AboutOrchids

Here on the California coast, the Cymbidiums spoil us. I’ve seen luxuriant blooms on neglected orchids stuffed into sidewalk planters. Gardeners inherit abandoned plants from earlier tenants, sometimes without even realizing that the strap-like leaves belong to orchids. It turns out that our mild climate mimics the slopes of the Himalayas where these orchids grow wild. As long as they receive bright light and water over the summer, they manage to flower. Admittedly, this unidentified yellow hybrid isn’t the most colorful of thousands of Cymbidium varieties. However, it is one of the types with a rich, sweet scent, and it can bloom twice a year.

One trick to help Cymbidiums bloom is to give them nightly temperature drops of 15-20°F (8-11°C,) especially in autumn. Without this day/night temperature difference, they won’t form flower spikes. Here on the coast, they can grow in full sun. However, growers in warmer areas should provide morning sun and afternoon shade. Plants need enough light so that leaves are light green, not dark green. Cymbidiums enjoy regular fertilizer, and they love compost. They can survive a light frost, although temps below freezing usually damage flowers.

For orchid growers in warmer climates, miniature Cymbidiums like warmer temps. These small varieties are best for growers where summertime temps stay above 70°F (21°C) at night.

The American Orchid Society (AOS) is moving to Coral Gables. For years, the AOS has had a home and orchid garden in Delray Beach, Florida. The Great Recession has dealt a blow to the society’s finances, so they need to sell their property and move. Fortunately, they’ve found a new home at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden just outside of Miami. “The missions of AOS and Fairchild Garden are perfectly aligned,” said Ron McHatton, the AOS’s chief operating officer. “With Fairchild’s international reputation, we have found a financially strong, solid strategic partner equally focused on horticulture, education and conservation.” The AOS will move its headquarters and its world-class orchid collection by March of next year. Many orchids will be displayed in a new conservatory opening at Fairchild in December 2012. Both groups will remain independent, and the AOS will continue to publish its monthly Orchids magazine.

Even if you don’t have a green thumb, you can have beautiful orchids all year with orchid wall calendars. The American Orchid Society’s 2012 calendar contains a year’s worth of mini orchids. The Orchid Conservation Alliance’s 2012 calendar (front cover pictured below) has photos and stories of a dozen of the world’s most endangered orchids. By adding these paper orchids to your collection, you’re supporting these essential conservation groups. Check their websites to purchase the calendars and other merchandise.

Orchid lovers around the globe are looking to Singapore this month for the 20th World Orchid Conference. From November 13-20, the planet’s top orchid pros, academics, and hobbyists will gather for exhibits, talks, and a show. This year’s conference theme is “Where New and Old World Orchids Meet.” For those of us who don’t have our plane tickets or reservations at Singapore’s remarkable new Marina Bay Sands, there are many more orchid shows around the globe to enjoy. And mark your calendars for the next World Orchid Conference in Johannesburg in 2014.

Read the rest of this post »

As Halloween quickly approaches, it’s the perfect time for a few creepy carnivorous plants. They’re helpful orchid allies, providing superb natural pest control, and they make great green alternatives to toxic pesticides. Bug-eaters come in many forms. Most famous are Venus Fly Traps, but there are also hundreds of varieties of pitcher plants, and many other lesser-known kinds. These predators share similar growing conditions to orchids, requiring high humidity and bright light. Some are native to tropical areas, while others grow in cold climates. Despite any scary stories you’ve heard, Little Shop of Horrors isn’t real — no plant can eat a human.

As bog plants, most need moist soil. Unlike orchids, carnivorous plants like to sit in trays of water. Only use rain water or purified water, since they cannot survive with tap water chemicals. Artificial fertilizer can kill them, too, so be careful not to splash when fertilizing orchids. However, compost is safe for them. Do not feed them meat like hamburger or poultry since they cannot digest it. All they need is pure water, a few bugs, and bright light. Remove old traps that brown and die. Some types go dormant over winter.

Besides Venus Flytraps and pitcher plants, there are many varieties of sundews, whose leaves have sparkly tentacles of deadly glue. Butterworts (a.k.a. Pinguiculas, or Pings for short) don’t appear lethal, but their broad leaves have tiny, sticky hairs, and act like flypaper.

Indoors in my orchid collection, I’ve made room for a small sundew and a Ping. They’ve been efficiently digesting little pests like gnats, aphids, and other inadvertent hitchhikers from the back garden. Our 2 pet cats love to hunt larger insects, so these small-insect eaters round out my pest control team. Creepy carnivorous plants are indispensable for many orchid growers like me.

