Ebay Seedlings Bonanza
While I was going crazy at the nurseries this spring, I didn't forget to do any damage through Ebay either, which is a great resource for cheaper, and therefore younger, orchids and seedlings. I bought a nice haul here of phragmipediums and quite a few night-blooming orchids.
(none of the photos below belong to me, they were provided by the Ebay vendor as a flower reference)
(none of the photos below belong to me, they were provided by the Ebay vendor as a flower reference)
Phragmipedium Belle Hougue Point ‘Walter M Acker’ AM/AOS
A beautiful hybrid that has these long, elegant petals in a pinkish, reddish color. I've seen pictures where the blooms are more of a blush and others where the color is deeper. I believe this orchid's flowers also change in color over time as it matures. It will be a surprise, especially when it comes to seedling. Belle came with one small fan with a small leaf growing from the top. The roots were looking good and she seems healthy so hopefully, the rumors about phrags taking well to semi-hydro will hold true for me here.
Phragmipedium Acker’s Trinket X Mem Dick Clements 4N
Here is another pop of color, one that I've never seen before amongst the available phrags in the nurseries of my area. These bright red flowers are so gorgeous and eye catching, I knew I wanted one right away. I've never seen one so lovely, and I'm excited to see how this cross blooms for me. Apple was the bigger of the two phrag seedlings I ordered and I have high hopes she will adapt well. She came with a little leaf growing in at the top and some healthy roots. Both of these tiny orchids are on my heat mat so they should be just fine.
Angraecum didieri
A new species addition to my collection, I have been interested in angraecums since they remind me of smaller vandas. This type in particular is a smaller, compact grower with a night-fragrant flower. Her flowers are very large in comparison to the size of the plant. Didi is a small seedling with a leaf growing in at the crown with a healthy root system.
Brassavola nodosa ‘Josephine’ X Blc Sunspots ‘Super Spots’
Here is a beautiful hybrid that I'm excited about! Solara is a special hybrid of a night bloom orchid, the brassavola nodosa, and a cattleya hybrid which introduces the yellow color and the spotting on the lip. She will hopefully bee a fragrant orchid but only time will tell how much she leans toward one parent over the other. The flowers pictures above are from the AOS website of this cross but since seedlings can vary so much from individual to individual, it will be interesting to see how the flowers will develop. This will be a ways off since she is such a young plant but with the right care, I hope to see her in bloom in a couple years!
Cattleya maxima f. coerulea
This species of cattleya is quite a showstopper in my eyes with those soft lavender colored flowers and the signature bold yellow stripe down the lip. There are two types of cattleya maxima, the highland and the lowland variety, each with slightly different care and very different structural development. I'm hoping mine is the highland variety, and therefore much more compact in growth. Lilac is a tiny little seedling right now so she won't be mature size for a few years yet. I'm hoping some time on the heat mat will help her develop that root system a bit faster. Even if she is the lowland variety which can have pseudobulbs that grow to be quite large, I would consider her blooms worth the room if they resemble anything like the picture I posted (posted by seller).
Bc. Little Stars x Maikai
This tiny seedling cross was love at first sight for me. Those rosy start shaped flowers with the freckled lip made her an easy pick and I was so pleased with the plant I received. Maui is a small seedling with lots of new little growths which is exciting since it means she's potentially a vigorous grower. I have her on the heat mat as well so that her tender little roots stay humid and warm. Hopefully she'll get bigger and bigger and eventually give me some of those fragrant blooms!
Brassavola Yellow Bird
This one was in the worst condition out of the bunch of these Ebay bought seedlings. Starshine was bought from a separate seller and I have a suspicion she was packed slightly wet because when I received her she was not in great shape. She was packed in a larger box and so she shook around a bit during shipping and lost most of her medium. Then when I repotted her and checked her leaves, I noticed what looked like a large amount of soft rot on one of her leaves. Two of the neighboring leaves had small soft spots of rot as well which is very worrying. I have removed and treated the effected leaf, put her into leca, and contacted the seller with some pictures. I will be keeping a careful eye on those other two leaves to see if the rot spreads otherwise I will have to take those too. With a plant this small, this type of treatment is really tough and she will be set back significantly, especially since her root system was mostly rotted to begin with. She is going to worry me for a while yet, but lets see what happens.