Beautiful flower - love the shape. Hope the second spike blooms while the first is still going - it would be magnificent to have two flowers going at once!

Woohoo! Two Aeranthes in the gallery at once. That must be a first. As I recall, that is a cross between grandiflora and ramosa. Grandiflora is giving it the larger flower size and somewhat the shape, and ramosa gives the very green color and more potential for multiple flowers, I think. Grandiflora smells like butter so I'd be interested to know if that one has a fragrance. I don't have any Aeranthes hybrids (there aren't many), that is going on my mental wish list. Thanks for posting it!
-MB

Lovely, Jane. The 2nd shot reminds me of the Ghost orchid. Easy to see why it's called Shooting Star.

In the first picture, what are the pink buds in the background?

Whitecat8

Very elegant!

Sharon

An awesome bloom! Wish it were mine. Happy growing.

Sheila :)

This plant is tooo cool! That flower is still going strong. It has been getting darker green with age. Strange, its almost the color of the leaves. I'll have to try to get another pic this weekend.

Jane

I love these green goblins. Wish I still had mine!
More pics!

Marci

Hi! I realize this thread is a tad old, but I am looking for information on what potting medium is best for Aeranthes? I am having a hard time finding any info and I would be really excited if someone could help me. I grow in intermediate to warm temperatures in high humidity if it's worth anything. I am performing an emergency repot on my Aeranthes ramosa (a parent of Aeranthes Grandiose) as it is not happy at all! When I received it a year ago, some of the potting medium fell out so I added a bark/sphag mix, but I guess the old medium (sphag)was in need of being removed from the roots and I didn't realize it was so bad. I have had a few new leaves, but I just lost one. No blooms this year, but it has previously bloomed. Also the leaves seem stiff and leathery...is this normal? TIA!

Being enabled by this post, I later purchased grandiflorum. I'm wondering how large it must be to bloom and I also need potting info. I'd like to go with SH medium....but don't know whether to use it with the pot set in water. Also, clay or plastic....neither??? slat basket?

Sheila :)

Hi Sheila and flower_crazed - I have a grandiflorum that flowered and it was pretty small (only 4-5 leaves). It's potted in medium-small bark which I believe has been breaking down a little (and therefore holds more water). I think these guys like it pretty moist year around. The roots are relatively thin, so I'd go with a smaller mix. S/H could work, although I'm curious as to how shallow/deep this one likes it's roots - mine has been doing a lot of root growth lately, and I see a lot of crawling over bark going on. But I think different plants adapt to different conditions, so the best way to find out is to experiment!

Calvin, this grandiflorum is trying to grow into a 'bush'. The main growth is about 12" l.s. 6 leaves. Then there are three basal growths each with only one two inch leaves plus tiny leaves starting. The only plant I've seen in bloom is the grandiose and it was a single large plant. I'll be watching this one to see if it spikes. I'm giving it more light than it supposedly needs, but with it growing so well I'm not about to change that! Thx for the potting/watering tips. Sheila :)

Sheila, mine is growing into a bush too!! It bloomed when it only had one growth but now it's making lots of little ones at the base. I'm wondering whether it's a light issue (I'm giving mine much more than I think it needs)

Hey, this old post resurrected! Reminds me its almost a year since this plant flowered. Mine got bumped around this summer because of construction on my house. Got much more sun than I intended and that didn't seem to bother it. Made a few leaves, roots but no spikes yet. Mine was potted in small bark, I replaced 1/3 with CHC and sphag. I try to keep it moist, but it does dry out occasionally. I have not had any basal growths.

Jane

Several orchid species are mentioned in this post.
flower_crazed
Yes your Aer ramosa is probably miserable in its present condition.
The species prefers cooler than true intermediate temperatures.
ramosa will shut down in higher temperatures
Root disturbance is greatly resented.

I'm confused about which orchid is being discussed after flower crazed post.

Angraecum grandiflorum?
Aeranthes grandiflora?
Aeranthes Grandiose?

Aer. grandiflorum does not exist

Tip:
All of the orchids mentioned above have some culture requirements in common.
-Roots need the ability to dry rapidly, regardless of water frequency.
I'm successful with large bark chips mixed with Diatomite.
IME semi-hydro is not the best choice for this orchid for that reason.

- General comments
- These 3 Madagascarians have difficulty over 80º.
- High heat will likely shut the specimen's system down.
- Some grow at evening temperatures of 50º
- All greatly resent root disturbance
Jane_NY has a good technique, partial repot.
No root disturbance.
I don't agree with media choice but great idea!
- High humdity becomes a problem in the late autumn winter, buds are suspeptable to Boitrys, misting included.

The 3 usually bloom in North America in winter even though they can bloom in summer. Temperature.

ramosa, grandliflora and the hybrid Grandiose are deep shade orchids
Hope that helps. I'm still kind of fuzzy on the thread!
MegA

Thanks for the input, Meg - Yes, you're right. Aer. grandiflora is the name, but it frequently gets called grandiflorum (latin noun declension is tricky!)

My grandiflora bloomed in June, but my room was pretty hot (no where near 80 degrees though).

As for the confusion, I believe flower crazed is discussing ramosa, shiela and I have grandiflora and Jane owns Grandiose. I was under the impression that all three had similar conditions, but I'm not too sure on that.

Thx Meg. My plant (grandiflora) came labelled as angraecum grandiflorum, so this 'senior' mind of mine has ever since been confused. I was told with a first post back when I purchased the plant that the name wasn't correct. I've found out since that the names are synonyms.

Thx for the input on repot. I've learned the hard way that some plants totally resent having their roots disturbed!!! I too will use Jane's method, removing what old media I can and I'll probably set it's little pot inside a 4" basket and fill in with the small clay pellets.

Glad to help!
Sucks when root disturbance is learned the hard way.
I had to jump in.

calvin_orchidlover is correct - Latin.
Gender agreement.
Like me, Masculine!
Not a Meg f.
Think megs of ram or
super- 'mega'

Angraecum grandiflorum is a valid species.
The photograph is of an Aeranthes
Are we all confused yet!? LOL
MegA

I started the post with my Aeranthes Grandiose 'shooting star'. I thought they were intermediate/warm. My house is cool in winter and the plant hangs. It is in a 6 inch pot. Made good growth over summer. Plant came from Oakhill and is potted in some sort of pro-mix type media. I added the sphag and chc to loosen and maintain some moisture.

Jane

Yes, I'm confused! Not a synonym??? Now I have no idea what I have! I suppose when it blooms, the confusion will clear. Now I must go to the on-line orchid encyclopedia and see what it says about angraecum grandiflorum.

Sheila and others,

FWIW, per OrchidWiz:
"KEW: Aerth. grandiflora is accepted species for Angcm. grandiflorum."

OrchidWiz also provides the following:
Summer days average 79-80F, and nights average 67-68, with a diurnal range of 12F. The range in habitat elevation indicates that these plants should adapt to temperatures up to 6-8F warmer of cooler than indicated in the preceding climate table. Hillerman & Holst (1986) reported that "Temperatures in the intermediate range are very suitable, but there are indications that it would do equally well (if not better) in a warm house." --Charles Baker (www.orchidculture.com)

Baker also writes:"GROWING MEDIA: ...Growers generally use medium sized fir bark but Hillerman & Holst (1986) reported that plants grow well in a pot filled with "Husky Fiber, sphagnum moss or even pure coarse perlite. A 5 inch pot is ample."...."

--Stitz--

Thx Stitz! Good additional info. And MegA.....got it!

Jane, any sign of spikes yet?