To learn more and select the best carnivore companions for your orchids, check these resources:

• The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants by Peter D’Amato
• The International Carnivorous Plant Society
• Wikipedia’s carnivorous plant article

Orchid name tags often use standard genus abbreviations. The genus name is the first word of a plant’s name, such as “Vanda” in the name Vanda coerulea, or “Phalaenopsis” in the name Phalaenopsis New Stripes. Here’s a list of abbreviations for some of the most common orchid varieties:

• C. or Catt. = Cattleya
• Cym. = Cymbidium
• D. or Den. = Dendrobium
• Epi. = Epidendrum
• L. = Laelia
• Lds. = Ludisia
• Masd. = Masdevallia
• Milt. = Miltonia
• Mltnps. = Miltoniopsis
• Neof. = Neofinetia
• Odm. = Odontoglossum
• Onc. = Oncidium
• Paph. = Paphiopedilum
• Phal. = Phalaenopsis
• V. = Vanda
• Vl. = Vanilla
• Z. or Zygo. = Zygopetalum

Unlike species, hybrid, and cultivar names, which follow formal rules, these abbreviations are informal. Most orchid experts agree on a standard set, but differences abound. You can find another short abbreviation list here. For a much more comprehensive list of abbreviations, OrchidTalk Forum has an alphabetical index.

Flying bird? Incredible insect? Angel from above? The wonderful flowers of this Cochleanthes have a power to captivate. Its large white and purple blooms can be 4 inches (10 cm) tall.

This species is native to a vast area of the Amazon Rainforest, across Brazil, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The flowers may look delicate, but they’re thick and waxy, and can hold up for months. This type typically blooms in fall and winter.

Thin leaves without pseudobulbs mean this orchid has little capability to store water. It needs daily watering and high humidity. Mine grows in shady conditions, and receives only a little morning sun. The name is easier to figure out than the captivating flower shape; to pronounce Cochleanthes, say “coke-lee-ANN-these.”

The San Francisco Orchid Society invites you to Hanging Gardens Open Greenhouse this weekend. The sale runs Saturday & Sunday, October 15-16 at Shelldance Nursery off Highway 1 in Pacifica, California. There will be a special repotting clinic on Saturday only, 11 am – 2 pm, with expert demonstrations on potting and mounting orchids. Please note that the repotting clinic is a potluck and also BYOO – bring your own orchid. Fitting for Pacifica’s foggy climate, many intermediate and cool growers, like Cymbidiums, Masdevallias, Odonts, and Draculas, will be for sale.

Miniature orchids have all the beauty of their larger cousins, but only take a fraction of the space. These tiny treasures enable orchid lovers to assemble a tropical collection in a single room, on a windowsill, or under lights. Mini forms exist in the Phal, Catt, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Masdevallia, and Oncidium families, to name a few. The half dozen varieties pictured here are just a drop in the bucket of what’s available.

There’s no formal height rule, but generally mini orchids are plants sized half an inch (1 cm) to half a foot (15 cm.) Some types have taller flower stems, but they’re still considered minis. Many of these compact plants have relatively large blooms, especially compared to their small leaves. There are also varieties with tiny flowers which can be tough to appreciate without a good camera or magnifying lens, like this Lepanthopsis. When growing minis, it’s extra important to water thoroughly and maintain high humidity, since they can quickly dry out on hot or windy days.

Whether you grow minis or not, you can enjoy great books about them. Miniature Orchids details hundreds of petite hybrids and species. Author Steven Frowine includes useful care info, beautiful pictures, and helpful lists of minis by light requirements, ease of culture, fragrance, and more.

Miniature Orchids and How to Grow Them is a classic book by famed orchid author Rebecca Tyson Northen. As a biologist, she was one of the first to simply explain orchid care for amateurs when orchids became mass-marketed plants in the 1960’s and 1970’s. She wrote several care books, and this one helped to popularize these tiny orchid treasures.

As temperatures cool in autumn, the orchid that sat there doing nothing for months may surprise you with a burst of new growth. Relieved of oppressive summer heat, many varieties take this opportunity to grow or bloom. The change of season also requires changes in your orchid care regimen, so here are a few autumn reminders:

• Bring warm growers indoors before temps fall too much. Take the opportunity to remove any leaf or flower debris. Check for pests, paying attention to leaf undersides and the potting media. A little prevention now can save a lot of headaches later, so I always spray with insecticidal soap before bringing orchids inside.
• Increase light levels to compensate for fall’s weakening sunlight and shorter days. Consider adding artificial light as a supplement. For all varieties, even lower-light Phals and Paphs, providing some direct morning sun can keep them happy until spring. Make any light increase gradually over 2 weeks to avoid burning leaves.
• As home and office heating systems switch on, they dry the air. Pay extra attention to maintaining high humidity. Dry air invites pests.
• Many orchids are moving into a dormant stage. Slowly reduce watering for Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Miltonias, Odonts, Oncidiums, Vandas, and any other variety with pseudobulbs. Begin to cut back on fertilizer as well.