Sharry Baby!

My Oncidium Sharry Baby has done very well this year. There are two new pseudobulbs. One made a single spike, and the other has made two. They won't all be in bloom at the same time; the first spike has already faded and we are on to the second. The third will come much later - it hasn't even started to branch yet. But I'm just as happy that the spikes are sequential. This plant puts out a strong vanilla fragrance that fills the front of the house. This way, I get to enjoy that for many months. The plant is growing in LECA, those little brown expanded clay pellets. I wait until the pot just goes dry; i.e. no more water in the reserve outer pot. Then I run R.O. water through the LECA for a minute or two, and pour maybe 3/8" of MSU fertilizer into the outer pot. I make up the MSU to around 0.50 mS/cm conductivity, and adjust the pH to around 6.0 using a Hanna combination meter.

Here is a close-up of one of the flowers. There are just over 100 flowers on the spike, and the first spike was about the same. If the third spike does as well, I will have gotten around 300 flowers out of this plant. Very impressive!

Well. My vinicolor paphiopedilum has had twins! This plant is clearly very happy.



Last time I repotted it, there was one new fan of leaves that had detached from the mother plant. So that one went into a new pot, and in a year or two should make a flower of its own.

Here is a close-up of the flowers on the mother plant:



In other news, the keikes on the phalaenopsis are continuing to grow, but don't look all that different just yet. I'll wait until I see some leaves before posting a new picture.

I'm trying something new. I bought some Keiki paste. This is a hormone treatment, that can cause dormant buds to become activated. It it commonly used on Phalaenopsis in order to cause the orchide to make babies. Here are two photos of the developing buds. They have been treated for about a month with the paste, and are developing nicely.






Here is an update on the orchids I am growing from seed. This plant now has a 5 inch leaf. Not bad for three years. It typically takes around 5 years for a brand-new plant to flower, so I'd say we are "on schedule".

Pretty in Pink

Oh those Phalaenopsis! I have two pink hybrids in bloom right now. The one with the red center is the first orchid I ever bought. When I got her home, the roots were not in good condition, and it almost looked like this would be my first dead orchid. However, she survived my neophyte care, and has gone on to do very well. This is the first year I've gotten a branched spike, so there are two rows of flowers at once.

The Amboinensis is just starting to spike. We should have some flowers there in a month or two.

Moving up from the Community Pots

I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy, and the orchids have been quietly growing. I've begun to move some of the pre-teens from their community pots to a pot of their very own. Here is one example - definitely ready to have a pot to herself:



This photo shows the community pot she came from. As each plant gets big enough, it too will move to an individual pot.



Here we have a view of the nursery. It is interesting how the plants really grow at very different rates. Clearly they are all in the same environment. Once we start getting some flowers (in a few more years!) it will be fun to see if plant growth rate has anything to do with flower appearance.



A few unrelated photos. The vinecolor Maudie is back in bloom. This plant seems to be particularly happy this year. In the past, the flower has faded much more quickly. Probably, all the humidity we've had in the North East this year has helped.



And one final pic. The Miltoniopsis is just beginning to open a few buds. It looks like I'll get some spectacular water-fall patterns from this plant.

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.