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Sunday, January 31, 2010

In Bloom: Paph. lowii cross

Paph. victoria-regina x lowii
Paph. victoria-regina x lowiiOn the top is my Paph. (victoria-regina x lowii) which has actually been blooming off and on for a few months. P. lowii is multifloral, and P. victoria-regina is a sequential bloomer related to glaucophyllum, liemianum, and moquetteanum. The hybrid, registered in 1997 as Paph Sandy's Wild Turkey, seems to have inherited the sequential blooming aspect of VR, along with the giant plant aspect of lowii. Although, I suppose VR isn't exactly a mini either, but the plant looks more like lowii. I purchased it at Parkside Orchids in the summer of 2008 as a seedling. The second photo shows the plant that was the example plant at Parkside when I bought mine. I think I chose well - I like mine more. :) Score!

Monday, January 18, 2010

New and Improved CAT TV!

....
Some of you may remember CatTV, the original.

Well, now we have the NEW and IMPROVED programming! IN HD (Hoppity Def)!






In the original series, we had Fritz, the German Angora (with really really bad haircut), and his sort-of nemesis, Hawkeye. In a not very exciting conclusion, they became friends and Fritz moved to a bigger cage.

In our new season, Fritz' kids are being observed by Hawkeye's compatriots.

Ha, ok. We have baby angora rabbits. For more on the babies, see November Air. They'll be ready for new homes around Valentine's Day! Please let me know if you'd like a little bunny! :)

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Anthurium repotting

Just for kicks, a few photos of a recent adventure in Anthurium repotting. The plant, named Anthurium 'Marie', has been in this pot for 2 or 3 years (since I bought it), and probably could have been repotted last year, but I procrastinated. The next two photos are what I started with. As you can see, it is looking a bit overgrown and under-potted.




In a fit of insanity, I thought I'd try to cut the pot away from the roots, without damaging the roots on the outside of the pot. That was slow going, and after struggling to pull back the first half of plastic on one side, I saw there was more root than media in the pot. That's about when I skipped to ripping the pot off the plant. Below is what I ended up with.



So I lost those stray roots outside the pot, but I'm not really convinced it will set the plant back any! Also, needless to say, I did not attempt to remove old media from the root ball. I then found a pot several sizes larger and reset the root ball, back-filling with a large size cattleya-type mixture of coconut husk chunks, charcoal, sponge rock, and diatomite. Results below.



It looks so happy now!

As a side note, DiatomiteUSA has shut down all sales through its website! ::GASP:: They have a note on their site that DiatomiteCanada.com will continue to serve our needs, but that of course will probably mean higher shipping. At least there's still a supplier.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

In Bloom: A lip-less wonder

Phrag. (longifolium x Barbara LeAnn)This is Phrag. (longifolium x Barbara LeAnn). The first flower to open on this plant had no pouch, and no peloric petal either. I waited for a total of three flowers on two spikes to open before taking a photo, to see if this was a developmental mistake. But each of the flowers is the same: No lip! I've never seen anything like it. I think I'll call it "Frank Burns" after the MASH character described as being a "lip-less wonder".