Here is a closeup of my jewel orchid’s bloom.
It is not as showy as other orchids, but I’m still excited that I found a setup in which it will bloom. It is in a small mason jar full of live moss, and capped with a large clear acrylic upside-down vase, in a southern facing frosted bathroom window. I add water maybe once a month.
My jewel orchid under glass is getting ready to bloom! It has sent up the spike and there are buds at the top.
It isn’t a great photo. When the blooms open, I’ll have to see if I can set up a photo shoot for it. I’ve heard the blooms aren’t very showy. Jewel orchids are mostly prized for the leaf decoration, which you can see in the photo above is showy.
When my jewel orchid failed to thrive in my mossarium, I transferred it to an old fancy Ball jar filled with moss in a south west facing window covered in a translucent frost window covering. It was happy there, so happy that it started on a new leaf.
There are two problems with the canning jar container: one, I can only see the jewel orchid when I open the jar; two, if the orchid gets happy enough to bloom there is no room for the flower spike. So I purchased a tall clear acrylic vase, transferred the orchid and his moss to a different canning jar, and used the vase as a lid.
I can now see the orchid, and if it sends out a flower spike, it has somewhere to go. He remains happy in his new home, as his leaf opened fully with no curling or discoloration.
Critters and Craft 