More on orchids

[Arron]

I did a thread back in 2016 in which I showed some of the orchids I was growing at the time. I kept it going for about a year dribbling out photos as they flowered.

At the time we were living in NW Sydney and I was bemoaning the fact that there were very few genuinely exotic-looking orchids which could be grown outdoors in the district. In fact only a handful of species tolerated the temperature which ranged from about 2 degrees in extreme winter nights to about 40 degrees for spells of a day or two in summer.

Now we have moved to a seaside location on the Central Coast. Although it’s only about 80km away atcf, the equivalent temperature range here is about 8degrees to 34 degrees, so the range of orchids we can grow is much wider. Plus I now have a shadehouse, a miserable little thing but it does give them some shelter.

So I thought I would show here some of what we grow as they flower.

I should caution you that there is nothing unusual here - I stick mainly to old favourites.

I’ll try to keep this thread going for a year. It’ll be interesting to look back over what happens in a year.

Cheers
Arron

[Arron]

First up a Brassia. Actually, it’s a cross between 3 (or 4, I forget) Brassia species.

The petals on these flowers measure 330mm tip to tip - if yo hold them out straight.

These are often called spider orchids. Coincidently, they are pollinated by a group of wasps called spider-hunters, which prey on tarantulas. The wasp is attracted by a pheromone the plant releases, lands on it and attempts to sting the elongated lip, pollinating the plant in the process.

Young plant, first time its flowered, so not many flowers.


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[Arron]

This is a Brascidostele “Gilded Tower” - a man made hybrid between species in three South American genera.

It grows a bit large.

Best feature is the highly figured lip, which is in none of the parents.

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[HUON]

I'd love to see photos of your collection. I'm sure what you've shown us over the last few years is a snippet.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

Ditto. :2tsup:

My folks had a shade-house in which they grew a wide variety of orchids over some 30 odd years. 'Twas a lovely place to sit and chill out; no matter what time of year it was, there was always something interesting in flower.

Alas, once Dad passed Mum had to move to a smaller place and few of the orchids transitioned well. :(

[Arron]

This is Oncidium "Sharry Baby". I said above that I mainly grow old favourites, and Sharry Baby is about as old favourite as you can get. Its a hybrid between 4 species of Central/South American oncidiums that was registered in 1983. Now its probably the most commonly grown orchid in the huge oncidium alliance.

Looking at it, its OK but not especially appealing. The flower spike is rather long and sparse, the mahogany colour doesn't really stand out, and the flowers always look like they didn't quite develop fully. What makes it so special, however, is its fragrance. The flowers smell like a cross between vanilla and chocolate. In the morning sun it really gets going and the fragrance fills our entire lounge/dining/kitchen area.

I tried growing them several times in NW Sydney without success, but they do really well here. This one is only a young plant flowering for the first time but it still produced 2 large spikes - so it must be happy.


Its not normal for it to be flowering in mid-summer. In fact none of the orchids above should really be flowering now. I think its because they've been confused by us moving houses twice in the last year.


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[Arron]

This is Aliceara 'Winter Wonderland'. Another very commonly grown hybrid. This one was registered in 1985ish, and is a cross between about 8 species in the genera Miltonia, Oncidium, Brassia and Odontoglossum.


This is another young plant doing its first flowering. Again its unusual to see them flowering in mid-summer.


This photo doesn't do it justice. It has a very appealing crystalline texture to the petals. I should of photographed it against a black background perhaps.


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[Arron]

This is Oncidium "Heaven Scent". Another old favourite. Its a linear descendant of Oncidium "Sharry Baby", which I showed above and mentioned had some systemic problems such as a sparse inflorescence and poorly shaped flowers. Heaven Scent is a breeder's attempt to get past these problems without loosing the striking aroma.

This is a young plant doing its first flowering. Later flowerings will be much more impressive. I bought it as a tiny plant 3 years ago, so I suppose its 4 years old.

This plant is one I bought as a tiny seedling from Bunnings. I've bought lots of these 3-7cm high plants in plastic bubble containers for about $9.00 each. They come from a Victorian grower called Collectors Corner, and they are in fact all very well grown, healthy and fault-free plants - or they are when they first arrive at Bunnings but be careful because the staff dont know how to look after them so they soon go downhill. Each winter Collectors Corner ships a wide variety of species and hybrids to Bunnings, with lots of new varieties each year, and I'm an enthusiastic customer. Most of the specialist orchid dealers in Australia I am less enthusiastic about.

