The Butterfly Orchids - The Psychopsis family
The butterfly orchids of the Psychopsis family are truly outstanding. They
will flower continuously on the same stem for 5-10 years with each flowering
making the stem a little longer. We have had stems up to five feet long.
While the stems look delicate they will withstand 40 mph winds without breaking.
The are extremely hardy plants and seem to take drying out as well as
excessive watering.
We like the hybrid Psy. Mariposa the best. All Psychopsis look
basically the same, but Mariposa is about 20% larger.
The alba form appears more often than the parent Psychopsis papilio alba.
Do not ask why a yellow flower is called white (alba) but that has been the
varietal name. The alba form has been much more expensive as it was less
common selling for $60 a single stem. The Mariposa we offer start at $35
for a single stem and double triple or even quadruple stems are coming to the
market. Our stock plant has six stems.
Psychopsis Mendenhalll is unique because of the heavily spotted leaves.
KEIKI DEVELOPMENT ON PSYCHOPSIS
Psychopsis are not known for producing keiki on the flower stem but we are
starting to see a lot. We believe it is a result of the Companion and
Essentials we have been spraying. We have one stem with 2 flowers and 8
keiki. It is unlikely that this small a plant can support all these keiki
and flowers. We will see how many develop. We believe that
the keiki are a result of the constant application of Worm Tea,
Companion and Essentials. We believe the gibberellic acid in
Essentials is the main factor for producing these. We find the
same results with Vanda and Phalaenopsis.
The second stem on the right has two flowers. This is common when a stem breaks and it produces two flowering stems at the break. ===>
Damaged and poor looking leaves are common on Psychopsis but make up for
it in flowers.