within 3 years. That is okay. I have time. And at that time, I preferred to get 3 or 4 young orchids with some time to bloom than one mature one that is ready to bloom. The flaw in this system is that a lot of the young ones manage to die before I even see the flowers. But then again, I kill the mature ones too, which are a lot more expensive.
Anyway... here it is :)
Paphiopedilum Pinocchio
I am pretty sure this is some variety, but I can't find the name anymore, and the order history on the site I got is missing too. Maybe it is var alba. Not sure.
Paphiopedilum Pinocchio is a cross between two species, Paphiopedilum glaucophyllum (from central Sumatra and Java) and Paphiopedilum primulinum (found on the north side of the island of Sumatra).
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The link above has all the information about this plant, so I will not repeat it. What I find intersecting, though, and I read that after I got the orchid too, is that she likes shade. It does make sense since it grows in the shadow of the trees. So I placed it in a less sunny place together with the Phalaenopsis ones. It never, ever bloomed there, though the Phals did, and they tolerated less light too.
It was just growing leaves all this time and nothing else.
This spring, I decided to move to a brighter spot. Generally, when orchids do not want to bloom, it means they do not like the spot, and very often it is a light issue.
So I placed it on a window sill together with the sun-loving Dendobiums and Cattleya hybrids.
And tada!! We have flowers. And they are hairy!
It looks like a sea creature :)
So you see... online info is one thing, and testing it yourself in your environment is another.
The stem has another bud coming, so I am hoping to see both of them in bloom. I have no idea how long a single flower lasts. This one is open for about a month already and still looking great.
There is also another plant growing from the base, which is super cool!
There is one more cool thing about this orchid: the roots. They are much different than the usual orchid roots. The common phalaenopis or cattleyas have light-coloured, smooth roots. This one has them in brown colours and they are all covered in fur :)
I would love to show them to you, but since it is a terrestrial orchid (does not grow on trees, like most orchids), it is planted in an opaque pot instead of the typical see-through one. So I can't do it.
But here is an image I found to give you the idea:
image source
Lastly a bonus :)
Tiny white fungi that keep popping around this plant.
It likes to keep more moist than other orchids so it is a perfect place for mushrooms. But is also means that I should probably repot it and give it fresh mix. I just don't want to do it while it is blooming.
Shot with Nikon D5500 + Sigma 105mm lens
All photos and text are my own unless stated otherwise.
