Today I went to a presentation on epiphytic orchids that can take the chilly, damp winter in this part of the country. The speaker, who lives about 50 miles inland, showed plants he has had growing outside, unprotected in temps as low as 15. Some were pretty cool like Phal wilsonii, Neofinetia falcata, various Den moniliformes, a totally cool, super tiny Oberonia japonica and the Green Fly orchids to name a few.
Most of his plants come from Andy. All of his were mounted, roots wrapped in long fibered sphagnum and tied with untreated raffia. Most unusual is that he does not water these plants. His theory is that no one waters in nature. Rain and dew are all they get, even during droughts. The balls of sphagnum (apparently this is a Japanese method) were bone dry but the plants looked good. These plants mostly came from the eastern parts of Asia. My computer and my phone are not speaking again. When they make nice I'll post pictures.
This guy is an electrical engineer who works in the research field. He approaches his orchid growing like it is one of his research projects. He just likes experimenting - your kind of guy Ken.
