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...

Orchids at La Motte

Aside from making some really great wines, including a firm favourite Sauvignon Blanc, La Motte has several flower-growing initiatives (and an impressive and picturesque lavender field for essential oil). They are most proud of their Disa growing, and if you ask nicely at the tasting room, the horticulturalist at La Motte (Neels van der Linde) will take you on a tour of their facilities.We managed to get on one of these tours whilst staying in Franschhoek recently.

We went through two different growing areas, one under shadecloth with a suspended misting/watering system, and another higher-tech polytunnel greenhouse.

Neels went through the history of La Motte's acquisition of a large Disa collection from Prof. Cywes, which was in serious danger of being repatriated to Japan, highlights of their natural history in the veldt and pollination and hybridisation.

The number of plants there is quite staggering, yet with the flowering period coming to an end Neels apologised for how "empty" the growing houses were!

Neels said that other than the odd fungal problem (which seems to be an inevitable hurdle in Disa culture) they had found culturing these "notoriously difficult" plants fairly easy - but modestly noted that if it were that easy then surely the horticulturists in the Netherlands would have got it by now - so they must be doing something right!

I asked Neels if it was OK to take a few pictures; I didn't know if they would be sensitive to potential "commercial espionage" (aquaculture facilities often go nuts if you pull out a camera!), but he was more than happy to have me wander around in the greenhouse snapping away.

The more sophisticated polytunnel greenhouse was quite amazing (and would cost several million rand to install, apparently); they have build a series of watertight benches which are occasionally flooded with water about half way up the pot from a ~500l tank below each the benches. Overhead, there are large blowers connected to polythene tubes with air holes along them, supplying fresh air, and of course, a large ventilation fan and wet wall to keep things cool, along with overhead misters. Neels pointed out that fungi are often water-borne, so this method of cultivation is not without risks; I immediately wondered if plumbing in some sort of UV steriliser or even using ozone to sterilise the reservoir water for a couple of hours a day might help... But compared to algae, fungal spores are pretty resistant.

Disas like to keep their roots cold and damp, so that system will certainly help - and it allows them to not sit around in water all the time, which is no doubt good for them. I stumbled across a website in America where someone improvised something vaguely similar for his Disas using a chest freezer to keep the water cool!

South Africa's most beautiful indigenous flower next to some Disas.

Disas. Many, Many Disas! Note the irrigation pipe for flooding the growing bench.

Yeah, you guessed it - Disas!

At the back there are all the new potential Disa crosses, neatly labelled with the mother plant's details, along with what was used to pollinate them.

On our way out of the farm, we bought 4 Disas from the shop at La Motte, robustly packaged in thick plastic gift bags, at the reasonable price of R75 each (picture of the last remaining flower to the left). And some extremely delicious baked goods. We've seen La Motte's Disas for sale at Woolworths too, and bought one last year, but the high heat in the car on the way back from PE (and during the shopping) took a toll the plant never really recovered from - and Disa Rot took it out shortly thereafter. :(

La Motte's recommended Disa culture notes are available on their website.