Gorgeous! Love Stelis ciliaris!
Hug Laurel from me, Jim! Glad you are taking such good care of the buying shoes!

I like hugs so it will be my pleasure, Kathy. I wish you were going to join us! I need to somehow coax Ursula and you down here. Perhaps Lindsey as well.

Jim

Have any of you guys used Orchiata? See http://www.acadianwholesale.co...

Jim

Paph Moon Stone


Paph Druid Spring


Paph Hybrid (Raisin Pie x ? ) Ill check the tag again.Sometime I forget



Orchiata... Orchiata has replaced all other bark. Its clean, last a long time, and the sizing is consistent thru out the bag. I buy the 40 ltr Power+ (12-18mm) bag as it hard to find the medium locally other than Fine for seedlings. Some offer free shipping I have seen lately.

Beautiful Paphiopedilums rkidkelly

Thanks so much!

Rkidkelly, I love your Paphs! Well done!

Regarding the Orchiata bark - I have a bag of this stuff and I have used it on occasion. I agree, it is clean and lasts longer than other bark. It is good stuff. Silva Orchids has been using it for several years and I know they like it.

I edited my post above to add a close-up of the Bulbo echinolabium, I had uploaded a double by mistake yesterday.

Jim, do you repot your bug infested plants into new mix or just soak the living s*&# out of it?
Those pictures were sobering but gave an excellent image of what to be on the look out for. Thanks for sharing!
Ursula, you've got a mess of beautiful plants in bloom, I agree that 'Apple Blossom ' is a knock out!
rkidkelly, nice job with your Paphs...all I can do with mine is grow mealy bugs

Nice show, rkidkelly. Where abouts in this world are you from?

thanks you all

I'm in Houston. All the plants been growing outside for the most part cept a few months where they had to go into the garage. Ya, they wintered in my garage bec the place I had leased got sold and me had to move. Really had a mild winter all told seeing what everyone else has gone thru all around me. Had a tough time with the orchids and they are starting to pay me back with endless smiles

phal stuartiana started opening today. 20 buds counted and has 2 more spikes at the base. Been growing this one since november 2011. What a nice flower it has given me. I take for granted at times that these orchids are not machines.

A wonderful flower is icing on the big cheesecake of life





another plant you wont see much of in houston are masdevallias. I grow quite a few of the warm tolerant hybrids. Species dont do so well as its to hot during the day and no cooling off at night during the summer just kills them. The cool growing masdies do well under lights indoors if you can keep them humidified. Some grow them in old fridges, yes old fridgerators and make cold boxes out of them.
I Want to try some Disa's eventually ?

masdevallia angel tears

A wonderful flower is icing on the big cheesecake of life

I like that!
Hopefully your place now has lots of sunny windows. You certainly have a wonderful touch with your Orchids.
I love both the Phal stuartiana and the Masdevallia! And the second photo shows a few more good looking Masdies.

Lovely phals, rkidkelly! That Phal stuartiana is really gorgeous! Do you grow them outside or mostly indoors? Mine are all outside, and against all odds, I've had pretty good luck even with our hot humid summers.

Nearly all my phals are noids, rescued from the death rack at Lowe's for under $4 each. I am very fond of a bargain.
Here's my little Phal. amabilis var. formosanum 'Variegata' and another that has a tag, but the name was in pencil and has worn right off . . . go figger. These two were gifts from my kids a few years ago and are entirely responsible for my present orchid addiction.


The rest of these are all rescued noids.


Lc. Trick or Treat and Blc. Dancing Sunlight 'Sunny' X Myrmecophila brysiana 'Amarilla' which has a lovely fragrance, but I really thought would be yellow with a name like that. Plus a new spike on Enc. Green Hornet

rkidkelly, maybe Jim will share some of his photos from days gone by, where he had to wheelbarrow giant monster
plants from his Florida back yard to his garage! What we go through to keep our plants happy!

This just in from the greenhouse...Pot. Sweet Sugar 'Happy Field' BM/JOGA

I had to manually open the sheath on this one..it was glued shut and the flowers were
opening inside!

I hateit when that happens as I usually screw it up.

I've been trying to forget about hauling all of those orchids around the house every time the forcast called for 45 degrees or below. Here are some pics of the "good old days".

Vandas hanging from the garage door while trying to get a little sun during a cold snap:


I have to go to choir practice so I will look for more pics later.

Jim

Those were there days....actually those Vandas look great here. You would see them in Thailand hanging along the houses like that!
I will have another month or so of indoor growing and then I will move everything outside again....

Lindsey, nice colors. Some orchids like Laelia anceps needs to have the buds watered daily or they stay glued shot.

Elaine, good growing. I like the variegated Phal very much. I had a similar one like that some years ago, unfortunately it really didn't like being outside that Summer and DIMPed.

My Phrag Jason Fischer started blooming, but it was really a bit too warm in its location and I assume that's the reason for a first bloom ( I removed it) a bit distorted and the stem very short. I moved it to the North door and the next bloom now opened nicely.

Yes, strange to think we actually stay cooler in the summer than you do, at least sometimes!

That little variegated phal is fussy, and has done the shriveled leaf routine every time it has bloomed, but it seems to recover. Here's hoping.

Love the color on that phrag! I think Jim's hanging row of Vandas look like the Rockettes - kick up those roots!

I forgot, I have two flowers open on my little Phaius Microburst 'Wild Thing'

oh goodness I thought I was the only one I would ever know that toted orchids all around the house during the cold months ..I have been growing outside for about a year and a half. Got to the point where I had orchids in the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom windows, above doors, over doors, over ledges out of doors. Most of my plants this 'mild winter' spent time in, where else, the ...garage. I get full blown southern exposure from dawn to dusk in the garage along with a howling 30mph wind. Its better suited for me than the deck on the patio I had to build. But it kept my plants alive til I could get them a home. In fact it did some of them good to have a rest from the South Texas heat as now lots of roots shoots bud and blooms...I just love it when the plants wake back up. I have a cycnodes that drops all the leaves off the cane. Every year I hope its not dead while I spent 3 months watchin it .need a little orchid stethoscope to check for a pulse



Going to get a bloom a day for a month looks like :thumbsup:

You all have such wonderful great looking plants and flowers.

here is a cutie smells like baby powder too boot.



I do have to take the white flowers inside at night. With the high humidity the white flowers will get ruined very fast with spotting from the dew in the morning. My plants are soaked over night from hot days to cool evenings. Orchids just love it!!!

and you dont get root rot? id never soak a orchid but it looks like your doing well with your orchids. Love that Phals colours and cant not love any Paph.

heh heh no I dont soak them..

I meant was.... in the morning the plants are soaking wet from the dew . I have to take the white paphs inside at night or they will get spotted from that.

oh ok. My reading mistake