Here are a couple of the ones I have photos of. I use the traditional japanese method that consists of growing them in a ball of quality sphagnum moss on top of a japanese pot. The pots came from Purple Clay Imports. I water them only after they have completely dried out, although they can take more moisture. In the greenhouse they get Phragmipedium levels of light, and in the basement they are about 3 feet below a 400 watt HPS, although they are shaded by some Cattleya species. In addition to being nice to own for their history and beauty, the flowers smell like candy...easily one of my favorite floral fragrances, although the yellow one isn't as fragrant as the others.

Neo. falcata 'Higashidemiyako'-an inexpensive variegated clone
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne2.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne3.jpg

Neo. falcata 'Ogonmaru'- an excellent orange/yellow flowered one, can be pricey(sorry for the bad photos)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne4.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne5.jpg

My most expensive Neo, the supposedly non-existant "blue" one(no pics yet, but I will update when it blooms again)
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/ne6.jpg

I will add some more photos of my others when I get a chance, enjoy.

Jon

Very nice! Great pics.

Very nice :clap:
I will try one or two of the cheap Neo. falcata 'Fu Ran' types first to see how they bloom for me this summer.
Hope your blue one shows up :mrgreen:
Nice pots too. I just checked out their website. A bit too pricey for me right now. I'd rather spend the money on plants first, and if they survive, I'll think about getting them nicer pots...

Luckily for me, our society uses their pots for trophies at our show in the spring. Otherwise, I wouldn't spend the money to have them either...although these small pots were only around five dollars a piece at the show.
Mine usually bloom in early fall, so stay tuned.

Jon

very nice palnts :clap:

Hi Jon,

The 'Ogonmaru' is spectacular.

I will have to try growing them as you teach.

Thanks

Hi Jon they look very nice , I was wondering if you know Jason Fischer from Orichids Limited. He does lectures on Japaness orchids, and he is also selling a lot of the diffrent ones.

Very nice Jon. Are they difficult plants to maintain?

I have just looked at a local vendour's list and he has some flowering size Neofinetia falcatas for $11.85 and Neofinetia falcata AM/AOS sibling which came from Cal Orchids for $19.25

Maybe I'll try them...I like your pots

looks good.....I don't have any, I'll have to talk to you about them

very nice,, I really like the smell of this species... wow. :clap: . I only have the normal white color one .. need to get some more...

They are hardy little guys and I definately recommend them since they don't take up too much room. I'll put you on the division list when I repot this summer Lowell...it will probably be the Ogonmaru since it grows so fast and can easily be divided.

Unfortunately, I missed my chance to meet Jason at the last MAOC. I was planning on going and had stuff come up last minute as usual. I plan on sending him photos of the "blue" one when it blooms again since someone told me he didn't believe they existed after hearing about them from a Korean source. Maybe I can work out a trade for a kovachii in a couple years :evil:

Jon

Well, I ordered one from New World (5 growths) and one from Suncoast (4 growths). Should have them next week and we'll see how it goes.
Jon, I read on orchids limited's website that they have 4 star and 5 star sphagnum for neos. Would you recommend getting such fancy sphag to wrap them?

I've heard that it isn't that much better, just comes in longer strands. For the price, I would just buy "orchid quality" sphagnum moss. I suppose the longer strands would make it easier to mound them though. You can find a link of how to pot them this way on New World Orchids website. They also grow well in net baskets of sphagnum as you can see with the Ogonmaru.

Jon

Very interesting. I find Neos rather intriguing - great historical stories accompany them. I have one (from Suncoast actually as well) that I totally neglect, but it is growing well and putting out (tons) of new roots at the moment. IS this a good time to repot? I've had it a year and not done it yet and it is in a bark mix but I'd rather get it into soms Sphag. at some point.

I'd really like to see Jason's talk sometime. Wish he'd head east!

Thanks!

Thanks Jon,
I bought some little plastic 3" neo pots. I'll probably try the bottle method to leave a cavity, since it is generally humid here.

