Friday, August 30, 2013

Stanhopea jenischiana

Only one spike this year. Space hog and short-lived flowers, but still worth having, I think.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Cattleya guttata buds

This plant is doing OK, but not great. The newest growths are not as big as the previous ones, and I saw no sign of a sheath in the biggest (or smallest) new growths. Then, surprise, I saw a cluster of buds emerging.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Non-orchid post: Plumeria

If you go to Hawaii you see Plumeria all over the place, in landscaping and in leis. Fabulous fragrance. After one of our trips, I looked into how to grow them. Turns out there are lots of color varieties and forms. Also, lots of people crazy about Plumeria. Like, orchids, roses, etc, almost every plant type has a cadre of near delirious devotees. We get frosts here, so potting them up is the best strategy. I bought two NOID cuttings on ebay for about five bucks each and have been growing them for about two years in a cactus/succulent potting mix. No flowers yet, but the plants are now growing fast. I think they would be bigger by now if I had moved them up to big pots earlier.


Monday, August 19, 2013

High light

I have been trying to grow my Dendrobium speciosum in very high light, as this is supposed to improve blooming. Here you can see a leaf turning slightly yellow from intense light. In fact, two other leaves have small burns, one of which you can also see below. I have backed off on the light just a bit.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Monday, August 5, 2013

Neofinetia falcata buds

It's always fun to bloom a plant for the first time and even more fun to bloom a new type of plant for the first time. A couple of years ago I acquired some Neofinetias from Cal-Orchid. Two are about to bloom. Here is the first.