You're right about that Ursula! I had to look twice at it to make sure it was not two flowers. It's possible that it wasn't quite open all the way.

I was most impressed by its size, and it was a lovely color, but I'm not buying any more Paphs. It's just too hot here for them in the summer.

Like that "Yellow Bird".

I think I'll move a few of my sad looking babies out to the patio so they can get rained on.

Thanks everyone for the vanda love. Mom likes them too; Dad had a couple of friends over and she was showing off the orchids while I was still asleep.

Elaine, those are some beautiful orchids (I like the purple vanda in the background) but WOW are those expensive. I mean, I've been to shows that were cheaper than that! But Apopka has definitely spoiled us!

I think I'm going to have to bring in the vandas again. Dad has become addicted to this weather website (I think that makes him officially "old") and they're showing upper 40s for the next few nights. Maybe I can go bring them in during halftime (Bucs play today and I will cheer them on even though they will lose).

Paphs are for me here hit and miss too in the blooming department. Pedro's Moon flowers regularly, others not so much.

I took some pictures yesterday while cleaning around in the greenhouse. I don't know what possessed me to use the blue poster board ( poor lighting….), but here is the bunch:

Ascocentrum pumilum continues to open teensy blooms


Coelogyne Golden Bug (one for you, Bert)


Epi longipetalum x Laelia lundii - interestingly enough, if you look at the left plant, a new spike emerged from the same growth as a previous and spent spike. I didn't cut it, so it would be better visible. And it seems to form a keiki, as I see small roots.


Lc (John Mossman x Irving Dietsche 'Inky') x Don DeMichaels. The blooms are incredibly scented! Take the scent of Chia Lin ( lots of Cloves and Cinnamon) and add a beautiful perfumed top note of Vanilla.
This one has a bunch of buds right now, although the sheaths on all earlier growths from last Summer seemed to have aborted, but later growths are budding.


Liparis nutans is now fully open and has started new growth at the same time.


Liparis longipens - the flowers are in the mm range and were not easy for me to capture. The scent is not too pleasant, this one is surely fly pollinated….

Elane, when you referred to the Ascda, apparently you were not referring to the bright orange vanda in the picture. That one looks exactly like my 'Sunshine Orange'.

12-2013


6-2012 (in deep shade)

I give lectures on the very subject: "Big-box store bought orchids". The first thing I tell these folks is to take their plants out of their ceramic pots and remove as much of the sphagnum moss as possible. Growers ship their orchids (almost always phals) in this moss becuse it will hold moisture for a long period and thus assure that their plants will ship to the big-box stores with adequate water. Unfortunately almost all of the ceramic pots have little if any drainage/aeration and the moss just compounds the problem. Phals can(may) do well in spahgnum moss, but the pot/basket/mesh-pot needs excellent drainage and lots of holes to allow air passage.

The 'Diamond Jubilee' was sold seven weeks ago to a gal (for her mother) in Texas, but she wanted me to wait to ship it until her mother arrived for a prolonged Christmas stay. Now, after seven weeks, the flower has finally begun to fade and I told the gal that the flower was pretty much finished. She said, "Please, if you have anthing with bud, I would prefer you substitute that for the 'Diamond Jubilee'." I did have a large plant with three sheaths, two full and ready to bud-out and one just beginning to fill. She gladly wanted that plant instead. It was my only plant, and was my personal collection, but hey, her mom deserves a nice gift, something to brighten her Christmas (she has dealt with husband's death and is not well herself), so the plant is shipping out tomorrow.

Here is a picture of the flower from last year. It was taken 02-2012, and was not quite fully open. The plant she is getting will have numerous flowers.


Blc. Meditation 'King's Ransom' x Blc. Xanthette 'Chartreuse'

Oh Ken, that is gorgeous! How nice of you to ensure that mother has a nice Christmas! I'm sure she'll just love it.

My mom just bought another phal - this one from Publix (a grocery store here in FL). I didn't see what it's potted in yet, but I'll probably end up repotting it for her. Thanks for the reminder. I'll have to take a pic for you guys, too. It's a really pretty deep pink/purple kind of shade. She said other customers in the store were stopping her and commenting on it.

You have a good heart Ken!

Can you imagine how much fun it is to have a business that is a labor of love, without ever worrying about profit!? I sometime feel like I have died and gone to heaven.

Could be, Ken. That one had a big fat price tag, but no name tag. Yours looks like a gorgeous big full sized Vanda.

I called it Ascda just because it is the same size (quite a small plant, leaves about 8in long and 3/4 inch wide) and color (sort of a peachy gold) as the little ones I bought in Apopka. The grower said they were Ascda's. The flowers are small, too, about 1.5in across or less.

Here's a size ref for you - the smaller plant in this pic is one of my two little Ascda's from Apopka and the big plant is a regular sized Vanda.

Thanks.

Hi all!
Speaking of 'big box store' orchids…I found myself at Lowe's a couple days ago…Of course, I was at the clearance rack. It's always my first stop!
There must have been a dozen Cattleyas, and Vandas, that were all looking so sad…I couldn't resist…I picked up 2 of the Cattleya, and 1 Vanda., thinking that maybe I could nurse them back to health. Never mind the fact that I'm a novice at growing Orchids! I have 4 Phals that I've not yet killed, and I have been able to get some re-bloom, so I'm feeling optimistic! Besides the fact that the price was unbeatable! All 3 for $10.00. And having said that it reminds of my mom. She always said 'you get what you pay for'!!! Oh well, gonna try anyway!
So, this is what I brought home...

feeling a bit optimistic and surprised that they were in plastic pots, with bark instead of wet sphagnum moss






So, I cleaned them up a bit, a little root cleaning, fresh medium, new pots. Except the Vanda, haven't got to that one yet.



