Pleione 2013

[sottych]

Hello everybody !
Go !  the first  Pleiones begin to bloom !

- P. limprichtii 'Early Lavander' ( two flowers !)
- P. Iris Butterfield  (beautiful yellow)

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I think I could fall in love with Iris, Sottych ! 

[sottych]

Thank you Luc ,
Yes P. Iris Butterfield is very beautiful and it is a first flower with a spring ! (winter here now -5°C !)

[sottych]

HELLO,
Here the Pleiones are  in bloom , formosana 'Clare' and  Voltolini .

[Kevin]

Hi all,

this is my first flower of 2013. I only bought this orange Pln.humilis this year so I cant take credit for the flower. Unfortunately the purple Pln.humilis I bought decided to abort it's flower for some reason. Shame as I was looking forward to seeing them both in flower. Oh well, there's always next year.

[sottych]

Beautiful your orange Pleione Humilis

[Tamar]

Hello everybody !

I have been interested in orchids for over 14 years. I grow several types of them at home. These are mainly hybrids of Cattleya.
I am also charmed by Pleiones. Due to the fact that they are practically unattainable in here except Pleione formosana I have been cultivating different species and crosses for only 3 years.
The blooms season of my Pleiones just started:
Pleione humilis, Pleione Hekla 'Partridge' and big surprise Pleione Zeus Weinstein.
'The surprise' as the color of flowers is different than last year. Is it normal in these hybrids?

Regards,
Tamar

[Maggi Young]

Welcome Tamar!

[Maren]

Hello Tamar and welcome!

Flower colours in pleione hybrids can show some variation from season to season. P. Zeus Weinstein is well known for that. It sometimes produces colour breaks, depending on climate variability during the development of the flower bud.

[Tamar]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

Maren, thank you for the explanation. In this case, I am looking forward to blooming Pln Zeus Weinstein 'Desert Sands'. I wonder if this clone will also be another than a year ago.

And pictures that I made today: Pleione Zeus Weinstein again and Pleione which I bought as albiflora.
By the way I would like to ask experts, is it really this one species?

Kind regards,
Tamar

[karel_t]

Hi Tamar, this is P. grandiflora not albiflora.
K.

[karel_t]

Maren, you can be right about these unusual coloration on P. Zeus Weinstein, however I'm always a little bit suspicious in this case, because P. Z.W. is very often attacked by virus. And I personally know at least one nursery in England which sell virotic plants (we analysed them last year). So I always recommend to growers put the plants like this into quarantine and tested them for virus.
K.

[Maren]

Hi Tamar,
I agree with Karel, that is P. grandiflora. Pleione albiflora is quite rare. It has been described as looking like a larger form of P. humilis, with which it is related. You can tell the difference by looking at the dorsal sepal. In albiflora it is straight, in grandiflora it is twisted at the top. also the pattern on the lip is different: P. albiflora more like humilis with lines down the 10cm of the centre and spotting to the left and right of the centre. P. grandiflora is spotted and has no stripes.
A good picture can be seen here .

[Maren]

Karel,
your comments on P. Zeus Weinstein are interesting. How do you test for virus?

[karel_t]

Hi Maren, we analysed them by ELISA test and by electron-microscopy laboratory in Crop Research Institute Prague, Czech Republic, Department of Virology. In several items we found a presence of filamentous viruses, with particles length from 430 to 3300 nm or spherical viruses 55 nm. Symptoms on a petals were very similar like Tamar's one.
K.