Still here...

It has been a while since my last update. I'm still alive, as are most of the plants. A move of house - which we now own rather than rent - moving the green house and a change of jobs has rather cut into my "free time"; my orchid exploits - and this blog in particular - have suffered as a result.

Speaking of moving, Senior Management and two of our friends nearly died moving the greenhouse in about 7 pieces back in February - the roof in one giant section was a particular challenge, as it had to be taken around the house on its side, making it rather unwieldy (no photographic evidence, as all hands were needed elsewhere!). Fortunately, we only had to walk it a grand total of a single property line over. A massive ivy "fence" was demolished between the properties, and a precast wall put in its place; we took advantage of that activity to move the greenhouse and plants without going "the long way around". I bought a modular greenhouse in part because of being a renter - I hadn't expected to move less than a year after putting up a greenhouse, but the rent became unreasonable and a good offer to buy came up... Still, moving a greenhouse is quite an operation!

The orchids spent several months under deep shade, being very infrequently watered whilst the greenhouse was moved, and the basic connections were hooked up (power, water), and the backlog of "most urgent" DIY for human habitation was completed. Once the greenhouse was more or less up, I neglected to erect adequate shading, and some of the plants have really taken some strain lately (particularly things like Phalaenopsis that do not enjoy full sun as we move towards spring/summer down here). I predict some casualties. Another more minor "catastrophe" was hooking up misting without fans in place; some plants rotted away seemingly overnight. It's surprising what just a few days of changed weather, neglect or poor cultural conditions can do to a plant. (On the other hand, it's impressive how tough some other plants are!). Usually, it's too much of something that seems to kill orchids; they're seemingly often naturally quite resilient to shortages.

I've also been encountering more pests. Things are wholesale eating my plants, or chunks of them; for example, my Onc. Sharry Baby has had its latest pseudobulb firmly chomped, but it's still soldiering on (it's just started to spike); the Laelia sincorana f. coerulea which I have waited for YEARS (since March 2011) to flower threw out a spike this month (clearly it enjoyed the massive increase in light and neglect). Something ATE IT. I strongly suspect molluscan activities (slugs and snails) and must deploy counter-measures!

Onc.Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' with slug/snail damage.

Laelia sincorana f. coerulea - first bloom - EATEN!

It's not all bad news of course; some things have quite enjoyed life; our Vanda flowered for only the second time, and some other light-loving plants have also put on quite a show.

Vanda Manuvadee "Blue" - second flowering; October 2015.
This won the first prize in the "Other" orchid category at the recent
Grahamstown Flower Festival Facebook (but not best orchid on show).
Having slowly learnt a little of what orchid judges look for,
I can see the "faults" (compare it to a really flat, round Vanda like one of the
"Roberts Delight" range). It's an old hybrid, so a lot has happened since. 

It's grown quite a lot since I first got it.
Compare the size when it was bought and when it last flowered. 

Going through my cellphone camera gallery, there are quite a lot of stories to come! Watch this space...

New Plants: Plantae

At the EPOS meeting on Thursday, we picked up four more plants from Plantae - a number which I felt was very reserved, but at which OOAB's Senior Management rolled her eyes and said something about "Two orchids. We said two*". Always hard to restrain yourself when presented with 1) a big, long list of great plants 2) a personal courier service by one of the owners of the nursery and 3) a 10% discount! As usual, the plants were well packed in paper/polyester wool sheeting; I don't have any pictures of that as it was quite late when we got home from Port Elizabeth; I wanted to get them out of the packaging and onto the shelving ASAP.

So, without further ado, onto the exciting part. New plants :)

First up, to go with the theme of "blue orchids", I spent a fair few minutes trying to Google pictures of various Cattleya Alliance plants which the team at Plantae had helpfully highlighted as being "blue" in their price list. You might be interested to read my post about blue orchids (and mustard). Here is our shiny new mounted Laelia sincorana f. coerulea:

Laelia sincorana f. coerulea

According to IOSPE, L. sincorana comes from a dry region of Brazil and needs a "very dry" rest period in the winter. Other sources suggest the roots need to dry "very quickly" after watering, so I imagine it'll like being near my Tolumnia. Best I remember that watering regimen in the coming months, particularly with all that moss around the roots!

Next, we have Maxillaria tenuifolia:

Maxillaria tenuifolia

As many orchid-growers will know, the flowers of this species usually have a rather interesting aroma of coconut - some people have compared it to suntan lotion, piña colada or coconut cream pie! I am trying to collect various fragrant orchids, as I find this aspect of them to be quite intriguing. To this end, I recently acquired a copy of Steven Frowine's Fragrant Orchids, which at some stage I'll get around to reading properly and reviewing. Again, this orchid apparently enjoys a somewhat dry winter "rest period". I find the delicate foliage on this one quite graceful and attractive. Apparently, many people find it prefers being mounted instead of in a pot; ours is currently in a pot with what looks like coconut husk chips. I might consider mounting it one day... It seems to prefer fairly high light levels (stick it with your Catts or Cymbidium), but will tolerate lower light levels. According to IOSPE, it seems to grow all over the place at a variety of altitudes, so I suspect it's probably quite adaptable and forgiving.

Mediocalcar decoratum is a pretty tiny, miniature mat-forming plant:

Mediocalcar decoratum

I suspect if I get growing this one right, along with my pleurothallids, it might be time to "risk" something like Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, which comes from a similar part of the world to this species and seems to prefer similar cultural requirements. This plant is apparently equally happy either mounted or in a pot, but needs room to ramble. I should perhaps consider chopping a chunk out of some EcoWeb I recently received from First Rays. It seems to prefer fairly low light, so I imagine it will be happy with the paphs, and apparently likes being regularly watered. It's a cute little plant and I look forward to seeing it flower, when these plants are covered in tiny yellow-orange blossoms. Apparently, this species was only described in 1989! Ron Hanko has some great photos of it over at Orchids in Bloom; have a look at his impressive orchidariums when you visit!

Finally, Dendrobium unicum:

Dendrobium unicum

This plant apparently drops its leaves in its second year of growth (presumably on each growth), so I must not panic if I see the leaves do so! In fact, shortly after this leaf fall, you'll see the development of flowers along nodes on the stem. It has great orange flowers which apparently "smell exactly like freshly sharpened crayons". I wonder what animal finds that smell enticing (and what would happen if you sat in its natural habitat sharpening crayons)!? Apparently, it prefers being mounted or in a basket. Like many Dendrobium, it likes a cooler, dryer period in the winter with fertiliser being withheld during that period. 

So, whilst this order might have been for four more plants, I think we can all agree they're rather small - which, it could be argued (I maintain so!), is like getting 2 plants... :D They're certainly not another Ansellia africana, which dwarfs all my other orchids. We've also made some more room at OOAB HQ by moving (thanks Ron!) two gigantic pots with frangipani planted in them to the garden outside my office. Our sneaky plan is to make/buy some kind of staging upon which to grow plants in the area formerly dominated by the frangipani. One day, we shall have a garden, and that garden shall be great. And feature two frangipani!

Hooray for miniatures!

*good thing that Bulbophyllum tingabarinum was out of stock then, phew.