Basic Phalaenopsis Culture

As a plant geek I often field questions about orchids and plants in general. I actually enjoy this, since like most people I like to talk about the things I'm most passionate about. But it has occurred to me that people might appreciate and benefit from a series of plant care and techniques posts. This is the first of several I have planned. If you have requests, please let me know.

Basic Phalaenopsis care seemed like a great place to start since many people get a Phal as a first orchid. Most of the species and hybrids are adaptable and easy to grow in typical home conditions (although there are some species and some rare hybrids that have special needs, but these are also less commonly available).

• Light: An unobstructed East or West facing window is best. South facing with some midday shade or a sheer curtain is ok. Fluorescent lights (2-4 tubes, 8-12 inches from plant) may also be used.

• Water: More orchids are killed by too frequent watering than anything else; but don’t be afraid to water your plants. For Phalaenopsis hybrids, water when media is dry about 2 inches down—test with your finger. Water freely from the top of the media, letting pot drain. Do not leave sitting in water. They will need water once per week on average, adjusting up or down with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity.

• Feeding: Use a ½ to ¼ strength solution of balanced fertilizer about once per month.

• Temperature: Average house temperature is fine (65-85F).

• Other: Repotting is recommended every two years. Misting leaves is not recommended. I do not recommend pebble trays either. The plant will adjust to the humidity levels in your house.

Soon to follow: posts on repotting and mounting plants. Stay tuned! :)

In bloom: A Rhynchostylis and A Bulbophyllum

This is a first bloom seedling of a 'red' (actually more like magenta) form of Rhynchostylis gigantea. The species comes in a few other color forms, the most common probably being white with pink markings. Flowers are lightly, but sweetly scented, and borne in high numbers on a mature plant. Also, the leaves have interesting longitudinal stripes for added interest. It is not a very big plant though, despite the name.

Mine lives in an East-facing window in a 4-inch basket with diatomite, and gets watered ever day or every other day. Some sources say it requires higher, cattleya type light but since this one bloomed in lower light that may not always be the case.


At the right is Bulbophyllum grandiflorum 'Yellowstone River' AM/AOS. I bought this as a few growth division from Woodstream a few years back. The flowers are large at something like 4 inches long and develop quickly from a just started inflorescence to open flower like other bulbophyllums. I have not noticed any fragrance but I haven't gone looking either since some bulbos are very offensive. This plant is creeping around in a 10-inch pot, also in an east facing window.

Photos from the 2008 Paph Forum

Here are a few snapshots I took at the 2008 Paph Forum, for those of you who were not able to make it to this event.

First up we have Phrag. Fritz Schomburg 'Katherine', exhibited by H.P. Norton. The flower had large size, full shape, and pleasing art-shade color. Parentage is (kovachii x besseae), registered by Piping Rock Orchids, but I believe the Norton's bred this one themselves. HP spoke on kovachii's special needs at the forum, explaining to us all that this species requires significant amounts of lime in the media. He says if you meet this need the plants are speedy growers, reaching flowering size in his greenhouse from seed in about 2 years. Additionally, HP has bloomed several assorted kovachii hybrids and he says that none have bloomed out that wonderful dark purple that the species is noted for.

This is Paph. venustum 'Tequila Sunrise'. This nicely colored flower was awarded a Silver Medal at the 19th World Orchid Congress, but the judges at the Paph Forum decided the flower was not at its best anymore and decided not to add an AOS award at that time. Perhaps it will get one on the next blooming. The flower had good size for venustum, and very appealing color on the petals.

This rather odd looking thing is Paph. Tonya. It was given a first place ribbon in its class and the judges commented that the extra tissue ridges on the pouch. The judges commented that many of us have seen that occur on the odd complex paph flower, but that of course this is rarely either consistent or symmetrical. This plant however had three flowers and all had symmetrical ridges as you see on this flower.

