Winter Orchid Dreaming

 Winter
Jan 012010
 

by Susan Taylor
Originally published in BellaOnline

Orchid growing is somewhat like any other gardening – January and February are very slow months! Unlike outside gardeners in temperate climates, though, we are constrained by the problems of cold weather shipping and delivery rather than the growth of most of the plants we grow. During the coldest months, many growers will take orders for later delivery, but hesitate to ship even with cold packs during the coldest months.

So now is the time for us to look through those catalogs, review what plants we already have and how they’re growing and look seriously at what we might want to grow for the coming year. Each of us has slightly different conditions and some plants grow better than others under those conditions.

What is really doing well for you? If you like them, consider growing more of those kinds of plants. Look through the catalogs and see if you can find similar crosses and the chances are that they will also do well under your conditions.

What is really not doing well? If this is something that you really love and want to grow, then look at your conditions and see if you can change them slightly so that the plants will do better. Until you figure that out, it’s probably better not to buy any more of them.

Is there something new that you want to grow and see if it will do for you? Develop an “Orchid Wish List” to take with you to orchid shows. If they are displayed there, talk to the owner and find out what kind of conditions he or she has to get some idea how that particular orchid likes to grow. Check out pricing from online vendors before you go so that you will have an idea of what you should be willing to pay for a plant. Many times it is less expensive to buy at a show because you’re not paying extra for shipping.

Take some time to clean up your growing area and your plants. Stake new growth and clean up old dry growth. Wipe down leaves to remove residue and dust and allow the plant to better absorb the available light. This will also help remove any pests that have moved into your plants. Make a list of the plants that you are going to need to repot in the spring and make sure that you have the supplies necessary to do so. Buying supplies at this time of year is a good investment. There are generally sales from the vendors who cannot ship plants during the cold months.

Rate Your Growing Skills

 Caring, Orchidophilos
Jan 012010
 

ORCHIDOPHILOS by Tom Sheehan

Frequently I am asked by an orchidist how to tell whether or not he/she is doing a good job of growing his/her plants. Actually, this is a good question, because often times we look at our plants and wonder how well they are thriving, but have nothing for comparison. It is relatively easy to tell whether your plants are up to par or not. Color is always a good positive factor because the intensity of green will vary among genera, with some well grown plants dark green and some almost yellow green. But there is an excellent indicator that everyone can use to evaluate plants.

With sympodial orchids, e.g., Cattleya, Dendrobium, the new growth in mature plants should be equal to or larger than the height of the last growth, while in unflowered seedlings it should always be larger. If the newest growth is smaller, then you are not doing a good job of growing, or the plant may be suffering from soluble salt damage or possibly some pest problem and it is time to do something.

In monopodial orchids e.g., Vanda, Phalaenopsis, the situation is very similar. With these plants the spread of the new leaves should be equal to or greater than the last mature leaf or set of leaves. Again, in seedlings you expect each new leaf to be larger until the plant is mature and flowering, at which time the new leaves should be of equal size from then on. A well grown large strap leaf Vanda plant should have all the leaves the same length so the leaf tips would all touch a stick held perpendicularly to the leaves. I should point out that you are comparing mature leaves, not developing leaves. Consequently, you must be able to recognize the difference for all the genera you are growing. Once you do this the rest is easy.

Another problem that occurs in the fall of the year is the formation of brown papery sheaths on some Cattleya plants. Novices often cut them off, thinking they have lost the flowers, and this is not so. Those species and their hybrids that have the “mossiae” growth cycle, e.g., trianaei, labiata, produce their flowers from within the papery bracts. These plants flower from early fall through May, The other group, known as “gigas” flower in spring and summer while the sheaths are green and succulent. So be careful before you cut off any papery sheaths this fall when checking your plants. Gently squeeze the sheath and you will feel the buds inside.

Phalaenopsis bellina

 Species
Dec 012009
 

This species is a small sized, hot growing, pendant growing epiphyte from Malaysia and Borneo in shady, humid, lowland and swampy riverine forests low down on trees often near or on branches overhanging stream banks at elevations of sealevel to 200 meters with an erect to ascending, short stem completely enveloped by persistant leaf-bearing sheaths and carrying pendulous, broad, rounded, light green leaves that blooms in the summer and fall on a suberect or arcuate, 2 3/4″ [7 cm] long, racemose or paniculate, few flowered inflorescence with a flattened, fractiflex rachis and small ovate bracts and has only 2 to 3, highly fragrant flowers open at a time. The inflorescence on older plants can rebloom year after year so do not cut off green viable inflorescence.

Vanda cristata

 Species
Dec 012009
 

Vanda cristata Lindl. 1833

Distribution: Himalayas, Tibet and Assam

Contributors: Roman Maruska and Ian Walters

Vanda cristata is found at between 1200-2300 m in the Himalayas (Garhwal to Bhutan), Tibet and Assam (Khasia). Vanda cristata, aka Trudelia cristata, is an intermediate strap-leaf species of northern India, Nepal and Bhutan which has short spikes of several medium-sized greenish flowers with proportionately large elongate red-striped lips. Grow this compact plant in a small basket.

