Or you could have sprayed some water on it and it would disappeared. All of my catts (and other genera) get the happy sap on them.

The biggest downside to the sap is it could promote a mild fungus outbreak but under a MH, I doubt if you have enough moisture in the air to pop any fungus. Botrytis is usually the fungus.

I have no idea about the harm/benefit of neem on the plant.

Congrats and enjoy the show.

Brooke

when it blooms will you post a pix, I have been waiting for mine to bloom with no sucess.

Spiking and flowering orchids get a honey sap. It's normal and you should never spray a bud with anything. Always ask or research first. You don't want to risk losing your flowers.

Good luck,
Jane

Hi, Liz. Congratulations on your first catt bud, and especially on an aclandiae hybrid. That's an achievement, all right :) Is this a spotty from Carmela's?

MH lights are said to give the absolute best light per unit of energy. That's what I grow under, too, and I'm happy with them (except they really are hot)..

I'm with Brooke here about bud-sticky. A drop of sticky on the bud isn't necessarily a sign of scale. There really is such a thing as "happy sap". Especially a round droplet is probably just that.

Scale sticky shows up as a spatter of tiny droplets of sticky or shine, like you might get if some critter sprayed sticky out thru a tiny straw. Which it seems is just what scale do-- yes, yuck! They spray the sticky out their bums. When you see that sticky *spatter*, there is scale somewhere around.

Don't know about Neem. I know Safer's does NOT injure buds, so chances are good your bud will be okay. I think the sepals often have a waxy cuticle that protects the flower.

What I do if I see scale on flowers is use soapy water and just gently wipe it off with a Q tip. You can spray the rest of the plant, tho.

Good luck. Please let us see a picture of the flower when it opens. Like green27, I'd enjoy a vicarious thrill from it. :)

I'm guessing your plant is C. Summer Spot (C Summer Stars x aclandiae). I've seen them labeled Summer x aclandiae at HD. Summer Spot is one of my favorite bifoliate catts. Mine is in bud now, too. My buds often get a drop of 'happy sap.' I grow on a balcony and the sap sometimes attracts ants, which I coax off the leaves by blowing gently on the buds. Good luck with your bloom. I don't use Neem Oil so don't know what the result of spraying the bud will be.

Ooops - clicked too soon. Forgot to add the 'Carmela.'

Yes, it's a spotty from Carmela and I cannot wait to see it. I have been waiting a very long time for this! I will certainly post a photo. Happy Sap, huh?? So my plant is happy, hee hee. It's good to know it's not scale. I will not spray a bud again. mehitabel, as you said, the metal halide lights make the area very dry. I have my plants on humidity trays and I use a humidifer, but the area is usually only at around 40% humidity. How do you raise your humidity? I'd love to get it up a bit. I guess I need to get more lights so the plants farthest away from the metal halide get enough light. Now that I know it's possible, I want the others to bloom too.

Hey, Liz. About 35% is the default level of humidity I have in my basement light room, even with two humidifiers going and the door shut. I can get it above that for a few hours by splashing water all over the concrete floor. That raises it, but only for a while. So you're doing really well to have it at 40% default, IMO. And it's probably enough.

I've read that if you place the MH about 12-18" apart, there's an overlap area between them of quite good light.

But sheesh! They are very hottt.
Do you put your catts outside in summer, or grow under the lights year round? And can you supplement with sun from a window? You may not need the second light for blooms if you can provide some sun in a window or outdoors. A lot of winter-blooming catts set their sheaths outdoors in fall, then develop them as the days lengthen in spring.

On the other hand, a new light means you just have to buy more plants for the new space, so that's good, too :P

mehitabel, I do put the catts. outdoors in summer. Now that I'm a little better all around, maybe that will be enough. I have all my orchids in a sun room with north, east and south facing windows, so there is some natural light, too. It's just that winters in the western PA area are so grey, that there is very little sunlight. I do think that additional mh lights would provide great light to the entire area, but they are hot -- and expensive. Just another thing on my ever-growing wish list. Liz

hello, liz congrats on your first flower bud. looking foreward to seeing a picture.
sue

the metal halide lights make the area very dry.

This is important. While the sap ooze is completely normal, if conditions are very dry where the plant is and especially where it is very warm as well, the excess sap can dry, form a coating over the bud, and give it a real hard time developing and opening up. Watch for this just in case and be prepared to wash the bud off with water so it doesn't get sticky shut.

I have never seen scale on a flower bud, although I have seen them occasionally try to infest a spike which is taking months to develop.

(Did I make sense? I just got my first cup of coffee)

Thanks, cjwatson. I will certainly watch the sap. I've come to the conclusion it was happy sap and not scale. The sap is back, but just a drop. I do have the plant on a humidity tray and it measure 60% this morning. Thanks again. Liz

Liz if you don't have any other buds developing except on this one spike, you might pull it back slightly away from the intense heat of the MH. The heat will cut down on the bloom time of a catt.

Brooke

highjack, yes, there's only the one bud. I will pull it back from the mh a little. Thanks for the tip. Liz

congrats liz!! I get so excited every time a catt is about to bloom (it must a be Northeast thing...since they are more difficult to grow here). You will love the pink spotty blooms (just bloomed mine for the first time ever in the fall) and they're fragrant too!!!

Post pics and keep us updated!

steph