Bloom Event - Brassavola nodosa

This orchid is, to me, always a sight for sore eyes. It is probably one of the most elegant orchids I have the good fortune to grow, even if it was described by my other half as looking like teaspoons! Sadly, it is not easy to get a good photo of it for some reason, as the bright whiteness of the lip makes it look really featureless on the photo. 

I obviously have a weakness for these pale spidery delicate looking flowers. It is quite hard to believe that Brassavola nodosa is a Cattleya relative, but it forms hybrids (such as Brassocattleya binosa) very readily, although I do think that a lot of the elegance of the original species is rather lost.

I have seen forms of this with some spotting on the lip towards the centre, but my plant doesn't have this. There is only one flower spike this time (last time two were produced), but it has come out much longer than last time and I'm sure the flowers are larger, too. Of course, what can't be conveyed in a blog post is the scent. Brassavola nodosa is quite well famed for being night scented, but I had forgotten just how strong the scent is. I have took a sniff of the open flowers a couple of times during the evening and didn't detect any scent whatsoever. I rather assumed that since I now grow this under lights 100% the plant might have lost its dusk trigger to produce scent (since lights are either on or off). It also can take a few days for scent to develop properly, and this is true of a lot of orchids, especially among the Cattleya tribe. Being a bit later one day to go and close the growroom door, (I leave it open to allow air to circulate as a rule), the lights had already gone off before I got there, and the scent greeted me before I even entered the room. What amazes me is how the plant can turn it on and off like that. It doesn't smell at all during the day, but fills the room during the night.

I'm not sure this photo is the best, but you can see that there is some very subtle veining on the lip. The lip completely encloses the column to form a tube, presumably with nectar at the back of the flower. This species is moth pollinated, hence the night scent and the lack of colour (wouldn't be much point being a gaudy colour if its trying to be attractive at night, would there?). I assume that the big white lip must show up quite clearly in the dark, and the strong scent must advertise the plants presence from much further away . The scent is very pleasant, sweet and spicy, but I'm not sure I'd want to sit in it all evening!

Brassavola nodosa seems easy enough to grow. When I got the plant I mounted it on an elder branch, and it seemed to establish quite well. More recently, I have put the whole lot into a pot with coarse bark, so the base of the plant is still exposed to the air. It was attacked quite badly by red spider mite a year or two ago, and I put this down to it being excessively dry between waterings. The last couple of growths have come up clean, so I assume the small amount of extra moisture and humidity has done the trick. It is a funny looking plant. The leaves look to me like a load of pencils cut in half lengthways and stuck in a pot (the technical term for leaves looking like that is semi-terete). They are quite fat and succulent and the whole plant is definitely adapted to quite dry and exposed conditions, which should be mimicked under cultivation.

I also grow Brassavola cucullata, which is a much more slender plant with almost completely terete leaves. This is a relatively new aquisition, so I feel we are still getting to know each other, and it doesn't know me well enough yet to show me its flowers. I also have a couple of Brassavola hybrids. One is B. David Sander which is quite new but showing new growth. The other is a more complex hybrid called Jimminy Cricket which blooms regularly and will eventually be featured on this blog.