Peristeria elata

 Species
Dec 012009
 

Peristeria elata by Maurie Page

This plant has long been one of my favourites. It is a terrestrial and loves warm growing conditions. It is the national flower of Panama where it grows as a terrestrial in loamy soil and humus pockets among rocks. Cultural notes suggest that it prefers hot conditions with 30-50% light. It grows exceptionally well in North Queensland conditions with little attention to cultural niceties. The plant grows with an enormous egg shaped pseudobulb which on my mature plants have been 12 to 15 cm across and 15 to 20 cm high. The long arching single leaf is about 15 cm wide at the middle tapering at each end. The leaf has many transverse corrugations that remind you of the immature growth on palm leaves.

The flower spike can be two metres in length. The spike emerges from the base of the bulb like a new growth. The flowers are brilliant white and have a hard waxy texture. They are cup shaped and can be 5cm across. If you look through the opening of the flower the column and lip combined is shaped like a dove looking back at you and has reddish spotting. Hence a common name the Dove orchid. These flowers last from three to seven days each and flower consecutively up the spike. My plant has twenty flowers opened or in bud. This should mean a flowering period of two months.

The thing I like most about this orchid is the perfume. In the middle of the day it has a most pleasant heady aroma. It is quite spicy and appealing.

These plants like moist growing conditions. If you can’t provide the warmth it won’t flower. I have found from bitter experience the difficulties in growing in Brisbane. I grow in good quality potting mix. Slugs are particularly fond of the new tips of the large roots. For years I had a mature plant that survived without thriving. I decided to repot and found every new root had a couple of fat juicy slugs suckling on the end. I now take steps to deter the slugs. The plants are susceptible to sunburn. I grow mine under fifty percent shade.

Dr. Sandra L. Schultz Named 2009 Florida Professor of the Year

 Floridians
Dec 012009
 

Editor note: Sandy Schultz is Past President of the SFOS and an active volunteer for the society.

Sandra L. Schultz, a 30-year Miami Dade College North Campus Professor has been named the 2009 Florida Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Schultz was selected from among more than 300 top professors nominated by colleges and universities throughout the country. She was honored at a reception Wednesday night at the Folger Shakespeare Library Exhibition Hall in Washington, D.C.

Schultz is the third MDC professor to receive this top recognition, which is given jointly by the Council for Advancement and Support Education. The other winners were: In 2003, Alberto Meza, professor of fine arts at the Kendall Campus. In 2005 Ana M. Cruz, School of Business at the Wolfson Campus.

Dr. Schultz is the recipient of four Endowed Teaching Chairs, most recently the Anastasios and Maria Kyriakides Chair. “This is an incredible homor. It’s a great way to end my career,” Schultz, who plans to retire next year, said in a statement released by the college. “I have really enjoyed my years at MDC.”

Schultz began her career at MDC in 1977 as a volleyball and softball coach, and then teaching several physical education and activity courses. She also helped develop the fitness and wellness for life course, which provides instruction on how to improve health and nutrition, as well as reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Recently, she began to teach the course online to students living all over the world.

In addition to teaching, Schultz is the author of several fitness textbooks. She is chair of the North Campus Wellness Day Committee, which annually draws in more than 700 participants. The Carnegie Fundation’s Professors of the Year awards program was established in 1981 and is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world.

The U.S. Professors of the Year awards program was established in 1981. TIAA-CREF, one of America’s leading financial services organizations and higher education’s premier retirement system, became the principal sponsor for the awards ceremony in 2000. Additional support for the program is received from a number of higher education associations.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching was founded in 1905 by Andrew Carnegie “to do all things necessary to encourage, uphold and dignify the profession of teaching.” The foundation is the only advanced-study center for teachers in the world and the third-oldest foundation in the nation. Its nonprofit research activities are conducted by a small group of distinguished scholars.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education is the largest international association of education institutions, serving nearly 3,400 universities, colleges, schools, and related organizations in 59 countries. CASE is the leading resource for professional development, information, and standards in the fields of educational fundraising, communications, marketing and alumni relations.

Eurychone rothschildiana

 Species
Nov 012009
 

Eurychone rothschildiana is a Ugandan species which looks like a Phalaenopsis, and can be grown like a one. They have beautiful large, oval, wavy, stiff olive green leaves with green flowers that have a broad curved lip that is blackish green inside with a white edge. Sepals and petals are white with lime green. This flower develops a wonderful fragrance of cinnamon in the morning, after having been opened for a few days. Flowers are about 1.5″ across. This plant prefers to be grown in New Zealand sphagnum moss in clay pots, although it does equally well mounted, as long as you water daily. Repot before flowering in the spring, usually March through April. This plant is a warm grower, and should be treated like Phalaenopsis, so protect it from cold nights during the wintertime.

