September 2013 *Orchidview Visit*

Orchidview

At the WNCOS show in March, Katherine and H.P. Norton, along with their wondeful daughter Carol attended as vendors for the event. While there they informed me that they would be closing the larger of their greenhouses, by not turning on the heat this winter. At first I was very disappointed, but then I rejoiced in the news that they would be able to enjoy more free time for their golden years. They have two smaller greenhouses closer to their home, so they will still be growing a few select plants. Naturally, I knew that I would need to make a trip down to the large greenhouse with all the Phalaenopsis (a large portion being Phalaenopsis violacea). So I worked hard to save up a good chunk of money for purchasing as much as I could. Here are a few of my purchases, and a few gifts as well ;)

A semi-alba Phalaenopsis violacea. This is 'Morning Star' x 'H.P.'- has a beautiful soft cinnamon fragrance. There was a yellow tag in the pot with the hand written description, "Delicate pink lip, white w/ green picotee. Flat, quite nice!"

Phal venosa 'Clair'

Fresher flowers of Phal venosa 'Clair'- I selected this plant due to the strong green color, and flava like markings. Katherine named this plant after her sister, Clair.

This was a plant that I brought to the Nortons to see if they any luck growing it. This is Phalaenopsis equestris 'Blue Wan Chio' SM/TOGA. I never had any luck getting this plant to bloom when I was growing under lights in a terrarium, but they got it to bloom several times. They gave this back to me since it probably wouldn't have moved with others to the smaller greenhouses.

This is Phalaenopsis Samera (bellina 'Orchidview' x violacea 'Blue Chip')- the parents of this cross were posted last year in an Orchidview post. I selected this seedling due to the strong color, form, and potential for future crosses.

Comparative photo with a sister from the same seedpod. Phalaenopsis Samera 'Mija'

This is a primary hybrid, Phalaenopsis Fintje Kunriawati (violacea 'Majesty' x pulchra 'Lorrie' HCC/AOS). This phal inherited nice fragrance from both parents. I would describe it like a crape myrtle bloom, if you've ever smelled that before. You'll notice the tag is red and has the letters 'NFS', not for sale, but due to the closing of the greenhouses they were willing to part with this plant. Ironically, this exact plant is in my earlier post from October of last year, when I first saw this primary, and found this flower captivating.

A comparative shot with Phalaenopsis violacea 'Sister' ('Red' x 'Harvey')

Fresh bloom of Phal Fintje Kunriawati

I'm actually not certain about the species that this plant it. It was labelled Phal Spica 'Florence', and was bunched with one such plant, and others that resembled this one. I selected this plant due to the floriferiousness and shape, as well as the unique orange-like markings. It has a musty fragrance. This could be Phalaenopsis reichenbachiana, or Phalaenopsis fasciata, two sister species that are often confused with one another. However, Phal fasciata is said to have a green apple like fragrance.

 Another Phalaenopsis violacea, this one a true alba. This is Phal violacea 'H.P.' x self. A parent of the first violacea listed in this post.

Side view. This one has very green tips.

Finally, these are fresh out of the flask seedlings of a cross the Norton's and I made in December of 2010. This is Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani (amboinensis 'Bryan' x violacea 'Blue Chip'). You can find the parents in an older thread. There was another flask of these, but the Nortons knowing that I did not have any previous experience deflasking, or raising seedlings from flask gave me the smaller of the two, to ensure a better chance of survival for the other flask :) I couldn't be happier to be growing a cross that we made together!

There were a few other plants that I got that were not in bloom, or blooming size:

Phalaenopsis corningiana ('Fernbrook' x 'Red Rebel')

Phalaenopsis corningiana 'MAJ' x corningiana

Phalaenopsis floresensis ('Tyler' x 'Carol')

Unfortunately, I did not take photos in the greenhouse, as time was precious and I wanted to spend as much as possible browsing through plants and enjoying the company of Katherine and Carol. We had a great time during our visit! It was very bittersweet, but I know that it won't be the end, and we'll see the Nortons again soon!

July 2013 Parliament House

I was hoping the 'chids would be in full bloom by the very end of June to create a post, but there was a lot of activity in regards to buds and spikes forming, just not as many flowers. I'm very happy with how the solarium is working out, and the 'chids are growing a lot better from when they were growing under T5s.

Phal Corning's Violet 'Redfearn' (TH19 corningiana x violacea)- this may be my new favorite. Love the dark red markings (from corningiana) and magenta blush (from violacea). The lip has a light dusting of trichomes, from corningiana. The fragrance is amazing on this, unfortunately only for a few hours between 9am-12:30pm. It smells like candy. This has two more buds on the way :)

Phal Double Eagle 'Parliament' (corningiana 'Teja's Red' x sumatrana 'Teja's Treasure')- This is also a new favorite. I got this from Krull-Smith in March. The plant came with a spike which took it's time to grow, after moving into the solarium a new spike quickly developed with two more buds. The fragrance on this is also intoxicating, but only for a few hours in the morning. It has a sweet rose-like fragrance. I have already used this pollen on Corning's Violet to work on my 'Primary x Primary' breeding program, but more on that later :)

Another shot of the other spike from when I have it hanging. The flowers are actually quite large on this.

