I have the same original piece of it. When grown to specimen size, it is glorious. Sorry about the blooms. The most important thing is you didn't lose the plant. I have countless stories of knocking off buds by accident, or buds blasting. Oh well. The main thing is keeping the plant healthy.

What a drag! But I can sympathize only in that one of my orchids grows this long tall spike and it hits the roof of the greenhouse and then bends over! It looks funny but at least it is growing well. Don't know what I can do about it with having no room to do much with.
Definitely recommend that you look at how to avoid the problem during the next cycle.

Hugs, Scott. I HATE it when I've waited for flowers a whole year or longer, if a plant misses its season, and then I knock off buds or cut the entire spike by mistake, thinking it's done. Only did that once - so far.

And mine are just ordinary plants, except for the Phrag kovachii. It must be wretched to lose flowers from such an orchid.

As Toyo says, you've still got the plant. Please post pix when you get some of those gorgeous flowers.

More hugs, Whitecat8

You poor poor thing. Consider hug given. The skinneri sounds fabulous and I'm very jealous! Congratulations on GOOD GROWING. The rest is just a learning experience.

John :>)

Scott, How much did you pay for this plant? Would you like a close-to-blooming replacement in your mailbox from God? :-)

terrestrial-man, a drag? Do you mean Scott is wearing laced stockings walking around and asking for hugs? Sorry, I donÂt quite understand.

snasxs - the word 'drag' in the expression 'that's a drag' indicates a setback, a hardship or some sort of annoying/unfortunate situation. Quite different from the drag seen at a gay bar :)

I'm sorry for your unfortunate mishap too, Scott. :( So this may be an ignorant question - so if I were to buy the same orchid from here, is it probable that I'm getting a mericlone and not a piece of the actual plant? How do you know?? Anyway yeah I know how you feel - last fall, I broke off two, yes TWO of the eyes from my peony roots I had just ordered while planting them.

LOL, sorry, the drag comment was hilarious. I work with many foreign and international people (academic medicine) and these things are just too funny. I know someone who is actually called Dr. Who and another whose first name is You...I'll let the reader fill in the blanks....

Back to the topic at hand, I have been nurturring a dendrobium who miraculously spiked 3x this year and the frickin dog decided to snap the spike right off and mangle the terminal leaves...I really hate the dog, but people in my house like the dog more than me...so I can't complain --only to you people.

Scott and clavin, I can sympathesize. Ok, at least you still have the plant...

Wow!
I forgot how incredible skinneri blooms were!
Even damaged ones!:~(

Yeah Toyo!
The plant is really very healthy and very robust!
I can see the potential for specimen hood.

Although none of this is permenent and there will be next time, it's just such a major bummer.
I have lost ones that will be hard to replace, so it's all relative.
I was just looking so forward to the display and to let this happen!
Jeeze, it happened virtually over night.
There was enough space when I went to be...
The next day, it was bunched up aginst the lights with the metal part cutting into the buds.

I wouldn't exactly say that the Phrag is ordinary either!;~)
I really wanted some, a couple of years ago, but decided that I just wasn't that into Phrags!
At least, not for $300 worth!
Weren't they initially somewhere around there?
I do really like them, I just had others that I prefered.

I really had a lot of doubts before purchasing this, but I really had to have it.
I could go through that amount on a bar tab over a good weekend.
So, this was easier to get over the initial sticker shock!
Mostly! ;~)

BTW...
I thought my tolerence level was way higher than that.
I can't believe that I actually have a hang over! ;~)
Not that I need an excuse, but...! ;~)

From the Golden Moldie era--what a bummer, man! Good that you have more sheaths to open yet so can see perfect flowers then, but I know the feeling. Well, as they say, a lesson learned the hard way usually only has to be learned once! Please DO post pics of the next flowers!

Sharon

Speaking of drag - Scott, weren't you the one who went into that great riff about high-heeled, thigh-high boots or some such?

You have my total sympathy about the ruined blossoms, especially when everything was fine the night before. When I first got into orchids, every morning I was afraid I'd open the orchid room door and all the plants would be mush on the floor.

Some of the first legal kovachii seedlings went for about $200, but there could have been quite a range. If this thing ever blooms.... hard to imagine the flower size, even when you see the pix w/ some guy's hand up there.

Prices are relevant, aren't they? Sometimes I grump and say $40 is way too much for that orchid, forgetting one dinner out could be more.

Long-term, you've got a healthy plant; medium-term, you'll have real flowers; short-term, it's gotta be the worst.

WC8

hello, Scott, sorry to hear of your mishap!! I was just thinking today: one false move and it is another year for blooms!! I didn't dare ask myself "why am I doing this"? It must be worth it.. when I break a spike,kill a plant, I usually console myself by buying one in bloom. Then I feel much better.
Sue

I started writing earlier, came back, finished and posted w/o seeing the other coments!

Why Whitecat, I don't know what so ever you're talkin' about! ;~)
Drag?
Never heard of it.
Isn't that what a dog does across the carpet?;~)

Now, don't make me post my Edith Massy photo again!
How about this one?:~)
{{gwi:139023}}
It was a rough night!
(Some of my others would probably get censored!) ;~)
Jeeze, I haven't been to a drag show in years.
I used to go to them all the time in S. Cal.
What?
Don't they do drag at straight bars?
They're missin' out!
On what, I'm not sure.
It does get a little old after a while! ;~)

"How much did you pay for this plant?"
Just between you and me...
A couple of hundred dollars!
I know, I know!
But...
It was very good sized and I really, really had to have it!
Actually...
If God is taking requests, I have a BIG list!;~)
Screw world peace, I want stuff!