Falling Leaves – Cattleyas

 Caring
Oct 012009
 

by Susan Taylor
Originally published in BellaOnline

In general, leaf loss in Cattleya Alliance orchids is not considered to be a major growing problem. Unless you have very good growing conditions and have solved most of your cultural problems, you are going to lose the leaves on the older pseudobulbs of your Cattleyas. It is an exceptional grower who can keep these plants happy enough to produce a specimen plant. That is not to say that the hobby grower cannot do better to reduce leaf loss than the average grower. There are three main reasons for leaf loss: diseases/insects, culture and genetics.

In the diseases and insects category, scale is the main culprits. Scale is easy to spot once you have ever seen it – a grouping of white fuzzy spots. Left untreated scale will overtake a plant and ultimately will kill it. As soon as you see evidence of these pests, remove the plant to a location away from your other plants. Manually clean up any obvious insects or spray the whole plant with Bayer’s Rose and Flower Insect Spray (dual action) which will kill any pests that it touches as well as be absorbed in the plant and will kill adults as well as any sucking insects. Continue to spray for about 3 months.

Cultural practices which will cause leaf loss include overwatering, under-watering and excess cold and or heat. Overwatering will cause the roots on your plants to die off so they cannot support the plant. In an attempt to stay alive, the plant will shed extra leaves and try to keep the new growth alive. If possible, look at the roots of your plants – some growers actually take their plants out of the pots periodically to assess the growth. An old rule of thumb says that if the second oldest pseudobulb (generally from the previous year) is wrinkled and desiccated, you are either under or overwatering. Take your plant out of the pot to see which it is. If the roots are good and plump, then you’re under-watering. If they are all dead and rotten, you have overwatered. Repot and change your culture.

Another cultural practice which will cause leaf drop is very cold temperatures in the winter and very hot temperatures in the summer. Most Cattleya Alliance plants will withstand a wide range of temperatures, but very high and low temperatures, even within their range, will cause them to be stressed and lose leaves.

Genetics will also determine whether the plant will grow large for you or lose leaves once they are a couple of years old. There is little that can be done for this aspect but to determine through trial-and-error which plants are best for your growing conditions and stick to them.

One point to keep in mind is that if you can keep from doing it, it is much better to allow the leaf to drop off naturally than to cut it off. If the leaf will not snap off with light pressure, leave it on until it is ready to come off. The plant will seal the wound through a natural drying process which will keep any pests or disease from using the area to invade the plant.

Fall Orchid Growing Tips

 Fall
Oct 012009
 

by Susan Taylor
Originally published in BellaOnline

Repot
Fall is a good time to repot those orchids which have already bloomed and are going into a rest period or growing pseudobulbs which will mature over the winter. With cooler weather the transplanting process will be easier to bear. Some of the varieties to repot are Doritis, Doritaneopsis and Encyclia as well as Phal seedlings.

Move Your Phals to a Cool Spot at Night
Fall is the time to move your Phals to a cool spot, around 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 Centigrade at night, until you see inflorescences starting at the base of the plant. When the growths are about 2 inch or 5 centimeters long, the plants can be moved back to their normal warmer conditions. Stake the inflorescence beginning at about 6 inches or 15 centimeters and make sure that you keep the plant positioned the same direction in relationship to the light for best presentation of flowers.

Move Plants Inside
Prepare all your plants for moving into warmer conditions before the first cold front arrives. Check them for insects in the pots, clean up dried out sheaths where bugs might hide and even start moving some of the tender plants inside as night time temperatures cool. Then you will ready for that first really cold weather and only have a few plants to take care of at the last minute.

Water and Fertilizer Requirements Change
Fall is a time when you will need to adjustyour watering and fertilizing schedules to accommodate the variable weather conditions. As the temperatures cool your plants will use less water and start slowing on their growth, so will need less fertilizer. Generally I keep with my same fertilizing schedule of every other watering throughout the year. But in fall that watering goes from twice a week to every five days and then to once a week in winter.

Keep Your Air Circulation Going
It is especially important during the fall and winter months to keep air circulation going especially in a greenhouse or enclosed growing space. Mold, mildew and insects thrive in stagnant conditions and will cause many problems without proper air circulation.

Light Requirements are Changing
Fall brings changes in light conditions for inside and outside growers. Make sure your plants are getting enough light with the changing conditions or move them around if you are removing shading used during the hot summer months. Leaves on orchids can burn if they get too much direct sunlight.

Could Tums Help Orchids Too?

 Caring
Oct 012009
 

A couple of years ago, I asked Andy Easton why some of our Catts had black tipped leaves. He said might be a calcium deficiency. Since then I have added 5 Tums tablets to every 20 gallons of fertilize solution. I start softening the Tums several hours ahead of adding the fertilizer, 15 aspirin, and detergent to the mix. Our black tips are gone, and while the calcium is at best in suspension, the particles seem to some how get into the roots.

Dot Henley

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