This specimen of Paph. Snowbird 'Opalescence' AM/AOS, CCM/AOS (82pts) was exhibited by Woodstream Orchids. My photo does not do the plant justice. It is a very well grown plant with around 8 flowers and 5 buds. The CCM was awarded at the paph forum and the plant got a blue ribbon in its class.

Similarly, this plant of Phrag. Jason Fischer 'Linwood Coleman' HCC/AOS is a very nicely grown plant. The judges commented that they had not seen another Jason Fischer with quite so many flowers and buds at one time. Indeed it was a striking specimen and a cinch for the blue ribbon in the "red and orange besseae-influenced hybrids" class, as well as a few other rosettes.

Paph. Magic Dust 'Pixie'- a lovely shape and clean color on this plant. We were reminded at the forum of Merit Huntington's habit of looking at the backside of a complex paph to see if it was "round, firm, and fully packed." This young plant did quite nicely on the test.


I'll end with two species photos, Paph. farrieanum on the right, displayed by Woodstream Orchids, and Paph. appletonianum 'Valley Fields hainanense' on the bottom. This appletonianum has particularly dark color for the species and was quite appealing. Dr. Leonid Averyanov of the Russian Academy of Science spoke to us on the "Natural Variation of Paphiopedilum Species in Vietnam". P. appletonianum was one of the species he mentioned. Once a common species, now difficult to find, it grows in primary forests at high elevation in silicate areas. Habitat contains heavily mossed trees with open leaf litter between them. It seems there are many species of Vietnam that are threatened in their natural habitats due to land development.

Transitions by Debbie Mumm - Yarn Review

Hi kids
Meet Debbie Mumm's Transitions yarn, made for Jo-Ann fabrics and crafts.
75% Acrylic, 23% Wool, 2% "other fiber"

(Well...what the heck is "other fiber"? Stuff they swept off the floor??) Ok sorry, that was snotty.

Anyhow, I recently got this yarn because the color was so attractive to me. It is also a fairly smooth yarn. I had planned to make a scarflette or neck warmer or somesuch, but I've been experiencing a need to make hand warmers. So out came the double pointed needles.

My initial impressions were good, even though I found a knot in the first 12 inches of yarn. The yarn was pleasant to handle, smooth and not splitting. After getting 6 or 8 rounds done, however, I noticed that the yarn was a little squiggly and smoothed it out, but it soon reappeared and worsened.

It turns out that although I originally assumed this was a singles style yarn based on appearance, its actually some manner of core spun yarn. What was happening is the outermost layer was sliding along the inner layer. Dissecting it a little I find the structure is thus: dyed wool core spun over white acrylic single interior plied with random fiber thread layer.












I continued knitting for a while, but the slipping got worse. It also led to an odd little detail where the wool slipped aside on the facing part of the stitch, leaving a stark white section in a couple of stitches. I stopped when I came to another knot in the yarn. I understand that commercial yarns sometimes need to be spliced, but twice in such a short space seems a bit much.

In general I can't say I'm very excited about the yarn at all. I might test it out with crochet or straight knitting to see if it behaves any better, but I assume it will not. Its a shame really, nice hand, great cable definition, but its just an annoying yarn. Now you are informed about my experience with this yarn. I would like to encourage anyone else who has tried the yarn to comment to the post about how it has behaved for you.

Vegan Silk - Yarn Review and Pattern

This is "Vegan Silk", a scarf I recently crocheted with Bernat Bamboo yarn, one of their new "natural blends" line. The high percentage of bamboo fiber makes it a very dense yarn, giving only 63 yards for 2.1oz bulky weight. Compare this to Lion Brand's new yarn, Nature's Choice Organic Cotton, of actually less wraps per inch but 103 yards for 3oz, yielding more yards per oz.


Exact fiber content is 86% Bamboo, 12% Acrylic, 2% Polyester, which sorts out to the structure aspects of the yarn (shown above). So, the bamboo would be that fuzz on the right, with the acrylic on the left and the polyester in the middle. The acrylic serves as the core of the yarn, with the bamboo 'core spun' around it. Then the polyester thread is laid down as a binder and shaper on the outside.

