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Fenland Orchid Society |
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Newsletters |
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A Gift and it’s Growing
At one of our meetings Brian gave a talk on orchids that would not flower, he had one himself and was lucky enough to be given a piece by Brian to see what I could do with it. The orchid in question is Eria carinata. I mounted the orchid on a piece of tree fern placing a small bed of moss beneath it on the mount. My next act was to place it in my old fish tank, the tank is not heated but has a temperature of 75-80 degrees F, also has high humidity.
Looking at the specimen in the tank on the 3rd of June from the base of two of the pseudobulbs were new growth, have I hit on the right thing for this orchid? I went to look up more detail of Eria carinata. The pseudobulbs grow on a stout or slender rhizome; ovoid /oblong in shape some 5 to 13 cm in diameter, with one leaf at the apex. Flowers:- with greenish/yellow or green with white sepals, petals yellow or greenish/yellow, the lip is pale yellow marked with red/brown to faded purple.
The history of this orchid is first discovered by William Griffith in the Khasaia hillsat churra punjee in East Bengal in 1873. Now if I can get this orchid to flower then I will send a photo to the news letter for you all to see.
David Sinclair.
Editor
David did enclose photos of the small new growth appearing, but I would like to see as I am sure you would, a beautiful flower so David the challenge is to send us a picture of your plant in flower, it will have more interest. It just goes to show David was willing to have a go, so to go back a page to our keiki sale bring what you do not want or can’t grow and let someone else have a go. It got David excited so let’s see how many more excited orchid growers we can get and what sort of results they may happen across.
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Not in Pots A talk by Tony Taylor
Tony is a member of the Lincolnshire Orchid Group and kindly agreed to come to our society to pass on a few tips to our members relative to mounting of orchids.
There are a number of reasons why we may grow orchids without the use of pots. Looking at the groups of orchids we have the terrestrials which grow in soil, the epiphytic which reside on other plants and the lithophytic that grow on rocks.
Growing in the wild is where one should start and if it is a tree/rock type habitat that the orchid you have in your hand for re-establishing then the way forward is to try to replicate nature. A Vanda for instance is grown in a miniature basket this is purely for something to hold on too. Roots hang down to enormous lengths and the top can grow to an equal length. Putting plants on to a mount of some sort is a way to put for instance bulbophylums, they may be mounted on tree fern, cork tree bark, an upturned ceramic plant pot, a branch of a gorse bush or even a bit of wire mesh but whichever form of mount you use (and there are many more) you must see to it that it is moisture retentive but at the same time can shed excess water quickly. It needs to have a surface the roots of the plant can adhere too and so bind itself permanently.
Some plants are pendulous in their flowering state so it also needs to be large enough to take the weight of water and plant without tipping over too much. A good majority of plants can be grown in this manner and it also becomes a space saving method as well for many a number may be held on a fixed or hanging wire frame, they can also be moved easily depending on the amount of light required.
First choose your mount material. Get a size that will accommodate your growing plant, see if it needs to be mounted at the bottom or top (if it’s a hanging mount) so that you give it the spare space in the right direction of growth. Rafting the method of mounting a plant but where the plant appears to be on a raft needs the same consideration as to space to grow into. Hanging a plant means water will run to the lowest point and drip off and away from the roots of your plant. The addition of a bed of moss behind the plant will act as a reservoir for moisture so feeding the roots longer. A raft on the other hand can be hollowed out to take a greater amount of moss or even left as a hollow to let the water sit in it beneath the roots of the plant.
Mounting is best done using elastic bands as the first point of retaining your plant to its mount. Then once arranged suitable on the mount with the bed of moss beneath you can proceed to wire or tie with string, ladies tights cut into strips, shearing elastic in fact anything that is gentle on the roots but can be sufficiently tightened to hold the plant. Tony showed many mounts and many ways of fixing one to the other but always stressing it was to suit the needs of the plant in the time it will be growing.
Once a plant has been mounted for a period of time it may require to be moved to another larger piece and here Tony explained how using a flat piece which had been cut to receive the smaller piece in its centre you could leave the old mount intact but make more room for the ever growing plant.
Tree fern is the most common way of mounting. It will hold moisture if properly wetted and it still has good drainage ability, any moss used as a backing also has a habit of naturalising on this product and gives a good moisture holding reservoir under and around the plant.
Cork bark again a common product but does not hold water when hanging but will last for years. Moss added before placing the plant will hold the water required by the plant.
Coconut husk can have the plant mounted both in the shell and on the rough outer surface, a good gripping area for fine rooted plant.
Epiweb sold in slab or branch type shapes is a newcomer to the market but is well drained and has a surface to allow good root holding and is fairly hollow to allow the roots to run in and among its form. This is sold by Malcolm Moody of MAM Horticulture and Tony is trialling some at the moment.
Orchids large and small may be mounted if suitable thought is given about the plant it is about to hold, the size of the mount, and the type of mount and of course the way it is fixed. Then does one hang it or raft it, and as Tony said look at your plant from its wild point of view and try to accommodate it in a similar way for a greater chance of success.
Mounted or rafted your orchid will dry out faster than if it were in a pot so here you will have to change your watering methods. Dunking is probably the best for then you know the entire mount has been wet and you see once the bubbles have stopped that the moss is suitably wet, replace back in its position and allow excess water to drain away. During hot period as we have just been experiencing you may need to mist as well during the day.
As to feeding Tony does the same as with his other pot plants and feeds all at the same time but he does like to add a little more Dyna gro K L N because he feels he can see the benefit is has on root growth. Occasionally he will switch to a seaweed based feed so as to give a more overall balanced feed.
Mounting onto something is not the sole prerogative of having orchids hanging about another is baskets. Baskets either purchased commercially or handmade (but made of hardwood) can also hold and support a good variety of orchids. Most have a very open structure so Tony advised putting something on the base of the basket to stop the likes of the compost falling through and do the same around the edges. Tie the plant securely to the base so as to ensure it stays upright then fill with whatever compost you have to hand or prefer to use water well, and stand to drain.
Again with baskets there are all sizes, they can be hung from wire or chains or whatever you so wish to use, but do keep galvanized wire away from the roots of the plant as this will kill them once it starts to breakdown and rust.
All plants must be labelled if we are to complete the job in a professional manner. Do this with a waterproof pen and hang the label on a separate piece of wire from the mount or basket this then ensures it does not float to the bottom of the dunking bucket to join others you had not securely fastened.
Tony gave a demonstration using one of the members as a guinea pig and Pat made a good job of under his instruction. I won the plant after Tony put it on the raffle table so let’s hope I can keep it alive.
Liz and Tony had with them a selection of products for sale through their company COMPOSTS ‘N’ MORE
They can be contacted on tel. 01529-421532 Also on the net orchids.taylor@virgin.net
They may well have a change of telephone number soon as they are in the process of moving home but I am sure we will be informed of any change in address etc.
We thank Tony and Liz for their attendance and for the enjoyable talk. It is hoped the members all took away a little something to give them food for thought.
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Aug 09 Abridged |
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Angraecum Sesquipedale |
