box.org.za orchid blog

Here are a few winter-flowering plants I took photos of 2 days ago:

• Aerangis hyaloides
• Dendrobium nobile var. Tanaka
• Dendrochilum wenzelii
• Oerstedella centradenia
• Phalaenopsis NOID

Unfortunately this winter has been harsh on my plants as I don’t have any heating in the greenhouse.. I’ve also learnt I should probably install a couple of fans in there to help the plants dry off a bit. You can see the damage caused to the Aerangis hyaloides below – there’s a dead inflorescence in the background. Actually, there are 5 dead inflorescences – all buds lost due to staying wet

Aerangis hyaloides

This Dendrobium nobile var. Tanaka was actually a keiki off a larger (potted) plant. The keiki fell off during autumn, so I decided to mount it. The remainder of the larger plant in the pot had started flowering, but snails/slugs got to the buds before they opened. This one was saved thanks to it hanging well out of reach of any molluscs.

Dendrobium nobile var. Tanaka

Just buds on this Dendrochilum wenzelii, but they’re coming along quite quickly. Will be sure to post photos showing this one off shortly along with my Dendrochilum glumaceum. I hadn’t managed to get either of my Dendrochilums to flower since I bought them (both first half of 2008) until now. I’d only built the greenhouse towards the end of last winter, and obviously growing indoors was no good for them.

Dendrochilum wenzelii

This Oerstedella centradenia was almost lost to root rot – I’m not sure what it was potted in, but pulled it out and mounted it. Seems to be doing OK now.

Oerstedella centradenia

This is a hybrid Phalaenopsis from Woolworths. One of my first plants from the very beginning of 2008. The plant itself has done fairly well over winter (I’ve lost a couple Phals, and others don’t seem too happy), but this one’s OK. The buds on the other hand, have not dealt well with winter, and this inflorescence of about 9 buds has lost 3. Although, this inflorescence has branched like mad – last time I checked there were 4 branches on it.

Phalaenopsis NOID

These photos were taken on the 1st August 2010 and are unfortunately, not my plants. I also don’t have names for most of them, but I’ll try label them correctly.

Masdevallia species

Unidentified

Laelia anceps

Unidentified

Mokara

Unidentified

Unidentified

Dendrochilum species

Dendrobium bigibbum var. superbum

Dockrillia rigida

Barkeria ?

Unidentified

Polystachya

Unidentified

Here’s a photo of my Scaphosepalum lima, taken 2010-05-24

Scaphosepalum lima

A couple of photos of Dendrobium C.K. Ai taken on 2010-05-25

Dendrobium C.K. Ai

Dendrobium C.K. Ai (different angle)

On the 15th of last month I was given 3 new plants:

• Dendrobium exile
• Restrepia brachypus
• Zootrophion atropurpureum

Today I bought myself a few plants..

• Ascofinetia Peaches ‘Kultana’
• Bulbophyllum putidum
• Bulbophyllum wendlandianum
• Dendrobium pulchellum
• Encyclia prismatocarpa
• Paphiopedilum Leeanum
• Stanhopea NOID

Phalaenopsis Florisles (2010-04-23)

The Phalaenopsis Florisles is a X between P. Star of Florida and P. Coral isles. Found that on the International Orchid Register.

Epidendrum peperomia (2010-04-22)

This photo of the Epidendrum is an HDR render to bring out more detail, but modifies the colour quite a bit (much more intense)

Dendrobium bigibbum var. superbum (2010-04-22)

Some stapeliads follow…

Huernia thurettii (2010-04-20)

Huernia barbata (2010-04-23)

The Dockrillia rigida’s new growth seems to be doing nicely

Dockrillia rigida (2010-04-23)

Some Polystachya’s

Polystachya Cape Candy (2010-04-27)

Polystachya galeata (2010-04-27)

I’m sure there are more photos, but I’ll post them at a later time

On Saturday the 13th,  I bought a few  flasks (of which the Microcoelia exilis and Cymbidium Australian Midnight were donated – thank you, Richard):

• Cymbidium Australian Midnight ‘Black Velvet’
• Cymbidium elegans
• Dendrobium spectabile
• Euchile mariae
• Microcoelia exilis
• Vanda testacea

On Tuesday the 23rd, I bought 2 new plants off the plant sales table at the March COS meeting:

• Dendrobium macrophyllum
• Epidendrum peperomia

and took 3 plants home from the raffle:

• Anacheilium baculus
• Dendrobium kingianum
• Miltonia Lanikai

Then on the 26th some plants I’d ordered arrived in the post:

• Bulbophyllum arfakianum
• Dendrobium peguanum
• Dendrobium purpureum
• Laelia rubescens
• Plectrelminthus caudatus

And on the 28th I got the following:

• Barbosella australis
• Dockrillia wassellii

Unfortunately no photos yet. Will update as soon as I’ve taken a few. I’d also bought a few Stapeliads from the Rare Plant Fair in Stellenbosch on the 27th, but that’ll be another post.

It’s been a month and a half since I last posted here. In that time a number of plants have flowered, but some I never managed to take photos of. One that stands out in my mind is Sobralia macrantha. Those plants I did manage to take photos of, I took on the 22nd of January.. Here they are:

Brassovola nodosa

As you can probably see in this photo of my Brassovola nodosa above, the flower on the left had been eaten by something. All flowers were destroyed in absolutely no time at all. A few days later I noticed a slug eating directly on what was left of 1 of the flowers. I grow this one quite warm/hot, with very high light.

