What a lovely plant Gangajay - thanks for posting.
Orchids then and now. The story of 13 orchids and counting..
I wish I could claim credit, but I think they grow so well because this climate here is their natural one. I did buy some fertilizer from a stand at the orchid show last year which seems to work.
Wish I could grow mine outside. That's beautiful!!
Here is the first of the Oncidium 'Wildcats' for the season. I think this one is called 'Jaguar'!
Oh WOW - those blooms are spectacular! They look as if they are growing "wild" in your garden, or are they in a pot? How very pretty.
Hi Jen, they are growing in an 'Ohi'a tree. I grow most of my Orchids in trees; it's much easier than caring for them in pots.
On the comments about deciduous orchids, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, which are deciduous. Especially amongst the terrestrial ones. They usually come from wet/dry monsoonal climates.
Those oncidiums are gorgeous! I'd love to see more pictures of your orchids, Metrosideros! Here in Singapore the parks board plants orchids on roadside trees. Mostly the pigeon orchid, dendrobium crumenatum, but the other day I spotted a red renanthera on a tree. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.
Hey, Dave, that is a beauty! Where does it grow for you? Up in a tree or close to the ground?
It's about six foot up in a tree; I'll show the whole plant in the morning.
This 'Wildcat' was tied on this tree about seven years ago.
That is a happy plant! Thank you, Dave, for showing it!
The leaves on the right, they look shiny like a gardenia? Or a citrus of some kind?
Here is Vanilla, beginning to produce.
Hi Alexandra, that's Gardenia augusta 'Mystery'!
Yeah, that was my first choice! Did she flower for you this season? The Vanilla looks glorious! I think you'll have a good bean harvest!
My Gardenia looks quite sad, but she flowered for me last week! Not as many blooms as last year! makes me wonder if she misses the moving truck... last year she was a wonder after our trip, LOL!
I'd love to be able to grow orchids in trees - very pretty. Gardenias fry here, too, so I'm glad to see your picture, Alexandra.
Gardenia season is just now ending.
Here is Veitchii.
Kathleen, mine is in a big pot, and I can move it (well, my hubby can...). During winter, she stayed in the garage, and now it's receiving some morning sun and late afternoon, being in the shade the rest of the day. Same spot she had last year, when she was in all her glory. The wind here doesn't help...
Why can't you grow orchids in the trees? I think Miami was 10b as well, and I've seen some up in trees.
Veitchii is very pretty, Dave, slightly different than what I have, mine was ID'd here (by you!! I think that was our first encounter?) as Veitchii too, possibly 'Mistery' variety. Love the fragrance, my patio smelled wonderful from just a couple of flowers!
Very dry here usually, Alexandra and we have little cover from the sun. The only shade is under the pine trees, which puts plants right in the way of the wind and they get late afternoon sun, which is the worst. I bought a gardenia this spring and it was doing good until we had a weird heat wave and it fried - even in the screened room. The air just dessicates some things. Right now we have finished our May gray and are deep into June gloom, which is very heavy this year - so the plumeria are chomping at the bit for some heat. Sometimes ya just can't win. :-)
I'd love to grow vanilla, but I've never seen any plants for sale here. Are they easy to cultivate?
vanilla takes many many years too bloom fyi
Gangajay, if you're in US, Logees carries two varieties: one regular, and one variegated. I've ordered once from them a present for a friend, and the quality impressed her!
If you can grow orchids (and judging by your pics, you do!) you can grow a vanilla.
What Arch says is true, they need to grow some before they flower. I have yet to see one that flowers in pots, but growing wild or in similar conditions (like Dave's vanillas, going up and down in a tree) they are very happy! At the nursery I saw them, they were started in soil around a tree, and literally climbed and filled/hugged the tree going up and down! The soil roots receive the rains, and the aerial roots take some, but they also absorb water from the humid air.
Alexandra
Humid air - that tears it for me! :-(
As Alexandra pointed out, Vanilla needs a lot of room. They like to grow up trees. A healthy vine will grow several feet per year.
It is good to grow Vanilla on small trees or on a trellis so the flowers can be reached to fertilize them.
I have seen Vanilla on an extended arbor way that was very attractive, with Vanilla vines draping over white painted arbors.
Make sure you get traditional Vanilla planifolia. If you want to grow for Vanilla beans, avoid the variegated type as it is not as vigorous a plant as the plain type.
Aloha, Dave
Hi all,
Ok thanks for the info. I don't think I'll have room for something that grows that large! No I don't live in the States, I live in Singapore, but there are many orchid farms here, so it's possible that some of them may sell vanilla orchids. Oh well. Kaper, don't regret the lack of humidity. It can be agony at times! Sometimes the humidity here is almost 100%, and most of the year it's very high (along with the heat), so you often feel like you're in a steam room! You can be drenched with perspiration after climbing a flight of stairs. Still, it does mean that orchids grow here very easily, which is why the parks board here plants wild orchids on roadside trees.
i acheived proper humidity by misting twice a day for a year and my orchid bloomed ,but boy was it a task UGH not worth it if you ask me but that was a phaleanopsis other orchids are more rewarding like my favorite is the cattleya and the oncidium hybrids i love any orchid with frangrance they smell so good but unusual as well , so smile and go get an orchid in bloom and when it dies get a refund and buy another one lol :-)
Yes, phalaenopsis can really test your patience. For ages mine gave me nothing but keikis, which although nice, weren't as nice as flowers. So now I have at least five phalaenopsis plants from my original two. But only two have bloomed in all that time. On the other hand my dendrobiums bloom regularly. Still, the phal blooms are amazing.
I think if I had to mist them twice a day I'd give up. You certainly have a lot of perseverance, ArchAngel!
i have one orchid rite now and it is a vanda it's growing on my palmtree houseplant :D of course never bloomed yet :-(
I've never had any luck with vandas. Most of the ones grown here need full sun, and I only have a balcony that's shaded half the year.
condo?
Yup. Housing here is really expensive, so most people live in apartments. The balcony faces south, so it really only gets sun from September to March. I would love to live in a house with a garden, but I'd have to win the lottery first!
i use to live in a condo it is horrible lol now i got a huge yard with a garden and all my favorite palms :D i hope u get one oneday
Me too, although I'll miss the view :) . There are some compensations for living high up. But yes, a big garden would definitely be wonderful.
You can see a bit of the view from my apartment in this photo of a hibiscus acetosella.
Here is an unusual little Dendrobium.
This one is not deciduous.
That's very pretty. It seems to be growing on a tree?
i saw this orchid at hd that was terrestrial and had pink flowers that looked like a cattleya it was called a bamboo orchid know about it?
Hi,
It's probably arundina graminifolia. According to one of my books (Orchid Growing in the Tropics), it is a full sun terrestrial orchid. I've seen it growing in gardens and by the side of the road here. I don't have a picture I can post, but I'm sure it's in the Plantfiles. Did you buy it?
The Bamboo Orchid, Arundina graminifolia. Wild in Hawai'i!
That's gorgeous. I've never been to Hawaii, and now that I've seen all your photos, I'm definitely putting it on my travel wish list!
yeah it was beutifull i diddnt buy it coz i was 5$ short ,it was 20$ for a 5 gallon so i bought a butterfly ginger for 15$ instead (at least its hardy here) lol wish i cood have got it tho :P