Saturday, November 24, 2018

Orchid of the day: Encyclia vitellina

Encyclia vitellina


Our Prosthechea (Encyclia) vitellina turns out to be a prolific bloomer.  This year, it bloomed until March or April, when it has a break for a few months and then started again when its new growth had matured in September.  The very first flower that opened is still looking good two and a half months later and the flower stem is still producing new flowers.


It is interesting to note that the color of the flowers is more yellow-orange than red this time.  The reason for that can be attributed to the temperature when the flowers were developing because the production of anthocyanin, the pigment responsible for the red color, is supposedly favored by lower temperatures.

This time, the flower stem started to develop during late summer when its warmer.  In the previous post, the flowers with the most orange-red color had developed during the end of the year when it was much cooler.  See post on January 21, 2018.


A) October 4th, hanging out with a few flowers in bloom.

B) Five flowers in bloom and a few buds developing.

C) A close up of the beautiful vibrant orange-red flowers. 

D) Today, November 24th, all flowers are in bloom.

E) The entire plant doing well indoors under our artificial lights.

F) It is amazing how long lasting the flowers are. The colors are still vibrant since late September.

I hope you enjoyed my post. More to come!



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