The Winter Wonderland and Sharry Baby I have shown above are from the same source - and are the same age.

The positives of buying such young plants are that they are cheap (for orchids) and that you get to raise them to maturity fully acclimatised to your local conditions. The negative is that nothing with orchids happens quickly, so you can expect to wait 3 to 4 years for a flower.

The brown leaftips suggest its suffering fertiliser burn.

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[Arron]

As there isn’t much else flowering at the moment it’s time to talk Phalaenopsis.

Phalaenopsis (or phals) are those white or pink flowered orchids you see today in such numbers in supermarkets or hardware stores. I used to think I’d never grow phals because they are so common, and my attitude was that being common they therefore can not be exotic, and the best thing about orchids is they bring a bit of the exotic into everyday life.

However I’m slowly changing my mind because there’s no doubting that – given a very small amount of knowledge of how orchids grow – there is no other orchid that is as easy care, floriferous, pest free, sociable, convenient and long lasting as the phals. Over the last 20 or so years of selective breeding for the 'modestly-priced flower' trade, breeders have developed them into little commercial flowering-machines.

I only have about 5 phals in my collection but there is always at least one in flower at any time and those flowers can last up to 6 months.

My phals are ‘supermarket rescues’, meaning plants bought in supermarkets etc and given to me after flowering by owners don't know how to care for them. They are usually in fairly bad state by the time I get them but they are hardy plants and recover eventually.


This is a supermarket rescue. It’s recovered from previous appalling treatment and is obviously happy with current conditions judging by the very long and well loaded flower stem.


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cheers
Arron

[Arron]

This is another rescue phal.

It’s very unusual. It’s a peloric, which in this case means the lip shape has been influenced by the petal shape. You can see that its labellum (the downward pointing lip) is atypical (compare this to the phal in the previous post, which has a typical lip). It’s a hybrid called ‘Phalaenopsis world class’.


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Most of the phals for sale are “NOIDs”, short for “no identification”, meaning the grower has not provided any information about the background or exact registered hybrid name of the plant. Presumably they think it’s not relevant to getting a sale in a supermarket, so don’t bother with unnecessary detail.

Another side effect of the intensive breeding done for the supermarket trade is that very few phals offered are now scented. This is a shame because in their natural state many of the Phalaenopsis species have very strong and very special scents - usually an exotic floral/vanilla aroma. Apparently the commercial breeders realise that the effect of scent will be lost in a supermarket or hardware store situation, so they haven't selected for it. I've read that many of the yellow flowered commercial hybrids still retain some scent, though I haven't encountered any.

cheers
Arron

[Chief Tiff]

They look very interesting; I’m not a flowery person but knowing there’s something that can stay in bloom for months would be something nice to get SWMBO.

One important question, is there a breed of orchid that thrives on neglect? Unfortunately in my household when I go away (FIFO worker) that’s what most things receive unless they’re covered in fur or feathers.

[Arron]

They look very interesting; I’m not a flowery person but knowing there’s something that can stay in bloom for months would be something nice to get SWMBO.

One important question, is there a breed of orchid that thrives on neglect? Unfortunately in my household when I go away (FIFO worker) that’s what most things receive unless they’re covered in fur or feathers.

That’s a difficult question for me personally because I don’t know much about growing orchids in your climate. I looked up your climate on BOM and it looked like you get a hot, rainy summer and a dry winter down to about 9 degrees minimum. That’s ideal for growing most types of orchid.

Orchids that like your temperature range as well as the wet summer / dry winter regime include:
Softcane dendrobiums (nobile type)
Hardcane dendrobiums
Almost all cattleya species and hybrids
Almost all laelia species and hybrids
Most oncidium species (prefer extra water in winter though)
Most oncidium alliance hybrids except those with odontoglossum among the parents
Vandas (probably need supplemental watering even in summer)
Phalaenopsis
Stanhopeas
Many other less common species.

I think any of these would grow well in your environment as long as you had them outside, in dappled shade, in a spot where the air flowed around them freely, able to receive natural rainfall, fertilised them occasionally at half strength, kept them potted in bark (not soil) and didn’t let them sit in stagnant or stale potting mix. You might need to supplement the watering in dry times. I think that’s about as close to thriving on neglect as you’ll ever get with orchids. Trips away shouldn’t be a big issue as long as there is some watering going on in summer.

