That just really looks neat, Jim. We'll know more after a year perhaps.

Beautiful! I think that's going to be a happy plant.

I wonder if this sponge looked anything like this when it was in the sea? I've always thought these looked like vases or planters when I was diving. Pale lavender and look like they're made of amethyst crystals.

Gorgeous, Jim!!! Love, love, love this! What a great idea!!!

Jim, it looks wonderful!

This little Restrepia lansbergii has been languishing amongst my mounted species for about 10 years and last Summer it actually started to add some good growth. Low and behold, we have a bloom! ( I got this from Hoosier Orchids)
This is supposed to be a cold to cool grower, I have less than ideal conditions for this one.

See, patience pays off (usually).

Well, yes.
This one is so small, that I didn't mind it just hanging there.
As we say: "It didn't eat any bread!"

And isn't it funny how they will sit and sit and sit, and then suddenly a year or three later they decide they're finally happy, and grow!

Several of the 'orphan orchids' I got when the neighboring grower was going out of business 3 years ago have done that, specifically my Blc. Blazing Treat and Trick or Treat plants. I bought two of each and it appears I've lost one somewhere, but the other three have now decided it's ok to live and bloom here. Poor guy gets a new pot as soon as he's finished blooming.



Big raft of 'maybe Yellow Birds' has had a few, here's one at my favorite stage, just changing from rose/ivory to peachy. All those stems had buds back in January, but either the cold or bugs aborted most of the blooms. I think the dormant oil spray has helped this one a lot!



My noid Den nobile has both stems in bloom now! If I can just keep this one alive I'll be so happy.

Look'n good, Elaine.

Oooo, Ursula, what a beautifully delicate looking bloom!

Elaine, great blooms! I especially love the 'raft'! Could you speak a bit more about the dormant oil spray that you mentioned? I don't believe I know of it.

Ursula mentioned using it a while back, Tara. It's something that I think is best used in the cool weather, hence the name 'dormant' oil spray. What I used was All Season's Horticultural and Dormant Spray Oil. Got it at Home Depot.

Spray it on, it smothers all the insects it comes in contact with (so spray thoroughly) then rinse it off again right away. Don't let the plants be in the sun with the oil on the leaves or they could burn.

I did two applications about 2 weeks apart, just to get any 'hangers on' and my plants have responded really well. Since my orchids live outdoors most of the time, I really need to stay on top of any bug infestations. I've long ago accepted that growing orchids outdoors in FL I am certainly going to fight more bugs and diseases than people who grow indoors or in controlled conditions, so something like that oil spray is a really great preventive measure in the winter time for me, it seems.

The systemic insecticides like Bayer 3-in-1 have a fatal flaw, in that the insects can develop resistance to them over time. Any bug that survives the application of it will then produce offspring that are also resistant, and you have a whole new resistant population of the little monsters . . . So a 'mechanical' insecticide is a much better solution for me.

so much, Elaine! Sounds like an item that I'll have to keep in mind, as all of my orchids will be once again outside come Spring.

I never have liked having to use any 'cides', on any of my plants, but the time does come occasionally, that it is the only control that will truly, control those buggers.

Ursula, I love love your Restrepia lansbergii. Not one that would be happy here tho...

Elaine my Yellow Bird is budding up. Surprise since it took a tumble from the top shelf of the greenhouse and the pot shattered and the plant was splatted on the floor.

thanks!

Well said, Elaine!
I have been using the last couple of years the triple Bayer stuff mostly only once a year, when I bring my plants outside in the Spring, mostly on my larger Cattleyas. Then they get a really good dose with the sprayer. In the Fall I might hit only a couple of plants with it.
Now indoors, I have been keeping a spray bottle with the All Season's Horticultural and Dormant Spray Oil handy, so when I see a small start of an infestation, I go immediately into the bug killer mode!!
Elaine, Orchids growing indoor are probably not less prone to Scale invasions, compared to your outside, I simply can't direct the fans onto every side of every Orchid. Most of plants seem to stay clean, but some are just terrible bug magnets, most Cattleyas come to mind. Rupicolous Laelias need to be inspected often, also Tolumnias.

Elaine, I didn't mention that I like your pics from today, especially the Noid Den nobile is very nice!!

The systemic insecticides kill everything....even the good and endangered....

. . but only if they're actually feeding on the plant's tissue.

Most have been tested for transference to pollen so at least the bees and other pollinators are not endangered.

Imidacloprid and neonicotinoids are directly linked to honey bee colony collapse, and these are the two most commonly used chemicals in pesticides. Bayer invented and held the patent on Imidacloprid, the ingredient in their systemic "2 in 1" rose and shrub insecticide, but now the chemical is available to any manufacturer without restriction. It can hang out in the soil for 5 years and is 20-30 times more toxic than Sevin Dust to pollinators.

"A recent report from the Xerces Society states that ornamental plants treated with a soil drench of imidacloprid have concentrations of imidacloprid high enough to kill bees in the blossoms for months to years following treatment. Imidacloprid lasts longer than a year and using it annually on plants may increase the amounts found in pollen and nectar.

An insecticide does not have to kill in order to have an effect. Organisms may survive exposure to low doses but suffer physiological or behavioral changes. There is limited information on such sublethal effects on bees, but research has indicated that exposure to neonicotinoids can affect bees ' ability to fly and navigate, learn, and reproduce."

http://www.xerces.org/neonicot...

We had 3 huge double blooming hibiscus bushes that were totally infested with thrips when we moved in...the blooms would just plop to the ground before even opening. Then they would rot and stick to the driveway so badly they had to be pressure washed off, eventually. I tried everything....and when the Ag extension guy said imidacloprid systemics were the only option, I dug them up and sent them to the landfill....can't stomach adding to the concentration of pesticides around here. I haven't seen a single bee in my neighborhood since I moved it.

Kate, I thank you very much for the excellent/interesting article. I am halfway through and I will finish it.

However, there is so much debatable material expressed that I would think this may not be the right place to discuss it here. I fear we will have different opinions amongst the members of this forum, which might lead to bad blood down the road.
If you all disagree with me, and you really want to have a discussion about it, how about moving it to the sandbox?

I see nothing wrong in discussing what our use of pesticides (or anything else for that matter) does to the insect/animal population, but as Ursula gently suggested, perhaps the "Sandbox" is a better place for those discussions.