Another month has arrived so I will start a new thread for our bloomers. We came from http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1228030/. Please join us as we display and celebrate the winter orchids.
I'll start off with Oncidium Psychopsis Mendenhall, Alba form.
Jim
Here is Potinara Eye Candy 'Sweet Sensation'
Jim
There are two huge blooms on Lc. Chia Lin 'New City'. This is a must have orchid. Great fragrance.
Jim
Lc Nippon 'Livinza' put out two blooms as well and they are tightly facing each other which makes for a weird looking pic. I don't have the heart to cut one off.
Jim
Bc Little Stars has exploded in bloom. It fills the lanai with a wonderful fragrance in the evening.
Jim
Bulb. Doris Dukes 'Dark Red' X Bulb. longissimum with its ten inch tails.
Jim
Great start, Jim! Lc. Chia Lin is certainly smashing.
Tolumnia Orchidum Sunburn has one of three spikes open.
This is Bulbophyllum careyanum, the one I said looks and smells like a hunk of rotten meat. There is quite a bit of variability in the flower color. Some plants have much more yellow or brown flowers.
Another Bulbo, this is Bulb. paluence 'A-doribil' X Bulb. echinolabium.
Jim
I love it, Laurel, rotten meat and all. Bulbos are so cool. Here is another one, Bulb. A-doribil Anna Roth.
Jim
By the way, we had by far our coldest night of this winter last night with temps dropping to 45 degrees. The new lanai was at 60 with all of the windows closed. I'm thrilled.
Oops, the dancing ladies are coming through. :>)
Jim
I think you're going to really love it best in winter. It's summer that is a pain for those of us with enclosures.
Here's another shot of Bulbo careyanum.
And the plant...
Platystele oritiziana is very tiny. I'm hoping these flowers open. Each bud is smaller than a quilting pin head. I got one cluster to bud up before but then the cluster dried up. There are currently five clusters so I've got a chance. Seems the smaller they are the more finicky. Maybe I need Scott's book on guaranteed bloomers.
Have any of you tried growing from seed? I saw many seeds for sale on ebay and was wondering how hard they are to propagate. I'll stick to buying a plant first though.
Here's the plant. It's absolutely swimming in a two inch pot.
There is just one lonely Phal blooming out there. This is Candy Hope X Oxford.
Jim
Peg, orchid seed is grown in a sterile lab environment on plates with agar. They are then moved into sterile flasks. They spend their first year there. They are then unflasked, at which time many bite the dust, and grown in compots until they are big enough to be separated out and potted in small pots. By the time they get to you they are between three and five years old (or older), depending on the species.
Peg, the only one I remember on this site posting about flasking and all that is Bree. Perhaps she will respond.
Here is a NOID Dendrobium that I picked up while shopping in Apopka with Laurel. I love the color.
Jim
I have lots of NOID Dendrobiums in bloom right now.
Jim
A quilting pin head is not a good reference for me. :>)
Here is Epi Lime Drop X Epi schomburgkii.
Jim
Yet another NOID Dendrobium from our Apopka shopping trip.
Jim
This is a bit of an artsy shot of another Dendrobium.
Jim
I close for now with this white Den.
I stopped by a local grower today and picked up Bsn. Maikai 'Spotted Star', Rby Golden Tang, and Bct. Little Marmaid. A couple of them are in spike.
Jim
And a really neat artsy shot, at that, Jim. Great show! That very pale pink dendrobium is really nice. I think I have another clone of Chia Lin, but it's too small yet to bloom.
Laurel, I hate to admit there were no "microscopics" in that book...LOL! Some of the stuff you grow is nothing less than amazing.
With nearly 60 orchids to my name now, I don't have nearly the number you two have in bloom at any given time. But my goal is to catch up. Of course, that's MY goal, while my WALLET may insist we have enough orchids, already! :o|
Peg, further Laurel's explanation, I bought some seedlings that had just been deflasked by a professional grower in Florida. I've been growing them for nearly 3 years now, and they're finally reaching bloom-size, I'm hoping. It's rare that anybody even sells plants that small. I admit they were super-fragile, and required special care the first year out-of-flask...and that's probably something I wouldn't attempt again. I'll let those with laboratories grow my orchids to a decent size FOR me first. :o) If you'd like to Google more about orchid flasking, it's a very interesting read.