Bring them inside when flowering, but no orchid really likes growing inside.

There is no escaping the fact, however, that you have to read up on and understand how orchids grow. It’s not complicated, but they are not like other plants.

[Chief Tiff]

That is a very handy list to take with me to the local nurseries, thank you for taking the time to write it.

We get very humid summers up here, although rainfall has been somewhat sparse this last 12 months. I have a small garden bed in the front of the property with a young poncianna flame tree thing that would probably do dappled shade admirably.

[Arron]

That is a very handy list to take with me to the local nurseries, thank you for taking the time to write it.

We get very humid summers up here, although rainfall has been somewhat sparse this last 12 months. I have a small garden bed in the front of the property with a young poncianna flame tree thing that would probably do dappled shade admirably.

You could probably grow an orchid or two directly on the trunk of the poinciana. Look up ‘nobile dendrobium’ in Google. They are often naturalised on trees. Just wire the plant onto the trunk with a few strands of sphagnum moss twisted around it’s roots to retain a bit of moisture. A Brassia, oncidium or cattleya would probably do well growing the same way. Eventually the roots will scramble down the trunk of the tree and that is what you want. Remove the wire once it’s established. Just keep it well watered but allow it to dry out too. If you have a sprinkler system then perfect.

[Arron]

Although we have had a constant stream of flowering orchids since my last post I haven’t shown any because they are just kind of more of the same. Most have been Oncidium intergenerics.

This one is a bit different, though. This is a Bulbophyllum. Bulbophyllum is a huge Asian genus, with a few species native to Australia as far south as Sydney. Mostly they have small clustering leaves and pseudobulbs, with really weird looking flowers. They are nearly all small, too. In the past that’s limited their appeal, but now there is a big focus in orchid-growing towards the ‘miniatures’. I think this comes from people in Europe and eastern seaboard USA not having much space and needing to grow in appartments etc.

The miniature orchids are mostly in genera like Lepanthes, Bulbophyllum and Masdavillea. Although not spectacular, their appeal often lies in their sheer weirdness. You can see a collection of strange orchid flowers here ( https://pin.it/ogpte4tfobt2h5 ) it’s amazing the shapes they have evolved into.

This one is Bulbophyllum ornatissimum x putidum . The flower is about 90mm long.

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Cheers
Arron

[Ed..]

As there isn’t much else flowering at the moment it’s time to talk Phalaenopsis.

However I’m slowly changing my mind because there’s no doubting that – given a very small amount of knowledge of how orchids grow – there is no other orchid that is as easy care, floriferous, pest free, sociable, convenient and long lasting as the phals. Over the last 20 or so years of selective breeding for the 'modestly-priced flower' trade, breeders have developed them into little commercial flowering-machines.

cheers
Arron

There are a lot of Phals that do not like the cold weather or extreme heat so they probably will not do well outside in that area. You could also look at Cymbidiums as they actually need a cold spell to initiate a flower spike to form.

As for Phalanopsis, it also depends where you are, up here in Queensland I found that every bug and critter liked the Phalanopsis as a treat and it was a constant battle to rid of the them from meally bugs, slugs, mites, cockroaches and even down to rats etc. The rats actually destroyed several hundred of my newly deflasked Phal's in one night, they ripped out the seedlings and just chewed off all the roots and left the rest of the plant alone, they crapped all over the trays and the crap developed a mouldy fungus which contaminated and killed the ones they didn't eat. I sprayed all the plants with Supracide and and the morning found a couple of dead rats. So up here, they are a lot of work!

[Arron]

As for Phalanopsis, it also depends where you are, up here in Queensland I found that every bug and critter liked the Phalanopsis as a treat and it was a constant battle to rid of the them from meally bugs, slugs, mites, cockroaches and even down to rats etc. The rats actually destroyed several hundred of my newly deflasked Phal's in one night, they ripped out the seedlings and just chewed off all the roots and left the rest of the plant alone, they crapped all over the trays and the crap developed a mouldy fungus which contaminated and killed the ones they didn't eat. I sprayed all the plants with Supracide and and the morning found a couple of dead rats. So up here, they are a lot of work!

