Orchid Post Mortem: Ada
Every now and then, I manage to kill an orchid. Recently, it was my Ada aurantiaca. The species has been renamed Brassia aurantiaca, but I bought it under the Ada name, so that’s how I usually refer to it. After it died, I realized that we didn’t take many photos of it over the years. Fortunately, I have enough to illustrate it here, and also a few more from shows and gardens.
This great cool grower really stands out with its brilliant orange flowers. I had repotted it before without problems, but a couple years ago, after repotting, I left it in a damp, shady location for too long. When I finally realized it after a few months, most of the plant was rotting. That’s an uncommon issue for me, especially for my outdoor plants, which live in windy conditions near the ocean. I doused the orchid with hydrogen peroxide, rinsed it off, and coated it with cinnamon powder. Those natural remedies are very effective in stopping fungal and bacterial rots. Later, I moved it back into a sunnier spot. However, the remainder of the plant never thrived again. Two years later, it died during a heat wave.
To supplement the first three rows of photos of my plant, in the fourth row, there are two pictures from Dave’s trip to the Cloud Forest Conservatory in Singapore, and one from the 2018 Pacific Orchid Expo. The Singapore photos show yellow varieties. If I ever buy another Ada, orange or yellow, I’ll remember to take more pictures.
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