Acacallis cyanea

One of the "blue" orchids. I've apparently had this plant since 2001. Didn't realize it was quite that long until I read the tag. It's in a 10" bulb pan. I'd recommend a bulb pan, shallow basket, or something similar, since it will climb out of whatever you put it in, and needs to stay moist, so you will need to repot once it climbs too far out. You can fully expect the first new growths after repotting to be an accordion leaf mess, regardless of how careful you are.

Flowers are about 2" tall and long lasting (though they are prone to Botrytis). The taller inflorescence has been open for about a week, while the lower 2 have been open for about a month. The lips are quite reddish when the flowers open, then turn purple. The buds put on quite a decent show of appearing to blast—just a few days before opening they turn quite yellowish. This color fades quickly after the flowers open. It blooms from immature new growths, several times a year.

Acacallis cyanea is said to be difficult. I haven't had too much difficulty with it, aside from its quirk of needing to be moist all the time yet wanting to climb out of the medium it needs to stay moist. Low light and warm would be ideal, but I have been giving it 60º F winter nights for 16 years and haven't had issues.

 

Thanks. It's only been demanding for me in its need to stay moist, so I think it shouldn't be hard for you to get it to bloom. I've heard that flowers are bluer when grown in acidic media, but no idea if that's true. Sphag is acidic enough I think.

Thanks. I've kept it potted and in a "cage" made of hardware cloth. Both work about the same. Never considered keeping mounted, just because of how wet I'd have to keep it and how big the mount would have to be.

 

Just a minor update on flower longevity. One flower from the upper younger spike has wilted. None of the flowers from the two lower spikes has wilted yet, though some are starting to yellow just slightly on the back of the petals, so they will probably start wilting this week. They lasted about 2 months, which is in line with what I remembered. It's putting out other spikes from new growths, so it won't be out of bloom for long.

 

Close to 30 flowers this year, though spikes overlap and it's kind of a mass of flowers, so it's hard to make them all out.

Regarding color differences from last year's photos, I'd considers this year's quite a bit more accurate. I started using a Nikon D850 in mid-May, and getting accurate color with it is a lot easier than with my old camera (Sigma SD1 Merrill).

 

Mid to high 60s in summer. Around 60 in winter.