Oh dear Lord...new abbreviations to learn. :o
Jim, I was the one that did a big explanation with photos of a flasking lab way back when. I used to buy flasked seedlings but who needs hundreds of one orchid that's fragile and years away from bloom size.
Wow, what an array of lovely flowers! My 'Little Stars' has one spike coming, so I am thrilled. I do think next on my wish list will be that Encyclia 'Green Hornet' that Jim showed a while back. I like the idea of an orchid that blooms all the time.
'Doris Dukes' is absolutely bizarre, Jim. Beautiful, but I still think it looks more like a sea creature than a flower. Maybe 'cause I'm a diver too. Here's my best blooming shot for today - taken on our last dive trip. If you look closely you can see 7 little golden squids blooming down the left side of the purple feather.
We still did not break below 50deg. last night, to my great relief. The forecast looks good to stay warm for most of next week, too. Phew!
Elaine
Jim, what are those initials? I have Bc. Little Marmaid from one of those de-flasked baby in a bag deals. Four years later and I'm still tapping my fingers. Also I know Bc. Maiki 'Spotted Star' and Blc. Golden Tang which is a Richard Muellar cross. Those are usually yellow, spotty and fragrant. They can also bloom several times a year. Nice shopping trip.
Scott, is there a chapter on nano orchids in one of those books?
Well, Bsn is Brassanthe and Rby is Rhynchocentrum. The Bct Little Marmaid I have also seen as Bc Little Mermaid. These names change at the drop of a hat.
Jim
I forgot one. Bct is Brassocatanthe.
Jim
That's it - now I understand. The Cattleya bowringiana parent species is now reclassified as a Guarianthe. Bowringiana is used in lots of hybrids, and usually results in clusters of many flowers per stem. So now I know the new name/abbreviation for my Bc. Maikai 'Mayumi.' And it should be opening buds in the next week or so, too! Bc Little Mermaid is a cutie and I've seen some great photos of it. I think it's supposed to be free-blooming, also.
Scott, for some weird reason that is Marmaid and not Mermaid. Of that I am sure. It is registered that way. Did I read that it was hybridized in Japan and registered with that misspelling?
Yes, I see where JOGA awarded the clone 'Janet' under that spelling. Beautiful soft color...'Janet' is the one I've seen in pictures...and admired.
My, guess those selling orchid seeds on ebay are experts......either as a con or a true orchid grower. I'd bet my money on "con".
There are all kinds of growers that are represented on Ebay, Peg. Hopefully no one is trying to sell an unsuspecting person orchid seed. The orchid seed for sale is for other professional growers or those hobbyists who are learning to grow seed and have home labs to do it. I am a surgical R.N. and could easily grow seed if I wanted to set up a lab in my home. I understand the process. I have training beyond what orchid folks need to know to grow out seed. But what's the point? That endeavor is for people who want to make a business of orchid propagation and sales, not grow and bloom plants. I'll explain the process for the newer folks...
Orchids are not parasites but have a relationship with the plants they grow on. This relationship cannot be reproduced in a home environment like other houseplants but can be synthetically reproduced, under sterile conditions, in a laboratory. The trees and plants and the plant life they harbor, much of it microscopic bacteria and fungi, help in the germination and growth of orchids. There are very specific mycorrhiza http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchid_mycorrhiza for some orchids and others have several that will help them along. This is where the science of orchids comes in. Orchids that are being reestablished in areas where they have been endangered cannot be "stuck" on trees and left. They must be introduced with their specific mycorrhiza as well. This presents a new science effort to not only try to save endangered orchids and reestablish populations but also to discover what micorhizza is specific to each species and introduce that along with the species being reestablished. This is beyond the scope of this thread but hopefully answers the question as it comes up now and again.
Laurel, I know you did some explanations about flasking and they were quite helpful. Bree posted some orchids that she had just taken out of the flasks and had gotten them to live. That is what I was refering to.
This name stuff is wild.
Jim
I love the start of a new month. LOTS of pix at one time. These are all beautiful.
Laurel, please keep us informed on that Platystele ortiziana. You know I love those little guys.
Jim gotta get me a BC Little Stars. I am told they are a great bloomer
This was a nice surprise, these buds are quick to open. L.purp..
Bree, that is gorgeous.
