It’s been too long since I last wrote anything, not like anyone reads this anyways haha. But it’s because I’ve been waiting. Waiting for a few things, first I was waiting for my Sophronitis cernua to bloom, and then I was waiting for my society meeting so I could have it photographed by the society photographer.
Well I finally got the newsletter, and my picture of my plant. It’s amazing looking! Judy Higham is an amazing photographer! And I’m so glad I took it for the picture because two days after the meeting the bloom dropped.
Photo taken by Judy Higham
I grow this plant mounted on a block of Epiweb. I’ve had it for just a year and a few months, and since I’ve gotten it it’s grown about 10 new growths, but this is the first time it’s bloomed for me. I have it sitting in my East facing window, with no drapes or anything blocking it from the sun. In the Summer I almost baked it to a crisp to get it enough light to bloom. Several leaves had purple freckles and a few got a little burnt.
During the Summer I watered it every morning by soaking it for about 30-45 minutes and would sometimes spray it in the afternoon if I remembered. In the cooler Winter months I soak it every 2-3 days for about 30 minutes. I fertilize it weakly at least once a week, the rest of the time it’s soaked in water. During the Summer months temps for it got fairly high, around 34C in some cases. And now in the cooler months it goes to as low as 16C. I almost gave up on this plant, and was going to try selling it on our member sales table at our show a couple weeks ago because I couldn’t figure out how to bloom it, but now that I have… it’s a keeper. The small size and adorable little flowers are just too cute to get rid of. This had no fragrance that I could detect.
FVOS 2013 Show / Sale
Two weekends ago, my society had their annual Show & Sale. We had vendors come from all over, local vendors from BC as well as several from outside of Canada. At the pre-show dinner I spent way too much money on plants, and then I went back the next day and spent even more. But I’ve managed to cross off a fair number of my wishlist plants. I had 3 plants on pre-order with different vendors, however I wasn’t able to pick up two of them. Which means I’ll be getting 2 more plants later on down the road sometime.
So to fill in for those, I got my other pre-ordered plant and then got 3 other plants. The first night I got a Laelia tenebrosa, Brassavola nodosa, Brassavola cucullata, and on a whim I also got a Masdevallia davisii. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep the Masdevallia alive but this is my test subject, if it works then I know I’ll be able to get some more. And THAT opens up a whole new bucket of worms.
The next day, which was the first day open to the public, I came back and was only wanting to get a paph I asked a vendor to bring and some moss. Well, I got jumped by a vendor who recognized me from the night before. I had asked him for a Masd. veitchiana, and he had thought he sold the last one, but overnight he managed to find a second one and happened to hold onto it thinking I might be back.
As he began to try to dig it out of the pile of plants he had, I happened to ask him if he had a Cochleanthes amazonica. When he replied “yes, I have three actually!” I screamed “Forget the masdie! I’ll take one of those!”. So I ended up leaving the pots I wanted to get, and went home with a Paphiopedilum spicerianum and the Cochleanthes amazonica. My inner orchid nerd was squealing like a little girl.
Cochleanthes amazonica
Cochleanthes amazonica has been my dream plant for as long as I’ve loved orchids or grown them. Over a decade, I’ve looked at pics online and drooled. Two months ago a society member brought one to show, and I had to fight every urge to take it and make a run for it. But now it’s mine! I have one of my own! So excited! I’ve began the task of repotting them all.
Laelia tenebrosa
The Laelia tenebrosa I have decided to wait to repot until I see new root growth. It seems very pale, and the vendor claimed it had gotten quite a bit of sun, but from what I can see, the roots near the top seem good.
Brassavola nodosa
The Brassavola nodosa had very poor roots, I ended up cutting almost all the roots off because they were dead and dry. I tried to keep the inner part of the root attached, and just removed the vellum so there wasn’t any rotting. I’ve replanted it in fresh bark, since my Brassavola Little Stars is doing so good in it.
Brassavola cucullata
Brassavola cucullata was in the same boat with roots. I’ve repotted that into an extremely small pot with a little moss, if I see new roots begin, I’m seriously thinking of mounting it. It droops so perfectly, it is screaming for me to mount it. It was beginning a new leaf as well so this thing wants to live. I got both brassavolas from the same vendor I purchased my B. Little Stars from. A year later and my Little Stars is shooting out TWO spikes, with the possibility of a third. So there is hope, I just have to be patient.
Masdevallia davisii
The masdevallia davisii is my test subject. It had decent roots, I did have to cut some away that were dead, but there were 3 new growths beginning on it and it had some decent roots still. I potted it into a small clay pot with moss, because I read a thread on the orchidboard forums about someone growing them like that and they just exploded with root growth, and dealt with heat a little better. So if this lives, I’ll be getting a coccinea, veitchiana, ignea and others as soon as I can.
Paphiopedilum spicerianum
On Saturday, the plants I brought home were a Paphiopedilum spicerianum and the Cochleanthes amazonica. I haven’t repotted these yet, I’ll be doing that at the beginning of the week. The paph looks good, it’s well planted, so it probably has decent roots underneath the media. It’s also beginning a new leaf, but the plant itself seems so small. Hopefully it will stay nice and small but produce lots of fans with lots of blooms.
I haven’t settled on what I want to do with the Cochleanthes. It’s currently mounted on a piece of wood, with moss packed around the roots. The vendor told me it could go intermediate. So I’ll probably end up potting this in bark mix and let it sit in a saucer with a little water, if I can get it off the mount. I won’t give it bright light, but I’ll keep it near the humidifier for some extra warmth.
Rebecca's Orchids 