That's pretty. How long have you grown that before it flowers? Is it easy to flower?

How cute!~Charm

I love the sarcs. That's a cutie.

Marci

Yes easy to flower and had it two years from a small seedling before it flowered the first time.

It likes cooler conditions but can also grow really hot as well provided it is kept a bit moist and well shaded.

It is ideal for Southern Australia where we have cool winters and long hot summers. But you will find anyone can grow them and they are very hardy.

I love the Sarc. crosses, here in Canada I haven't seen much variety being imported at all.

Shaun

Shaun, you will probably find more coming into Canada and the USA in the near future. The hybrids are getting well developed and it's only a matter of time before you start seeing more of them.

Well I am confident............

I have a Sarcochilus hartmannii in blooming size. It is growing well, but it still doesn't flower yet. Wonder why! I fertilize with growing in summer and blooming in winter every 2-3 weeks.

Nora cy lee,
How are you growing it? Sarc. hartmannii requires highland subtropical conditions to excel. It actively grows during the cooler months, flowers in spring and slows down growth during the warm/hot summer. If you're not providing this seasonal variation your plant may not be getting the cues to initiate flowering. Sarc. hartmannii also likes to be a little brighter than most other Sarcochilus (~50% shade). Also, how big/old do call blooming size? In my experience hartmannii seems to take a little longer to get from seed to flower compared to other commonly grown Sarc species and hybrids. Sarc cecilae hybrids for example (like Bolero's plant) bloom on very small plants. My hartmannii seedlings have always seemed to want to get a good few inches of leaf span on them before they think about flowering.
Andrew

Agreed, you need to give it seasonal variation but it should still be easy to flower.

Growing hartmanii in a temperate climate here is fairly easy and I've never had any problems with the species or related hybrids. I had one species plant that was a good size but not huge and it must have had 12 spikes on it, growing under 70% white shade cloth in Melbourne, Victoria.

Admittedly the plants I've owned before were fairly large so I can't comment on how big they need to be to flower. People in this climate seem to grow it really well without the need for sub-tropical conditions.

P.S. Not that I am arguing the point though!!!!!

I was told by the supplier that my Sarc hartmanii was in blooming size. Since Calgary is a pretty cold place, I grow it indoor. There is not much temperature difference during summer, but as winter time now, there is a difference about 4-5C (17C and 20C) inside. During summer time, I put it in North window, but now, I put it in South to get more sunlight since day light is pretty short from November to April. Is this the right environment for it?

Even here, Sarco. hartmannii is a little fussy about where you grow it. Just moving it a few feet makes a lot of difference in how it grows. It is very difficult for us to tell you how to grow orchids because your growing conditions are so different. For what it is worth my plants of hartmannii are growing in a cold glasshouse, winter night temperatures between 5 and 10C and day temps between 17 and 25C. Flowering time is late spring so perhaps you will have success when spring arrives. (perhaps you can get a temperature difference by just turning on the lights.)

Getting back to post 1 there is no registered hybrid called Little Rose, so i was wondering if that is a common name for Sarco. ceciliae which some growers find difficult to grow.

My apologies, I have called it the wrong thing. It is actually Sarc Wilde Rose 'Pink' which is a cross between roseus and fitzgeraldii. No ceciliae that I can see in its history. I will amend the name to be correct......lol. So it's actually a primary hybrid.

It's honestly hard to say Nora if the position is right for the plants or even if they are getting the right amount of light.

I think however that they need a bigger temperature difference to trigger flowering. Here they normally flower around late spring and sometimes into early summer. So yours should flower around April/May/June next year if what you are doing is successful.

If the daylight is short it is possible they aren't getting the right amount of light. I guess just provide as much dappled light as you can and if it's not working and the leaves are a dark green then it may need a little more.

It's hard to say due to the difference in climate and growing conditions how it will go.

17C as a minimum is a little high in my opinion anyway.

Bolero,
You're correct about them growing well in temperate conditions. S.hartmannii comes from the Queensland/far northern NSW mountain ranges, so it's adapted to cold winter nights. Just to clarify, "highland" subtropical conditions are essentially equal to humid mild temperate conditions.

As for the parentage of your plant, I'd assumed it was ceciliae from the appearance (and because ceciliae is the more commonly used of the two). To be honest, I struggle to pick the difference between ceciliae and roseus as species let alone in hybrids :-)

I've got about 20 plants of Sarco. (that is the correct abbreviation as is Den.) ceciliae because i like them. Looked up the net and found a bit of confusion with S. roseus with some texts saying it was a variety of ceciliae. Interesting that the S. ceciliae shape and colour is dominant in the cross with fitzgeraldii.

Anyway, Nora do not worry too much about this name stuff. Do not give up on your hartmannii because it is a very rewarding species if you can get it to flower. With this flowering business, it would be nice to know if the plant is responding to day length or temperature or both..

I am not going to give up on my orchids, I will wait! If it flowers, I will post the picture.

Oh, what a cutie!

Sharon

This one is so nice. I love these.