I did not realise that. In a sense we have it lucky at this latitude as we have very little problem with pests and diseases. Our downside is that our plants struggle through the winter cold - but our upside is we really only have scale and mealy bug to contend with and even those you can keep on top of without much effort. No spider mites, no rats, no snails or slugs, no grasshoppers or their relatives, no orchid-eating beetles. I get occasional mould or bacteria infections, but easily handled.

I often read American forums and notice that they get a much wider range of pests and they seem to hit much harder - especially spider mites.

In the tropics of course everything pestwise is magnified.

My phals just sit in the corner of my shadehouse and I’ve never actually seen a pest on them. The cattleyas and Oncidium-types get a bit of Biosduval Scale, but only to the point where I have to go over them with a cotton bud and alcohol, I don’t need to actually use chemical sprays. I’ve never seen a pest on the bulbophyllums or the dendrobiums either - I guess nothing in the local fauna has a taste for them which is odd as both genera have local native representatives.

I don’t use any kind of chemical or treatment preventatively, either.

This week the temperature has dropped dramatically, so it’s time to bring the phals, bulbos and species plants inside for the winter, where they will stay till mid-September. Then I cover the shadehouse all over with plastic, and those that are left will be looking a bit battered by the end of winter but they will recover in the first few weeks of spring.

Thank you for reminding me that the grass is not always greener.

Cheers
Arron

[Ed..]

Arron, no problem, each area has it's own growing requirements/problems, as for the sprays and chemicals, when you have a smallish collection it's easy to give them your personal attention, however when you have about 10000, by the time you realize you have a pest problem it is usually an infestation, your only choice then is mass chemical/poison treatment. As for care and maintenance, most orchids seem to thrive on neglect and just a little care, I have seen a lot of orchids that have been "loved to death" with over watering and over fertilized. Especially with Phals where the leaves can still look healthy but the roots had rotted away.

I once did a clean up and repotted a lot of phals with new media and bagged up the old media and quite a few of the less than nice Phals into big plastic poly bags to take to the tip, however I forgot about one bag and found it about several months later and when opened up the Phals were looking great. Total neglect but a nice humid environment. :U

[Arron]

I once did a clean up and repotted a lot of phals with new media and bagged up the old media and quite a few of the less than nice Phals into big plastic poly bags to take to the tip


If Id known that and if I lived in your area I would have been down the tip picking them up. I love rehabbing plants.

I picked up a dried out Stanhopea that a neighbour threw out and it took me eleven years to get it back to healthy and flowering again - I didn't mind the wait.


Were you producing the phals commercially ?

[Ed..]

Yep, I was at the time, but have closed it down as there wasn't any money in it due to the drought and people stopped buying plants. It was costing me a small fortune trying to heat, repot and fertilize them and not making any money, so I ended up putting an advert in the paper for people to came and take as many as they wanted for free. Needless to say, the inner greenhouse was cleaned out in a day. I kept a lot of the Brassias, Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Bromeliads in the external shade house as they could survive the weather conditions and those just required very little maintenance compared to the Phals.

[Lappa]

One of ours has just bloomed. Beautiful flowers.

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[Ed..]

Nice Cymbidium!

[Arron]

I mentioned previously that it isn’t hard to grow-on phalaenopsis orchids that were bought in full flower, as long as you have a basic understanding of their requirements, but I didn’t explain what you should do.

To recap, phalaenopsis are those pink and/or white orchids sold flowering in most supermarkets or hardware stores for about $30 or so. The ones which usually go downhill after flowering and thus have come to be regarded like cut flowers - enjoy them while you can then throw them out once the flower dies.

My strategy with these is to pull them out of their pot immediately (even while they are flowering, it won’t shorten the flowering time, in fact it may prolong it). Then I pull away all the sphagnum moss till the roots are bare. The growers pack them tight in sphagnum as that’s the most convenient way to bring them to the market, not because its a good way to grow them. Then I repot them in a well ventilated pot, one that lets air travel right through the pot. For potting media I use just chunks of pine bark - coarse is better. If They are going to a place where humidity may be a bit low then I wind a few strands of sphagnum moss on the surface of the media, just to retain the moisture a bit. And that’s all, just find nice warm humid spot for them with a fair bit of shade.

