Very!
Our December Holiday Blooms
Beautiful, Bree!!!!
L. purpurata is a winner, even as a parent. Very nice, Bree.
Jim
Bsn. Maikai 'Spotted Star', aka Bc. 'Spotted Star' opened this morning.
Jim
And Rby Golden Tang, aka Blc. Golden Tang also opened this morning.
Jim
The spike on Bllra. Marfitch 'Howard's Dream' AM/AOS is now fully open.
Jim
This is a look at a single flower.
Jim
This message was edited Dec 4, 2011 4:41 PM
The photo didn't make it. I'll try again.
Jim
I just love this NOID Catt from our Apopka trip.
Jim
It happened again. One more try.
Jim
They're all winners, Jim. Nice pics too. The Bsn. has great looking spots. Sometimes they are blotchy.
This is Blc Chunyeah 'Tzeng Wen' AM/AOS, also from the Apopka trip.
Jim
Rhynchovola David Sander (thinking of you, Laurel) has opened yet another bloom.
Jim
Lc Warneri - purpurata 'Brazilian' X B. nodosa has also put on new blooms. These Brassavola crosses really do well for me.
Jim
I think the Oncidium Psychopsis Mendenhall, Alba form, deserves another look.
Jim
Well, my orchids have conspired to trick me. I got looking at the photo I just posted of David Sander and it just didn't look right. No hairs along the lip among other things. So I went out to look and found that Brassavola Jimminy Cricket had sent a spike right into David Sanders' air space and produced a bloom right in his face. I thought I could hear them all laughing at me. So please correct the post to read Brassavola Jimminy Cricket. Now I did not look up Jimminy Cricket before I posted this so Laurel has a chance to tell me that this Brassavola has also morphed into something I cannot pronounce. Go ahead, Laurel, I am braced. :>)
Jim
I took one look at that photo and said to myself, "Must be the wine du jour". lol
Ha! Laurel missed her chance. I see that Jimminy Cricket has also become a Rhynchovola through no fault of its own. I would try to remember that if I was sure it would not change again before the sun rises tomorrow morning.
Jim
Beautiful unique color on that L. purpurata, Bree! What an outstanding orchid. Does anybody know what time of year we can expect L. purpurata to typically bloom in the northern hemisphere? Mine has put on lots of growth since I bought it, and I'm praying for blooms before long. It's a cross between the varieties roxo-violeta and carnea...and the breeder didn't have a photo of what, exactly, I could expect.
Jim, that Beallara might be a new favorite in purple orchids. The color is so strong...and the flowers seem quite large for an oncidium hybrid. FYI, I just read where you get that deep coloring when they bloom during cooler periods, as opposed to lighter pigmentation (and slightly smaller flowers) if it's warm. You may already know that. Also, my Maikai will hopefully bloom in a few days and we can compare the differences between 'Spotted Star' and 'Mayumi.' Don't let those names get you down. :o) One of your first posts of the month is nice, too - the Potinara that's pink with a darker colored lip - very nice. I've got a couple of Potinaras that I suspect were bred solely for compact size...and really enjoy them. But talk about a sketchy family history!
As always, Laurel, your descriptions get me thinking. One quick question: Just what IS agar? Is it just a gelatenous medium that holds orchids in place while in flask, or does it also feed / culture the orchids? Inquiring minds...
Scott, agar is a gelatinous substance derived from algae. It's mixed with various nutrients depending on what a lab is trying to grow. In the case of orchid seed, some are very specific about the medium they will germinate in. Sometimes derivatives of banana or coconut are mixed with the agar for orchids. Most orchid seed is as fine as dust. It's not like planting one seed here and one there. If you breath on it or the pod splits it's gone. When ripe, the seed pods are split and contained in a flask where they are washed in a bleach solution and then plated on the agar plates using sterile instruments. The grower works under a laminar flow hood which deters bacteria and mold spores from contaminating the plates, once they are opened, to introduce the seed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laminar_flow_cabinet. If the plate or, later the flask, become contaminated and bacteria or mold starts to grow the entire sample is garbage. Growers do multiple plates to account for a percentage of loss along the entire process.