Here's the link if anyone else is interested:
http://newworldorchids.com/pages/neoculture.htm

Wow impressive potting job Jon! I really like Neos, but don't have one! They do smell beautiful when in bloom!

They are hardy little guys and I definately recommend them since they don't take up too much room. I'll put you on the division list when I repot this summer Lowell...it will probably be the Ogonmaru since it grows so fast and can easily be divided.

Thanks Jon.....keep me in mind for any division of any plant you have :lol: :lol:

Jon, I noticed a blue neo hybrid on ebay. I think the pollen parent was a V. Sally Roth.
Have you tried any of these types of hybrids?

Ok, I'm going to take a pic tomorrow - maybe that will help - I need some advice on what to do from here out - had it a year, no blooms, treat it like a phal, but think I should repot in sphag....based on what I've seen posted around.

Got my neo from Suncoast today. They sent me one with 5 growths instead of 4. :-dance:
Gonna wait till the weekend to repot. Will post pics then.

Very nice! I *love* the yellow! I have one that was a single division that is not doing to well. How do you do the hollowed out sphag?

There is an illustrated guide here:
http://www.newworldorchids.com/pages/neopotting.htm

Jon, I noticed a blue neo hybrid on ebay. I think the pollen parent was a V. Sally Roth.
Have you tried any of these types of hybrids?

I have a hybrid (Darwinara Charm x Neof. Virgil) that blooms out in every color you can imagine... I didn't make the hybrid, I just inherited 50 or so with the greenhouse... I have no idea where they came from originally. A lot of them are boring white or cream with various lips. Several in shades of pink. One, which I gave away (before it bloomed) is the color of a purple crayon. Or at least that is what the gloating picture looks like... I'll have to see if I can find it. BTW, I love to get 'gloating pictures'. Those are the ones you take and send to somebody who gave you a plant they didn't really want to keep. And the plant turns out spectacular. So you of course have to take a picture and send it... *grin*

The majority of this cross I gave to Alex at New World Orchids. I was visiting him the other day and saw a purple one. Not purple crayon, but still quite purple. He was nice enough to give it back... Of course I left it in the hot car a little too long to get a good shot of the flowers.

There is an illustrated guide here:
http://www.newworldorchids.com/pages/neopotting.htm

Awesome Marcus, I appreciate that. Maybe I can try that and give the little thing a chance at life.

Unfortunately the only hybrid with them I have is Neostylis Lou Sneary...and it's a washed out pink one. The crosses out there are amazing, and I saw one nearly solid blue Darwinara Charm 'Blue Sky', I think, and just missed buying it by a couple minutes.

Sorry to hear about the one that got away...I usually try to send a division with my gloating photos, or at least promise one in the future.

Jon

Mmmm.....gloating photos......Cool! :lol:

Um. what was I going to say? Oh yeah, Marcus - mine is also from Suncoast. I think it is one of the boring white ones also, but if it is sweetly fragrant, I suppose I'll be happy. It is putting out roots like mad right now. I just don't know much about what it would like from me, I pretty much ignore it, it is at work, but I think this weekend I will bring home and repot and give it a little extra love. For a change.

I am doubtful of the colored ones. Where, exactly did these color pigments get introduced from in the species? I find it much more likely they were crossed with a vanda and backcrossed for multiple generations with the ones that were most phenotypic of neofinetia falcata. I just have a hard time comprehending how a species can be so variable that it has totally different color forms... or perhaps they are not the same species after all. Someone descend and explain this to me.

I am doubtful of the colored ones. Where, exactly did these color pigments get introduced from in the species? I find it much more likely they were crossed with a vanda and backcrossed for multiple generations with the ones that were most phenotypic of neofinetia falcata. I just have a hard time comprehending how a species can be so variable that it has totally different color forms... or perhaps they are not the same species after all. Someone descend and explain this to me.

Actually Neo. falcata has several color forms. If they've introduced the pigments from other species, they did it skillfully and a hundred years ago... I strongly doubt that the Japanese mindset (at least with regard to these expensive beauties) would allow anybody to get away with that. They don't even like seed propagating these.

I've seen falcata with purple, pink, orange, and yellow tails... Seems like there are plenty of pigments to choose from. Remember, they have actively selected for all sorts of mutation within this genus. Of course a large percentage of them are foliage mutations. I doubt they have done much selection for flower color. But you could put a bean -leaf next to a sword leaf, and never know they were the same species.

A corresponding example might be dogs... It is hard to understand where all the colors and sizes and shapes come from. If they are all indeed Canis familiaris, and descended from some sort of wolf, there isn't much to work with there. A wolf is a wolf. But a toy poodle is very different from a doberman. And where does an Irish Setter get its red color from? Just saying, things get weird when people get their hands on them...

Here is my first Neo. falcata.

First, how the plant came from Suncoast:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0184.jpg

Then after repotting:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0189.jpg
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0196.jpg

Excellent job!
Did you use that long strand moss for wrapping it? I've never had one come out that well.

Jon

Yes, I got the longest stuff I could find. Some of the strands are about a foot long. I really wanted to make it look as nice as some of the Japanese ones I've seen in pictures. Also helped that I laid it all out into a wide strip then just wrapped it around the root ball. I used one of those little hotel shampoo bottles (emptied it out first so that it didn't weight much) in the middle to make a cavity. I tried a beer bottle first like on New World's website, but the weight kept throwing my balance off. Then just before I was about to sink it into the pot, I took out the bottle. Then I just had to make sure I twisted it down in the same diretion I wrapped the roots.

I'm somewhat agree with SteveT.

With cats with pedigree, breeders often do that. But they never publicly claim it. You have to be introduced to know that.

Luckily it is pretty obvious when neos have other species mixed with them. I would be interested to see what genes are in them as well.

Jon

Thanks Marcus - Mine looks just like your's, and I'm going to do the sphag potting as soon as I get the sphag in the mail next week- ran out. Thanks for the motivation to (finally) do something about my Neo!

Mine finally arrived yesterday...now to find some sphag and one of those fancy pots.

That pink Neo. falcata is on top of my wishlist!! Just look at these beauties: http://newworldorchids.com/pages/pink.htm
Don't know how to get my hands on one of those, not that easy when you live in Norway! I wonder if it's possible to buy seed?


Milda

I don't know much about seeds. Maybe you could try emailing Dr. Lehr at New World Orchids.

Got my second Neo in the mail from New World Orchids yesterday. It comes already mounted in the Japanese fashion:
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0207.jpg

Here is a side-by-side with my now crappy-looking wrapping job - gonna need to re-sculpt tomorrow I think.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0205.jpg
New World is on the left, Sun Coast on the right. The Sun Coast plant is definitely bigger.

Marcus - I got my sphag today and hope to "wrap" mine tomorrow! Your's looks good, I think!
Very nice. I saw a really nice specimen plant today at the NHOS meeting. When pics go up, I'll post a link. I also saw, fromt the same grower, a Rynchostylis Lou Sneery and I TOTALLY want one! Gorgeous and nice fragrance! Nice to smell some of the orchids I have, or have only heard about. Seeing them is pretty fab also! :D

Now my curiosity is piqued for this Rhynchostylis Lou Sneery. There's no info on it from RHS...

I've got to be spelling something wrong! Sorry! Jon mentions it and I know Jane has at least one....stay tuned!

SORRY!!!!

Adorable fragrant, sweet plant!

Found a blurb on this page:
http://www.notsogreenthumb.org/galleries/vandas/html_files/neostylis_lou_sneary.htm
Looks cool. Flowers look a bit like a phal equestris

I totally apologize for my lack of correct spelling. This is the closest pic I could find to the one today, which was really very nice!

http://www.orchidguild.org/photos/0305/rapacz3.jpg

How did I miss this!!! Fantastic thread on a beautiful plant! Love the fragrance on these as well, and those pink forms are NICE!