"How do you know??"
Carter & Holmes guaranteed that it was!
For what that's worth.
I assumed that they would be trustworthy?
Seems to me, original divisions of awarded plants are touted as such.
It bumps up the asking price, so you're told from the start.
(I think!)
You can buy an inexpensive clone anywhere(like I did years ago!), but having a piece of the actual plant is soooo cool!

The other spike has a ways to go yet.
I'll get some photos of these blooms tomorrow and definitely take some of the undamaged ones when they open.
The thing that kills me, is that they really are so gorgeous!
That iridescent sparkle, the amount of blooms and the colors...
Just outstanding!

Sue, that reminds me.
I need to contact New World Orchids about my recent Neo order!
What's five or six new Neo's anyway?
If I don't think about the cost too much, I should feel somewhat better!;~)
I actually prefer to bloom things out myself.
Sort of a control thing and I feel better about taking credit!
BTW, I do have a couple of Neo's in advanced spike!!:~)
That always makes things better!

hello, Scott, I love that picture. Is that really you? When I was young and foolish, i used to go to drag shows: they are the best entertainment. Blooming them is an achievement. etc. but buying them in bloom gives me a quick fix..which is a good boost.
try it sometime.
sue

Scott - Drag is great. Maybe it's the dramatic Southerner in me who loves great costumes and extreme make-up, although the most impressive drag queen I've seen looked like a professional woman dressed for a day at the office.

Neos in spike - my 2 little ones evidently developed a fungus in the heat last summer - they were out there because of my lack of info. The fungus hasn't spread, but they may have been set back.

"How much did you pay for this plant?"
Just between you and me...
A couple of hundred dollars!
I know, I know!
But... "

But... I'd heard so much about the mystery, intrigue, and significance of the kovachii that when I saw it advertised by a trusted grower, I went from the screen to the phone to reserve one and started marking off the days till it'd be here.

Logic has nothing to do with any of this.

Whitecat2

WhiteCat, is that really Scott? Adorable, Lol!

Awww! :D years? That's too long...you need to pay us a visit here in the Tdot and put on a show haha!

My neo (singular) started putting out new roots a few weeks ago...is this normal? Does that mean that the little nublet type things that I thought were buds but did nothing the entire fall and winter may actually grow and turn into spikes? (Sorry for the hijack)

Just how offended should I be, about now?
I might need to go sulk for a while!
If I was buying two hundred dollar orchids, I certainly wouldn't makin' my clothes outta an old table cloth...
I'd, at least, be using the curtains!
{{gwi:139024}}
Sheesh!
The nerve of some people!
The only time I wore makeup was during the 80's, for New Wave concerts.
Have you ever tried gettin' cow pies off stiletto's?
Although...The whip is very useful!!;~)

Whitecat,
So these quotes apply?

"I have the simplest tastes. I am always satisfied with the best."
Oscar Wilde
Or
"I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it."
Mae West

Not to sound like Mr B, but...
Calvin, you're seriously Neo deprived!
I love 'em!
They're up there with Bulbos, Stans and Pleurothallid's in my gotta' have category!

A whole bunch of my Neo's are putting out new growths and new roots.
I know that, at least, one is in spike, but I haven't done a head count to make sure.
I haven't comfirmed my new order yet, so I'm not sure what all I'll end up with!;~)
I am eyeballin' 4 or 5 new ones.
Currently, I have these!

Neofinetia falcata'Awa Hari Beni'
Neofinetia falcata ÂAyanishiki  Shades of Red-
Neofinetia falcata ÂChousensetsuÂ-
Neofinetia falcata ÂFu RanÂ-
Neofinetia falcata ÂGojyo FukurinÂ
Neofinetia falcata ÂHanagoromo (01/02)
Neofinetia falcata 'Higashidemiyako'
Neofinetia falcata ÂHisuiÂ
Neofinetia falcata 'Kinroukaku'
Neofinetia falcata'Kirinmaru'
Neofinetia falcata'Ogonmaru'
Neofinetia falcata 'Seiryujushi'(01/02)
Neofinetia falcata'Shoujou'
Neofinetia falcata ÂShu Ten NouÂ/ÂSyutennoÂ
Neofinetia falcata ÂSuruga FukurinÂ
Neofinetia falcata 'Tamakongo'
Neofinetia falcata ÂToyozakuraÂ

A couple aren't doing well, but most of them have been great growers!
I love them regardless, but when in bloom...!
Wow!
Mine grow pretty much all year. I try to follow their cycle
of rest with coolness and growth with warmer conditions.
I'm not always that good about it. So, I try to keep them very bright and keep an eye on them.
An occasional cool drought has encourage new roots and seems to do no harm with mine.
But, a lotta' light!

Most of the current crop of bloom have opened.
I'll see about some photos tomorrow!
I wish I new how to Photo Shop things.
I'd just fix 'em! ;~)