Orchids

my bad habit, no not that one, this one:

orchids

Angcm. Crestwood 'Tomorrow Star' GM/ 19th WOC - (Veitchii x sesquipedale)

Angraecum sesquipedale is also referred to as the "Darwin Orchid."

another super fragrant orchid. had to remove it from the dining room because of it's scent, not a bad scent but it overpowered the smell of the food being cooked & served which made it difficult to cook & eat.

from, wikipedia:
"Darwin surmised, in his 1862 publication "On the various contrivances by which British and foreign orchids are fertilised by insects, and on the good effects of intercrossing," that there must be a pollinator moth with a proboscis long enough to reach the nectar at the end of the spur. He arrived at this conclusion after attempting in vain to remove the pollinia of the flower using needles and bristles. Only after placing a cylinder with a diameter of 1⁄10 of an inch down the full length of the spur was he able to detach the pollinia upon retracting it. The viscidium attached to the cylinder as he removed it. Darwin surmised that in the moth's attempt at getting the nectar at the end of the spur the moth would get the pollinarium attached to its head or body. The next orchid it visited would then be pollinated in the same manner.[8] For some time after this prediction the notion of a pollinator with a 35 cm long proboscis was ridiculed and generally not believed to exist. After Darwin's publication, George Campbell published a book in 1867 titled, The Reign of Law, in which he attempted to argue that the complexity of this species implies that it was created by a supernatural being. However, in 1903, such a moth was discovered in Madagascar by Lionel Walter Rothschild and Karl Jordan. This confirmed Darwin's prediction. The moth was named Xanthopan morganii praedicta."

Zygopetalum (Zygo) species

i think orchids are overrated and over priced... but they are still some lovely flowers...

is that first one a phalenopsis??

pain to grow too, hence the prices.....

lovely flowers!

gogrow said:

i think orchids are overrated and over priced... but they are still some lovely flowers...

is that first one a phalenopsis??

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yes, it is. it's fragrance is a mix of vanilla with a hint of musk.

yeah, orchids can b very expensive. what I do is trade, rescue or buy them from the bargin bin.

KP2 said:

pain to grow too, hence the prices.....

lovely flowers!

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yes, they can b difficult to grow but I have found if I treat them like a cactus in semi-shade to strong indirect sunlight n let them almost dry out they'll do well.

thank u for ur comments

I just got an orchid last week. My first one. I'm a little excited about it, but nervious about keeping it alive. I'm afraid it might croak on me.

I'll probably be asking you for pointers if I need to x15

WhatWouldBobDo? said:

I just got an orchid last week. My first one. I'm a little excited about it, but nervious about keeping it alive. I'm afraid it might croak on me.

I'll probably be asking you for pointers if I need to x15

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good luck

glad to help i'm not an expert but all our orchids flower & seem happy.

as a side note, we have a formal greenhouse but most of the orchids stay outside in our year round temperate Mediterranean weather. this winter I accidentally discovered orchids really like the ReptiSun lamps so i've been redesigning the greenhouse to add a few more of these lamps, tubes seem to work best for me because i'm able to get a smoother light flow as oppose to the bulb type ReptiSun lamps which i find are way too strong/concentrated, so for now using tubes on reflective hardware.

i've observed the orchids closest to the ReptiSun lamps (10% UVB) turn toward the residual indirect ReptiSun light regardless of having their own lights on them, they seems to enjoy the uvb ones better and grow a stronger stem/spike, leaves & larger flowers.

i still have not found the optimal combination & distance of ReptiSun lamps to fluorescent tubes for growing, but i'm working on it

Those are some great looking orchids. My mom always has some phals around. I used to grow some epiphytic miniatures in my dart frog vivarium. I had some jewel orchids too, L. Discolor and the other one with the shimmer through the leaves.

Hey everyone! I plan to do some orchid seed sowing this summer, what I plan to do on flaking is this:
Creat a Glove box with a 30 gallon aquarium with greenhouse plastic over the open side, and kitchen gloves in holes. I plan to use the Just add Water media from G & B orchids.I plan on using green seed pods, how will I know when the seed is ready? Is there any place that has free common seeds to try out with?

bud23 said:

...I used to grow some epiphytic miniatures in my dart frog vivarium. I had some jewel orchids too, L. Discolor and the other one with the shimmer through the leaves.

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dart frogs are beautiful animals, i guess some are poisonous

I bought a couple orchids a couple of years ago and they were beautiful. Then the flowers died so we cut the flower stalk. ( friends advice) Now they won't bloom. They have sat their suckin water, lookin healthy but will not bloom. I have read that 1 way to get them to bloom is to thinks it's about to die. Any comments??

FreeLeaf said:

I bought a couple orchids a couple of years ago and they were beautiful. Then the flowers died so we cut the flower stalk. ( friends advice) Now they won't bloom. They have sat their suckin water, lookin healthy but will not bloom. I have read that 1 way to get them to bloom is to thinks it's about to die. Any comments??

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really depends on what type of orchid you have.... they're all a bit different.... but i understand what you are saying... from what i have read, start holding back on the water... gotta remember most orchids are epiphytes and dont really need much water... but regardless, i suggest either buying a book, or doing some extensive online research about the particular type of orchid that you are trying to grow.

FreeLeaf said:

I bought a couple orchids a couple of years ago and they were beautiful. Then the flowers died so we cut the flower stalk. ( friends advice) Now they won't bloom. They have sat their suckin water, lookin healthy but will not bloom. I have read that 1 way to get them to bloom is to thinks it's about to die. Any comments??

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yep, what gogrow said.

do u know what type of orchid it is? as a general rule orchids will not bloom because they are not receiving enough light.

very generally speaking, orchids come in a couple of types,
1. enjoy a lot of light & enjoy moisture or drying out before being watered

2. enjoy some light & always enjoy moisture or drying out before watering

the trick is to find out which type u have.

i'll only buy orchids which enjoy a lot of light and drying out before watering again & are fragrant.

peace

x15 said:

yep, what gogrow said.

do u know what type of orchid it is? as a general rule orchids will not bloom because they are not receiving enough light.

very generally speaking, orchids come in a couple of types,
1. enjoy a lot of light & enjoy moisture or drying out before being watered

2. enjoy some light & always enjoy moisture or drying out before watering

the trick is to find out which type u have.

i'll only buy orchids which enjoy a lot of light and drying out before watering again & are fragrant.

peace

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we have 3.... I know that one is a dendrobium... and we bought it in flower; thing flowered forever... the other two... eh, they're alive, so i think im doing okay.... but they are rather small, so im hoping that they are just too little/young to flower yet and that im growing them just fine.... i suppose we'll see

Yeah those dendrobiums are tricky... mine are actualy flowering for a change...
You must remember that its common for them not to flower every year, and even more common when they didn't have their appropriate "dry" season.



I love the smell of these... Bifrenaria Harrisoniae .. see the storage parts look like bananas... in winter I let it dry out till they are almost flat.

A few things I learned about Orchids
More men in my experience tend to grow orchids than women
The word Orchis comes from the Latin meaning testicle
The Orchidacea are the second largest Family of plants in the Plant Kingdom
The first is the Asteracea then The Orchids
The third largest Family is the Pea Family

Everyone should own a few moth orchids or the phalanopsis orchids
Cymbidiums are ez if you have a greenhouse
Jeez even home depot sells them so cheap and they bloom for a while if kept from a sunny window

x15 said:

my bad habit, no not that one, this one:

orchids

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