Lovely color on your Dendrobium, Elaine!
.....and actually those Android phones have excellent cameras too!! They are great!

Those pics were taken with my phone - it does a great job if the operator only can remember to tap the screen to make it focus on the flower . .. This one has a flash, too!

Wow, now that is a Vanda growing operation!

Ken, I hope you have room for those E. alata! They get big! This is the one we rehabbed back to health from the MBG. It was 5' tall when we took it back to the gardens.

Most likely, since I only have a handful, they will all be sold. I am enjoying the flowers though.

One nice thing is that I should have the new, 18'x32' sunroom completed by late summer. I will then have room for some 'monster" orchids if I like.

Sounds lovely, Ken!!

Ursula, tell me about growing this Coelia bella. I have complete control of the amount of light it gets, since it will hang from an oak/cedar limb. It can get full, deep shade, late afternoon sun, hours of sun, or dappled shade, - well, just any amount I choose.

Sadly, that Vanda "grow op" in my picture above gets truck loads of Vandas in large boxes from Thailand or elsewhere on a regular basis. We were there shopping one day when they were unloading a truck. They don't grow them there. It's a wholesale/retail operation from all appearances. The folks running it speak Spanish, so it's great to have Jim there to interpret, but I think they may be from the Phillippines.

Ken, I grow them in dappled sunshine in Summer under a small tree in my cage, in the Fall inside I give them somewhat brighter conditions, and then I also add a bloom booster to my waterings, since they bloom around Christmas for me.

Elaine, I have the feeling that most Vandas for sale here lately seem to come from Thailand.

I have gotten a little closer to identifying my NOID Vanda. RF Orchids (you in Florida ought to know who these folks are) tells me it is almost definitely a V. tessellate hybrid, and perhaps/probably one of the famous Hatos hybrids. I am going to have to do some research and compare characteristics, but I have three varieties to compare mine to: V. Sandra Gail Hatos, V. Mem. Louis Hatos, and V. Mem. Lyle Swanson.

Thanks, Ursula. Were you growing it in a basket lined with coconut fiber or entirely in coconut fiber?

Ken, it was in a metal basket completely lined with coconut fiber. I like to grow them in shallow baskets. At one point I had a rather large plant in a shallow wicker basket lined with coconut fiber, it grew well in that, but eventually these type of baskets fall apart, so I had switched to metal baskets.

I have lots of large wire baskets and lots of coconut liners. No problem there. I will simply plop it into one and hang it under a strong limb.

Sounds like a good plan, Ken!

Thanks again, for your generosity, Ursula. Nothing going on with the sunroom. Deposits have been paid but that's all. Hopefully I will have the room done by the fall.

You are welcome! Hopefully it will do well for you!
The sunroom will surely be done by Fall. Positive thinking!?

I hope the contractor and Florian are talking to each other. No one talks to me, so I never know what's going on.

I put the Coelia in a large hanging basket and it is hanging under my oaks. I potted up the Miltonia in a 5" mesh pot and it is resting on one of my "tree-shelves".

I've found the first black spot invasion of the summer, argh. Thinking of trying a new product from Bayer called Natria - active ingredients are sulphur and pyrethrins. It says it controls both fungus and insects - anyone know about this? Is sulphur ok for orchids?

Both copper and sulfur are natural fungicides and can be used on orchids. So can the combination called coppersulfide. Pyrethrins are insecticides derived naturally from chrysanthemum flowers. They act as nerve agents to paralyze the pests. No problem using them on orchids either.

Some news from the OC:

One of my miniphals: Phal. Peter Blue Sky (Phal. Siam Treasure x Phal. pulcherrima)


This is Vaughnara [Vnra.] Fiftieth Anniversary (Bc. Richard Mueller x Epi. magnoliae):


Another one of the little Phals: Phal. Mancervi (Phal. mannii x Phal. cornu-cervi)


Psychopsis Mendenhall alba form


Must run to a nursing home concert, more later.

Jim

hawkarica said:Both copper and sulfur are natural fungicides and can be used on orchids. So can the combination called coppersulfide. Pyrethrins are insecticides derived naturally from chrysanthemum flowers. They act as nerve agents to paralyze the pests. No problem using them on orchids either.
Jim

Except for Dendrobiums!! Copper fungicides defoliate dendrobiums and deform the flowers.

Also, many fungicides sprayed during active bloom growth can deform flowers. Be sure to read the labels to avoid deformities.

I had to spray (no choice) and even though I used the ones that stated no deformities to flowers, I got several deformed flowers.

This is the best short reference sheet for information. Look at page 36. Great cheat sheet.

http://www.phelpsfarm.com/Orch...

and this one

http://staugorchidsociety.org/...