The handling of the yarn is divine. It is very silky smooth in texture, and was easy to crochet. I have not knitted it, but due to the density I doubt that would split much in knitting. However, I'm not sure how well it will wear. In general, this type of construction is soft and nice to work with initially but tends to fuzz out a lot in areas of heavy abrasion. Ever knitted a sweater with Lion Brand's Homespun? Soft and warm, but really really fuzzy where you lean on the counter or carry things against you frequently. Fortunately scarves don't generally get a lot of abrasion.

Additional features of this yarn include a certification by the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org, cert. no. SW-COC-002192) stating the materials come from "mixed sources [of] ...well-managed forests, controlled sources and recycled wood or fiber." This adds to the appeal of the texture with a bit of 'good for the environment' karma.

The cheapest source I've found for this yarn is AC Moore, where I recently got it on a 25% off sale at $3 per ball. This is good since you'll need 6 balls for the scarf... Most internet sources I've seen are selling it at $5 per ball. If you see something better, please leave a comment!

Now. To the pattern!!


Materials:
3 balls each Bernat Bamboo in Wicker and Linen.
US J/10 (6mm) crochet hook
Gauge ~2.3 dc per inch

1. With wicker, Ch 184 loosely.
2. Dc in 4th chain from hook and each ch across (181sts).
3. Switch to linen. Ch1, turn. Sc in first st, *skip next st, sc in second st, between second and third stitches make bobble (#yo; insert hook, yo and pull up loop# three times, yo and pull through 6 loops, yo and pull through last 2 loops)* repeat between * across to last 2 sts, dc in last st.
4. Ch 1, turn. Repeat row 3.
5. Switch to wicker. Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
6. Ch 3 (=first dc). Dc across.
7-9. Repeat rows 3-5.
10. Weave in ends and add fringe. I used 16 inch strands to give long fringe.

Today's Hybrid Attempt: Fun with Frozen Pollen!

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Phal Orchid World 'Brother' x Taisuco Glory 'Fruit Loops'
I pollinated my Orchid World just this morning with frozen pollen from my Taisuco Glory. I've heard you can make crosses with frozen pollen, but this is the first time I've actually tried it. Hope it works!

Both of the parents are fragrant and have similar habit and good shape. No other criteria were used in selecting this pairing. I like fragrant. Lots of people like fragrant. Seems like a good idea to make fragrant plants.

Orchid World is Malibu Imp x Deventeriana, registered in 1984 according to RHS. It has 2 grandparents that are amboinensis, which is only sometimes fragrant, and one grandparent that is Luedde-violacea, which is certainly fragrant. Orchid world has a strong, sharp fragrance.
Taisuco Glory smells like fruit loops. Really. And it is very strong, especially in the morning. The hybrid is Brother Lawrence x Salu Spot. This is a rather complex parentage that I'm currently too lazy to trace completely. Basically, its a carefully constructed combination of amboinensis, venosa, lueddemaniana, probably violacea and some other stuff. I've had this particular plant for almost 7 years. I from Kensington Orchids back when they were in business.

The downside of this pairing is that flower count will be low per spike. But the flowers will be both glossy and long-lived in addition to their expected fragrance. At least, if the cross takes...

In bloom: Phalaenopsis celebensis 'Topaz'

Phalaenopsis celebensis 'Topaz'

Just look at that cutie! P. celebensis is a hard-to-come-by species related closely with lindenii and equestris. It has lovely patterned leaves like lindenii or schilleriana. It is generally considered a miniature, but in actuality the leaves can be in the range of 8 inches long. The plant produces a skinny inflorescence that elongates out and arches straight down, then produces blooms over a period of time, still developing new buds as the first flowers are open.

This particular plant came from Dowery Orchids in VA.