Btw Jon, love the Dragon Pot! Tres Kewl!

cheers
Tim

Marcus, your neos are looking lovely...I really need to get some of that long sphag

Just for gee whiz factor, Orchidweb has sphag at grade 5 which they say has strands up to 2 foot long as well as dragon pots but a bit pricey.

Here's a pic of the ogonmaru I just potted - thanks again Jon. I had a real struggle trying to get it straight. It just wants to be off center. Guess I'll have to let it be. I think struggling to get it straight just made the whole thing come out messy.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0232.jpg
One interesting thing about this division is the way the leaves sweep backwards from the stem.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y279/couscous74/Orchid0252.jpg
Thanks for looking.

Pretty- the stance is very interesting, indeed!

Marcus - when I potted my first sanderianum, it came out lopsided and it STILL makes me nuts, I remember the whole cvonversation that Pete and I had, but that was the way the roots fit best, and they are fragile roots, so I let it be. Sometimes you just have to suck it up! :therethere:

Very cool looking potting job! I am impressed...and to think I still do not have one of these!

Look very nice Marcus

I just got my Neo today and I have to say I'm both a bit amazed and a bit dismayed. Its tag says a cross between N. falcata and Rhyn coelestris 'Alba' so not a true species which was my intent of purchase. We'll have to see how it develops and compare to the true species.

The amazing part was that this one is mounted with seven leaves and a massive aerial root array that approaches 20-24 inches long. I honestly don't see any way I can pot in the traditional spag mound without a lot of serious bending and cutting which I'm loathe to do.

I would post a picture but I'm one of those dinosaurs that only uses 35mm and they take time to use up a roll and develop.

I just got my Neo today and I have to say I'm both a bit amazed and a bit dismayed. Its tag says a cross between N. falcata and Rhyn coelestris 'Alba' so not a true species which was my intent of purchase. We'll have to see how it develops and compare to the true species.

The amazing part was that this one is mounted with seven leaves and a massive aerial root array that approaches 20-24 inches long. I honestly don't see any way I can pot in the traditional spag mound without a lot of serious bending and cutting which I'm loathe to do.

I would post a picture but I'm one of those dinosaurs that only uses 35mm and they take time to use up a roll and develop.

That is Neostylis Lou Sneary, and you got jobbed... Actually not a bad hybrid, easy to grow, and floriferous. Bigger than Neo. falcata though. A fairly popular hybrid, and probably easier to grow than either parent, as are most hybrids. It was listed on Ebay as Neo falcata, huh? Hmm.... Sounds like you should leave negative feedback. As if that actually works on ebay...

Heather did have some good things to say about the Neostylis Lou Sneary...

Heather did have some good things to say about the Neostylis Lou Sneary...

Oh, it is a great hybrid. I highly recommend it. If somebody came into the greenhouse and asked which one to get (falcata or Lou Sneary), I'd probably try to sell them the Lou Sneary (if I had one). Should be nice with the alba coelestis. But it isn't Neo. falcata. That is what Ernie paid for.

It's my own fault for not reading the small print which abounds on eBay but it's a really well grown so I've no room to complain and will keep it. You get what you pay for usually and I'm forced to be cheap.

Mine (oh wait, not mine!) was made w/ the normal color which makes the flowers very blueish. It was lovely. As soon as the July Newsletter for NHOS is up, hopefully I will link to some pics, it was lovely!!

Here's some "better" photos of the Ogonmaru that is in bloom with two spikes, many more are starting to sprout(be on the lookout Marcus)
My camera hates this plant with a passion, and these are the best out of MANY.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/DSC05741.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/DSC05738.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a218/jonbar2/DSC05733.jpg

Jon

What a beautiful well grown plant!

I agree with Pete! Wow!

Wow, those look great Jon!! :clap:

Love it! Especially the color. I bet it smells lovely also. Mmmmmm.....

I like that a lot Jon.