Growing orchids is a lot about getting the roots right. Remember these are epiphytes, meaning they grow in trees, with their roots largely exposed and scrambling down the tree trunks. That’s why they won’t survive if their roots are bound up in soil or dense-packed sphagnum moss, their roots need air flow, and they need to alternate between being wet for growth (because all life processes require water) and drying out (to kill the pathogens).

Anywhere north of Sydney these will do alright, though in the southern part of that range winter growth will be slow. Bring them inside for the coldest 3 or so months of the year and place them close to a screened window.



So looking at one my neighbour asked me to repot a few days ago:

This is the plant immediately after removal from the pot in which it was sold. You can see the ends of the roots are dead and mouldy where water has collected in the bottom of the pot. Orchid roots don’t like to be kept constantly wet. I just cut the dead bits off. Some people sterilise with cinnamon, hydrogen peroxide or whatever but I have not found it necessary. You can see the plant was dense-packed in sphagnum moss, and that heap of sphagnum moss on the right hand side was somehow crammed into the pot as well.

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Removing the sphagnum, you can see that the roots in the centre of the plant have died off, suffocated by the dampness and lack of air circulation.

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This is the type of pot I like to put them in. This is actually a hydroponic pot. If you can’t find one of these, perhaps drill holes in a regular black plastic pot.

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And this is the growing media I use. Just chunks of pine bark - nothing else and especially no soil. Some people say the bark should be aged and/or processed - others say it isn’t necessary. I’m not convinced either way.

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That’s it. I have just six of these ‘supermarket rescues’ and that's enough to mean we have a phal flowering in the house about 50% of the time. All have been growing well for a year or two and all 6 are currently in spike (meaning they have maturing flower spikes), which is pretty remarkable for orchids.

[Bushmiller]

Arron

Thank you for this thread, which I have passed on to SWMBO, who loves orchids but has little knowledge: Unlike me where this is not just restricted to orchids. :(

Her orchids always live outside. They are in a completely shaded area both by a dense canopy of shrubs and small trees and the side of the house. They never get direct sunlight. Our climate is pretty cool in winter with a few frosts and red hot in summer.

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From your comments she may have to look at thinning some of the potting medium, although they seem to be surviving quite well possibly despite her well meaning attention.

Thanks again.

Regards
Paul

[Arron]

Hard to tell from the photo, but the potting mix looks dark - so I’m guessing it’s either bark chunks or one of the commercially available ‘orchid potting’ mixes.

In either case, you can expect the mix to break down within 2 or 3 years - and once it breaks down it turns into something like soil. Orchids don’t grow well in broken down media - it smothers the roots, making them too damp and preventing air flow. Hence most of these orchids need to be reported every (rough estimate) 3 years. Just take them out of the pot, shake the old mix off, and repot them in new fresh mix, pushing it down around the roots just enough to stop them from wobbling in their pots. Best to do this in early spring when the new roots are just starting to emerge at the base of the plants.

Failure to repot regularly is one of those things people like to think they can get away with but really they can’t. The point is that orchids do everything slowly (even die), so once they start on their downward trend due to bad potting mix it may be a long time before they show it, although they might have already gone beyond the point of no return.

When growing orchids, focus on the roots. Keep the leaves in good condition, sure, but it’s the health of the roots which ultimately determines the survivability of the plant.

It looks like you have a flowering Laelia there (the white flowered one). Maybe Laelia anceps or Laelia albida.

Cheers
Arron

[fenderbelly]

i just bought my first PHALEONOPSIS last month. it was on the TLC bench and was only $20. already it has a new LEAF growing.
i have a friend who has one and the flower is spectacular, hers lives in a well lit bathroom.

[Arron]

i just bought my first PHALEONOPSIS last month. it was on the TLC bench and was only $20. already it has a new LEAF growing.
i have a friend who has one and the flower is spectacular, hers lives in a well lit bathroom.

Yep, you can get some good results out of the rescue bench.

Below is a photo of one of my rescues. I’m showing this because it’s a good illustration of reflowering. This orchid was given to me with an expired flower spike, wherein all the flowers had recently finished and dropped off. The flower spike was still green, so I cut it off just above the fourth ‘knuckle’. When you do this the spike often reflowers- in other words it will grow a short, branching spike(s) off the previous spike. This one grew two (actually it grew three but the third one was broken off by our cat although I don’t think it was developing normally anyway).

We have had a very good spring/summer flowering season for the orchids this year. I’ll get around to posting some photos shortly.

Cheers
Arron

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