Waiting up to a year for orchid seed to ripen and going through the expense and time to germinate it is something best left to professionals. More and more small growers are getting into flasking so they can hybridize their plants and grow them out at less expense (hopefully). From what I've seen their contamination rates tend to be high. People with hospital medical/surgical or lab backgrounds are better trained for sterile procedures than those with books and enough money to invest in a set up.
This message was edited Dec 5, 2011 11:55 AM
As I said, "inquiring minds..." I would not take on such an advanced task, but I like understanding the process. Interesting...
Do I hear mostly snoring in the background? I see I had the wrong link. Went back and fixed it.
This message was edited Dec 5, 2011 11:56 AM
It took some doing but I managed to pry apart the two blooms on Lc Nippon 'Livinza' and got a better photo of it.
Jim
Sorry, I've been out with heavy machinery working on Lc Nippon 'Livinza" just for that photo. :>)
Jim
my 'alba' c. purp. is open.....
heres the normal one to compare... its alot bigger.
Cymbidium Maddidum
closer.........
and my paphs still good....
Bree, I have worried that my purpurata is kept too dry, because of the shriveled, flat pseudobulbs. Seeing yours happy makes me feel better. Love the drooping petals on the alba form.
Jim, well worth the effort to get a full view. Technicolor!
Scott, my purpuratas bloom in March.
Bree, pretty Cym and of course you do so well with the Paphs. My last two died in the greenhouse conversion project and I don't plan on getting any more.
Jim
Yeah mine have shriveled bulbs but i also keep mine too dry and there in really open pots which would dry quickly as well. I think the droopy flowers will lift up as i hurried them open and inside, its pouring down here.
Jim that cymbidium is native to Australia. When my pop passed away i found a big one of it in a hollow log at his place. He must have got it off his property wild. So there growing around here, harder to find now though. esp. thanks to pop. hehe!
This message was edited Dec 5, 2011 5:05 PM
A wonderful memorial.
Jim
Bree, your orchids are looking prettier each year. I love both Laelias. My Catt. family collection was up high near the roof of the greenhut last March. Those fat, watery leaves burned the worst. The thin leaved orchids made it through in much better shape. I don't have many Catts but mine will either bloom late or not at all this year.
This is supposed to be Paphiopedilum Ron Williamson (Paph niveum x primulinum). Todd has one in plant files with longer and more twisty laterals like the primulinum parent while mine are more rounded and the overall flower looks like the niveum parent. I'm not sure about mine but I like it.
I like it too, Laurel. Very nice.
Jim
Thanks, Jim. You may find warm Paphs back on your wish list now that you have better temp control. Can't beat the longevity of the flowers (except with Vandas).
Bree, I always keep things on the dry side, too. I learned it's always safer than too damp...with my orchids, at least. You bloom some beauties.
Speaking of longevity in vandas, Laurel, I've always wanted to try a vanda, but I know I lack the light. Until a recent catalog from Carter & Holmes, I didn't realize you could hybridize the vandaceous and phalaenopsis tribes. They have a vandaenopsis (sp?) they say does well in "high phal light," and I might give it a try. I have no idea if its growth is more like that of a vanda or a phalaenopsis, but the flower photo on their website was cute...white with an oddly shaped red lip, if I recall correctly...
Ted, I don't know about the cross you mentioned, but I think the Vandas need constant humidity, as well as heat. I've never seen them offered at a show around here...only in San Diego area. I don't count the potted ones that Lowes was selling.
Scott, Vandopsis is its own genus of about five orchid species and not a hybrid. If you are looking to grow Vanda types that need less light then try Ascocentrums or Ascocendas. The later are Ascocentrum/Vanda crosses. The Ascocentrum parent lowers the light requirement. They need medium light like Cattleyas. If you can maintain humidity but light is a problem you can supplement with grow lights. Since Vandas grow on trees I can't believe you don't have enough light to summer some Vanda bloomers. Hybrids generally bloom more than once a year.
True, about humidity. I might could supplement with daily mistings.
Laurel, I don't think this is a vandopsis. Here's how it reads on their website: