For a very, very long time I had only concentrated on growing one genus of orchids: Paphiopedilum, but then I kind of made some room for Phragmipedium.
Other type of orchids were just not my cup of tea you see, and some of the reasons were quite trivial, cattleyas because I couldn't get them to bloom, phalaeonopsis, well because everyone had them and they just lost the wow factor for me. There were other like cycnodes, which I completely don't like and i find the whole rest routine a massive pain in my spine.
And also oncidium because the ones available near me were just meh ugly, and my poor Aliceara was having a hard non blooming time.
But then we moved, to a nicer house, with more room. In the January of this year i made a super special effort to get the cattleya to bloom because it was a gift from my other half so i decided I really have to. The results were spectacular, so I got adventurous. As I said, I made some room for phragmipedium. Suddenly I found an oncidium i loved, and then Bag i found an odontoglossum and guess what.
Encyclias
I never looked at them before because i thought like with cattleya types I can't bloom them. And now i had the confidence i didnt have before. The will to experiment and learn.
So I have hunted down a few which I love, i currently own 3: one is a species, and two are hybrids.
AOS says: Encyclia is a genus of epiphytic orchids, segregated from Epidendrum, described by Hooker in 1828 establishing Encyclia viridiflora as the type species. Since that time, the number of species in this genus, Epidendrum and a number of other genera segregated from Epidendrum at various times, has varied dramatically. In 1997, Higgins established the genus Prosthechea, moving many former Encyclia species in a further attempt to classify this group. Over time, there will likely be other changes as well.
Encyclias are extremely variable and range in size from 2 inch plants up to pseudobulbs the size of softballs with leaves 2 feet or more in length. In spite of this variability, they all share the common feature of a lip that, while not fused to the column, more or less enfolds it. The name Encyclia is derived from the Greek word enkyklein, which refers to the lip encircling the column. Commonly grown species are Encyclia cordigera (often seen horticulturally as Encylia atropurpurea, a completely misapplied name); Encyclia cochleata (now Prosthechea cochleata), Encyclia tampense and Encyclia alata.
And you say it as: en-SIK-lee-ah - not some weird mumojumbo i heard on Youtube when people say Encyclica - seriously what the hell is that?!
What I love about them is that although they don't have very big flowers, they bloom in sprays. And these sprays can have up to 15 - 20 - 30 flowers that are around 2 - 3 inches in size and so gorgeous.
Furthermore, compared to cattleyas they last for a very very long time. My orange one blooms for roughly 3 months or longer and grows fast enough to flower 2 a year.
They are also fragrant (most of them) and easy to care. Loving light and water. Since I moved every plant I have into semi hydroponics this set up is perfect for them.
Other type of orchids were just not my cup of tea you see, and some of the reasons were quite trivial, cattleyas because I couldn't get them to bloom, phalaeonopsis, well because everyone had them and they just lost the wow factor for me. There were other like cycnodes, which I completely don't like and i find the whole rest routine a massive pain in my spine.
And also oncidium because the ones available near me were just meh ugly, and my poor Aliceara was having a hard non blooming time.
But then we moved, to a nicer house, with more room. In the January of this year i made a super special effort to get the cattleya to bloom because it was a gift from my other half so i decided I really have to. The results were spectacular, so I got adventurous. As I said, I made some room for phragmipedium. Suddenly I found an oncidium i loved, and then Bag i found an odontoglossum and guess what.
Encyclias
I never looked at them before because i thought like with cattleya types I can't bloom them. And now i had the confidence i didnt have before. The will to experiment and learn.
So I have hunted down a few which I love, i currently own 3: one is a species, and two are hybrids.
AOS says: Encyclia is a genus of epiphytic orchids, segregated from Epidendrum, described by Hooker in 1828 establishing Encyclia viridiflora as the type species. Since that time, the number of species in this genus, Epidendrum and a number of other genera segregated from Epidendrum at various times, has varied dramatically. In 1997, Higgins established the genus Prosthechea, moving many former Encyclia species in a further attempt to classify this group. Over time, there will likely be other changes as well.
Encyclias are extremely variable and range in size from 2 inch plants up to pseudobulbs the size of softballs with leaves 2 feet or more in length. In spite of this variability, they all share the common feature of a lip that, while not fused to the column, more or less enfolds it. The name Encyclia is derived from the Greek word enkyklein, which refers to the lip encircling the column. Commonly grown species are Encyclia cordigera (often seen horticulturally as Encylia atropurpurea, a completely misapplied name); Encyclia cochleata (now Prosthechea cochleata), Encyclia tampense and Encyclia alata.
And you say it as: en-SIK-lee-ah - not some weird mumojumbo i heard on Youtube when people say Encyclica - seriously what the hell is that?!
What I love about them is that although they don't have very big flowers, they bloom in sprays. And these sprays can have up to 15 - 20 - 30 flowers that are around 2 - 3 inches in size and so gorgeous.
Furthermore, compared to cattleyas they last for a very very long time. My orange one blooms for roughly 3 months or longer and grows fast enough to flower 2 a year.
They are also fragrant (most of them) and easy to care. Loving light and water. Since I moved every plant I have into semi hydroponics this set up is perfect for them.
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