And being the novice that I am, I'm open to all opinions, suggestions, tips, what have you…

Vandas that I have seen have had no medium at all. Completely bare…Is that the best way?

You really got a steal, Tara. I never see our Lowe's with plants that look that good, and on clearance too! Way to go. You are going to have healthy plants. I hope you got an added gift by having them properly labeled, but more than likely, they were not. You should have bought all they had!

My vandas grow in a fir bark mixture, just like the vast majority of my other plants. That's just the way I started growing them when they were gifted to me as "dead plants". The roots of these two plants are as different as night is to day, and the roots don't seem to care that there happens to be potting mix there. The roots are almost all aerial roots. My mix is now three years old, for sure is broken down to dust, but I am not repotting my vandas. They are happy, bloom twice a year, and thus, I will leave well-enough alone. One day soon I need to take a picture of the roots of one of those vandas using a large clump of Spanish moss as its growing medium. I guess the roots like the fact that the Spanish moss stays somewhat moist (it is a living tillandsia) yet allow free air movement.

Tara - my Vanda roots just hang. I mist them frequently then dunk her in the sink every so often for a good soaking. She hung outside all summer under the palm out back. Of course the squirrels enjoyed her blooms much more than I got to!!!!

Tara, welcome!

I am glad your Lowe's Orchids were labeled and I really wish for you to be successful getting them to bloom. If I may add to Ken's remarks -
and please consider that I am growing here in NJ, perhaps things are a bit different than in your zone 9.

Talking now about the Cattleyas - I personally would have taken such a small division/plant and simply have placed it into a much, much smaller clay pot. You really went all out here and gave them quite fancy "shoes". I would have just used a bit of bark or shredded Coconut fiber to anchor them to the pot. Once they get big enough, that the roots/new growth start going over the edge of the pot, I would have popped the whole thing as is into a basket or larger size pot. Cattleya roots love to attach to clay pots, btw. which is fine with me and I don't pry them off when potting on.
Any Vanda/Ascda would be growing bare root in a basket under my care, no medium at all. They like it warm and sunny, appreciate well aerated roots and when in active growth need daily thorough waterings.
The conditions I describe here are suited for me, since I grow in lots of sunshine or at least bright light and things dry up quickly. I do water daily!!

Sorry, you asked…. I hope I haven't confused you, certainly everybody has different ways of growing Orchids, very much depending on your climate, surroundings etc.

Can't add anything to that. Well said.

I'll chime in - I've had very good luck rescuing various orchids from Lowe's 'death rack'. They put them there as soon as the flowers are finished, so some of them are still quite healthy. I've never scored a Vanda at Lowe's, though! Nice one. Good job of re-potting, and did you get a bushel of soggy moss out of the pots they were in? Also, did you find any name tags?

My Vandas are all bare-root, just hanging out, except one. But I have found them attaching themselves to various things that the roots touch, like the pool cage screening. So they are not adverse to having something to lay their roots on, I'm guessing that in nature they grow on tree branches. So Ken's experience with using medium is consistent with that.

My exception is a keiki (baby) V. Tokyo Blue that I got recently that only had one short root. I attached it to a wire with a hook, but also gave it a little hunk of cork to attach to if it wants to. It now has two more short roots popping out, and one is attached to the cork!

To reinforce what Ursula said, they sure do need high humidity, warmth, lots of light and this summer's daily rains seemed to suit them very well. Since the fall weather got drier, I've been out there misting them a LOT and they are the only ones I bring into the house when the nights get cold. Vandas are sort of divas, but they sure have gorgeous long-lasting flowers.

No need to be sorry! You're right I did ask. And honest opinions are the thing I need. Thank you!
I always say that you don't learn by what you do right! True, those 'shoes' are kinda fancy. Easy enough to redo these into something much smaller. Sounds like a much better idea! And the fancy 'shoes' can always be used for others…Hmmm…I knew I needed another reason to go out and see what other bargains I can find!
These are the labels that came with these babies...

Why does my Lowe's never have anything that good? I'm so jealous!

I just moved all my vandas into the garage since it's going to be in the 40s for lows the next few days. I took a few more pictures because I just can't resist!

Once again for your viewing pleasure, V. Tesselata 'RF Orchids' x Mem. Lyle Swanson. It's so different from all my other vandas and I love their little pink tongue-looking things.



And my super huge vanda, V. Fuchs Delight x Charles Goodfellow. This cross actually has a name; the lady wrote it on the tag for me but it's so faded I can't read it now. I remember it was a Memorial with a man's name. The picture is far more yellow for some reason. It actually has sort of an overlay of brownish-red if that makes any sense.



And finally, little V. Pakchong Smile is still blooming. I'm so impressed with this first-time (for me) bloomer. It has a pretty good keiki on it but I've never removed one so I'm leaving it alone for now.



Oh, one last thing. It looks like my rodent problem has returned! Oh no! My one dendrobiuim that has been teasing for weeks with three buds got eaten! Two are totally gone and you can see what happened to the third. I'm so mad! I'm sending Dad to Home Depot for some more rat poison. He likes going to Home Depot anyway and there's always something we need. I still have some rat traps but last time I caught a cardinal (yes, the bird) in one and no rats so I'm thinking the poison was more effective. If my Chia Lin that's almost about to bloom gets touched I'm going to lose it!

So pretty, Melanie!
Thanks Jean, and Elaine,and Ken for the info on your Vandas. Wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with that one. Sounds like it will be pretty easy…
@qwilter, When the temps get low as they are tonight…Do you put them in your greenhouse, or bring them right into the house.