I thought it was about time to show how the orchid teens are coming along. Here is a picture of them, in their community pots. The pots are 5" square, and quite deep. They are mostly filled with packing peanuts, and then a few inches of New Zealand sphagnum moss. I've had a few plants succumb to "damping off". I think I was keeping the moss too wet. Also, top-watering didn't help. So, now I am keeping them drier, and I water by lowering the pot into a container of water for a minute or so. Whatever the moss soaks up from the bottom is what they get. I'm definitely getting better results this way.

Here are two new pics for your enjoyment. The first is the orchid that got me started. I've had it for 4 or 5 years now, and it just keeps getting better. This is a phalaenopsis hybrid of unknown parentage.



This one is special. It is a phalaenopsis amboinensis. The only species phal in my collection. I got it as a baby, and this is the very first flower it has ever made.

The big day! After many months making seeds, and a year germinating in a jar, the first batch of phalaenopsis orchids have now been potted up. Here are two pictures showing the young plants enjoying their new digs (pun intended). They are in New Zealand long-fiber sphagnum moss. I added a bit of KLN rooting enhancer to help them along.

I hope that they all make it. We'll see.





What is pictured above is from one jar of 8, so there will be lots more seedlings in the weeks to come. I discarded a number of seedlings from this jar, because they had not matured enough to be viable. I'll let the next jar go at least another few weeks before I open it, so that the plants can get a bit bigger.

I am surprised that they were not more uniform in size. Some were still just protocorms, while others had leaves in the 3 cm range. I don't know if this is genetics, or environment. Probably both.

It will be very interesting in a few years when we have some flowers to compare. These seeds are all from a hybrid that was "self'd"; i.e. bred with itself. Not generally the best idea, but hey, I'm just getting started.

The Orchid Adolescents

Well I guess I can't call them "orchid babies" any more. Some have leaves around 3 cm long! I'm torn between opening a jar, or letting them continue to grow in their sterile environment. I think I'll open a jar in the next few weeks, and see how it goes. I have a total of 8 healthy jars, so I can afford to experiment a bit.



I previously posted a picture of my yellow oncidium. Here is a shot two weeks later. Most of the buds are ooen at this point.



Last but not least, here is a wine-colored paph. I love the green in the petals - must be a holdover from a Maudea parent.

The orchids have been peacefully growing. The dancing dolls are starting to pop, so it is definitely time for a new photo:



I have one species phal, which I bought as a baby several years ago. It is now starting to form a spike, so in a month or two I hope to finally see what it looks like.

The orchids from seed are continuing to grow well. Leaves are now over an inch long! In a few more weeks I'll take some out of the agar and put them in a community pot.

Those Fabulous Paphiopedilums

The Paphiopedilum are in full swing. Here is a Maudiae type, Nightfire x Black Buddha:



The Rothschildianum has opened both buds. Here is a profile shot:



And one from the side, showing the fabulous detail of the flowers:



Next month, the Miltoniopsis should be in full regalia. Stay tuned!

Time for orchids to move outside

It is warm! Time for orchids to bask in the sun. The cymbidiums spend the winter in the basement grow room. But, running 800 watts of lighting 16 hours a day is a bit pricy. So, it is high time that we took advantage of the free photons on the deck. Here is the collection. Some of the blooms are starting to fade, but overall, they still look great!



Here is a tighter shot. Can you hear them saying "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up"?



There is activity in the living room. In particular, the Paphiopedilum rothschildianum has decided to put up a spike. I also have a Paphiopedilum Maudie which has two spikes, but neither is open for viewing yet.

The Cymbidiums are starting to pop.

As the title indicates, I have some Cymbidiums that are starting to bloom. Here is the first. I was given this plant as a "back bulb", meaning that it had no roots, no leaves, no nuthin'. I put it in a pot of LECA (lightweight expanded clay aggregate), and after several months it decided to start growing. It has been three or so years from that point to today. The plant summers on my deck, under a burlap awing, to avoid burning the foliage. Once temperatures drop to around 40 F outside, it moves into the basement under an 800 watt high intensity light fixture with both metal halide (MH) and high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps.

I've had a lot of trouble with bud-blast, where the buds turn yellow and drop off without opening. My current theory is that I have been keeping the plants too wet, causing the buds to start to rot while still "in sheath". I've been able to save some, by quickly removing the bad ones, and dusting the cut with copper sulphate fungicide.

I was able to save four blooms on this plant, three of which have opened fully, and one which is still thinking about it.

Here are the three sisters. They grew in a very symmetrical and pretty arrangement:


Here is a close-up of the central bloom, illuminated rather moodily by an LED flashlight, of all things:

Replate or not?

I was wondering whether replating was the right idea. I replated some of the orchid babies, and for a time, it seemed like the ones I left alone were doing a bit better. However, the tide has turned. Here, at the same scale, is a plant that was not replated, versus one that was. The replated plant is doing much better than the other.

Here is the one left on the mother media:


And here is the replated one. As you can see, it is much larger:


According to the manufacturer, the replate media has fertilizer components at about 2x that of the mother media. And the replate media adds powdered banana as well. Clearly, the orchids like the richer media. Lesson learned. I've transplanted the remaining babies onto replate media. We're going to have lots of very healthy orchids, at this rate.

We have roots!

The replated orchids are starting to make roots. In this first photo, you can see a root sticking up in the air. The leaves are somewhat coated with some of the replate "jelly". I may not have gotten the pH quite right, because the replate medium was much softer than the original mother medium. Or, it may be that the mother medium is deliberately firmer to make it easy to remove the protocorms when the time comes. And I guess you would want the replate medium to be softer so that the roots can penetrate. Regardless, the plants look healthy and happy.



In the next photo, you can see two roots coming off level with the medium. Since the flasks are pretty much at 100% humidity inside, there is no need for the roots to dig deep in search of moisture. Still, I expect that the roots will turn down as they lengthen. This medium has activated charcoal to absorb waste products of the orchid metabolism. So, it will be hard to see the roots as they go deeper, at least until they reach the bottom of the flask. :-)



In the final photo, you can see a root with white velamen covering the part of the root closest to the plant. The growing tip of the root is green. The velamen acts as a sponge to absorb water so that it can be consumed by the plant.