Encyclia aspera

The Encyclia aspera is grown warm/hot (hotter in the afternoon), with higher light levels in the afternoon. I’ve never had an inflorescence on this plant that was this long or with as many flowers, so these conditions appear to be near optimal thus far.

Paphiopedilum Armeni White

Paphiopedilum Armeni White is grown in quite low light, and cool to warm temperatures.

Odontocidium Susan Kauffman "Butterfly"

This Odontocidium only had a few flowers on when I took this photo (22nd of January), it now has many, many more open flowers. It receives full sun in the morning, otherwise intermediate to warm temperatures.

Iononcidium Popcorn "Pink Sugar"

Iononcidium Popcorn “Pink Sugar” is an incredibly easy-flowering plant. There must be about 6 inflorescences on this one (fairly small) plant. Quite high light in the afternoon, and grows fairly warm.

Dendrobium Florida Twist

I’m surprised this one’s still alive. I truly thought it was dead a few months ago and was surprised to see the inflorescence forming. Morning sun, and intermediate temperatures seem to keep this one happy.

Pleurothallis glumacea

The Pleurothallis glumacea is a nicy, tidy (and tiny) plant. Not difficult to grow at all. Deep shade, cool to intermediate temperatures.

NOID Phalaenopsis hybrid

NOID Phalaenopsis hybrid

The 2 Phalaenopsis above are grown with medium light levels (ordinarily I’d say the light levels are too high for Phalaenopis, but seems to be OK for these 2)

NOID Phalaenopsis hybrid

The above Phalaenopsis is grown in very low light conditions until later in the afternoon when it receives much more sun.

Polystachya (P. Cape Valentine ‘Sweet Lips’ X P. perierii???)

This Polystachya is grown in fairly low light conditions, and intermediate temperatures.

This morning after watering I decided to take some photos – some plants have been in flower for a while, but there are a number of  plants in flower I hadn’t taken photos of yet.. Here they are:

This first plant was labelled Aerangis mystacidii, but since flowering, I’ve identified it (correctly, I hope) as Mystacidium capense. This plant had 4 inflorescences with ~70 flowers (which seems to be a substantial number more than it should be for this species – which is why I wonder if the ID is correct)

Mystacidium capense (plant)

Mystacidium capense (inflorescence)

Mystacidium capense (flower)

Next up is a Dendrobium “Florida Twist”. This plant was in flower when I purchased it back in early 2008 and I haven’t had it flower since. Well, it tried, but there were massive deformities and I actually thought I’d lost this plant to a virus. I’m growing this one in semi-hydroponics, high light in the morning and fairly warm. 1 inflorescence with 12 flowers.

Dendrobium "Florida Twist"

The next plant is Papilionanthe teres of which I’ve already uploaded some photos. 6 of the 7 blooms are now open – the 7th should be open tomorrow. We’ve just had some bad wind over the past weekend which has blown dust everywhere – you’ll notice in the 2nd photo the flower is covered in dust (grrrr). Easy plant to grow and flower – it seems to like a LOT of water, heat and high light.

Papilionanthe teres (inflorescence)

Papilionanthe teres (flower)

The Paphiopedilum Armeni White (P. armeniacum X P. delenatii) I posted about last week has now “whitened up” (which I’m very glad for as I’m not a big fan of yellow Paphs), and the 2nd bloom has also opened. Actually, there is another inflorescence on this plant with a single flower, but it’s only just opened up and is yellow’ish.

Paphiopedilum "Armeni White"

The next 2 photos are of a Pleurothallis glumacea. I grow this in low light and fairly warm, but it’s flowered outside in the shadehouse in Autumn when it was much cooler (but higher light levels). Appears to flower twice a year (Autumn and Spring).

Pleurothallis glumacea (inflorescence)

Pleurothallis glumacea (closer)

I’ve already posted about the next one, but I thought this was a nice photo.. It’s an Encyclia alata. Not exactly well-flowered with only 3 blooms on a short (22cm) inflorescence. I suspect this is due to it being grown in the shadehouse for a few months until I built the greenhouse (where it seems to have had an acceleration in growth)

Encyclia alata

This last one I left a bit long before taking photos and some of the flowers have already dropped. Anyway, it’s a Neofinetia falcata. I grow it quite warm with medium light until late afternoon when it receives a fair bit more..

Neofinetia falcata (plant)

Neofinetia falcata (flower)

Neofinetia falcata (flower - closer)

A couple of days ago the Cymbidium Gauteng ‘Michelle’ flowers opened in the shadehouse, and in the greenhouse a Dendrobium hybrid ((D. Lady Hamilton X D. Kelli Nicole) x (D. bigibbum var. compactum X D. Little Diamond)? X (D. Lady Hamilton X D. Waikiki Beach)?, and the Dendrobium kingianum var. album started (counted the buds and there are 187! Photos taken when only 3 were open) Photos for all the plants are below:

Cymbidium Gauteng 'Michelle'

Dendrobium hybrid

Dendrobium kingianum var. album