Phalaenopsis Germanine Vincent 'SugarPlum' (violacea v indigo x speciosa 'C#1')- the color is quite difficult to capture. But this is very close. Blooming on two spikes currently. I am curious to see what a selfing of this would create, but I also want to allow this plant to focus it's energy on growing bigger, as I believe that a mature plant would put on quite the fragrant display. This is probably the strongest fragrance in the solarium currently, you can smell it when you walk in. I used pollen from this to set on Phal Double Eagle 'Parliament'. I ordered this plant last summer from Big Leaf Orchids.

Bloom from May- much larger and with rounder form.

Phal sumatrana ('Many Flowers' x 'Dark Brown')- ironically this flower has none of the traits that the parents were named for, haha, but I really am enjoying this first bloom. This was also purchased from Krull-Smith. From the short period of time this has been with me, it seems to be a vigorous plant.

Phal tetraspis fma red x self- I'm not exactly sure what to call this phal, there is quite the debate regarding the existence of Phal speciosa, which has been described as having these markings. Phal tetraspis is a closely related sister species, but most have pure white flowers, or random stripes, not blotches. For now the label will stay as is. I would love to cross this with Phal speciosa 'C#1' (which is currently working on buds) for more white flowers with random blotches. Fragrance is much more pleasant than 'C#1', but very similar. 

Solarium

April was really crazy, so I didn't get a chance to create a post. This month is going to be really busy too, but I wanted to update :) So in April my partner and I moved into our new home with the solarium. We couldn't be more excited about the potential of this new adventure! The solarium has been working out really well for the orchids, they seem to be adapting very nicely, growing new leaves, roots, and spikes too! Not a whole lot in bloom currently, but I'm hoping for a colorful and fragrant summer!

I moved some of my favorites over to baskets, and I love how it looks :)

Spring Update March

It's been a while since my last post. I've been to an Orchid Society meeting, and the Western North Carolina Orchid Society's annual show in Asheville. And of course, I've added a few new plants to my collection :) We finally closed on the house with the solarium, so my next post will likely be with a few shots in there- I'm so freaking excited, we both are and cannot wait for the change! There is a lot going on in my life right now in regards to changes, with work, school, and home- but it is so exciting!

Here are some photos from the WNCOS annual show:

Krull-Smith display table

Krull-Smith Phalaenopsis species and primaries sales table

BIG leaf orchids! Phal bellinas and giganteas- their leaves are enough to make you want to grow one. The leaf in the lower left side of the photo belongs to a Phal bellina (which smells a lot like Fruit Loops), and that leaf was as big as a dinner plate, and just as round.

This is a sibling to a plant that I purchased. It's label reads that it is a Phal corningiana sib cross, but most likely it's a primary hybrid with Phal venosa, making it Phal Dragon's Fire.

Phal speciosa x sibling

Phal venosa- decently large flower for this species

Phal Ba Shin Canary (or something like that)- very nice sweet fragrance.

From Orchidview's display

Phal Guadelupe Pineda (bellina x amboinensis)

This came home with me :) Phal (Ambomanniana x sumatrana)- it's a huge plant, the largest leaf must be the size of my forearm, it is extremely fragrant, although I'm not sure I'd say it's the most pleasant smell. Up close it smells like paint thinner, oddly enough.

Some other beauties that came home with me :) From left to right: Phal sumatrana (Many Flower x Dark Brown), Phal Double Eagle (corningiana 'Tejas Red' x sumatrana 'Tejas Treasure') and Phal corningiana ('Fernbrook' x '2002'). These are all huge and beautiful plants unlike anything I've ever seen for this cheap. The middle plant was $15 at the show! 

Recent Developments at home:

Phal  modesta ('Yaphon' x self)- This is from a recent order from BigLeaf Orchids in Texas. This is by way of Yaphon Orchid Nursery in Taiwan ( I believe). Smell reminds me of vanilla, almost like an artifical vanilla birthday cake smell. I saw my first Phal modesta just days before this one bloomed at the WNCOS annual show, but it had a much different smell, like the smell from grape flavored Tylenol. You can see that this is not a large plant, so it's blooming at a smaller than average size for most Phals.

Phal Dragon's Fire (venosa x corningiana)- This is another new plant that I got along with Phal modesta from BigLeaf Orchids. I saw this online, even though I pre-ordered one from the same batch back in June, and knew that it was mine! The flower is a bit faded but you get the idea, nice orange tones, and it should be very fragrant thanks to Phal corningiana! Looking forward to making crosses with this one!

Phalaenopsis pallens- this one always makes me sing the song 'Yellow Polka-dot bikini'. This is a cute miniture species that produces baby plantlets (keikis) like crazy! It's sadly not fragrant, but it's adorable and reliable so it stays! At it's height it had 7 open flowers this year on a plant with a 3 inch leaf span with a keiki. Considering crossing to my Phal modesta since they are similar in size.

And possibly the most exciting news yet, here is a photo of a flask of seedlings that I had a professional do for me. This is work from Orchid Origins:

You can already see tiny leaves and roots! So excited for my own cross. Since this is a sibling (sib) cross of the same species they will pretty much look the same but each will be unique in it's own way.

This is one of the crosses, and the other is the exact reverse.

The flasks that I did on my own did not turn out so great. Four of the five did not germinate at all, only one did. And that flask had most of the seeds turn brown- which I've been told is not a good sign. So I made a ghetto sterilized environment from a dry-cleaning bag, cut holes for some rubber gloves, sealed it all up and fumigated the interior with bleach fumes, much like I did with the flask, and even sprayed and wiped down the interior with a water-bleach solution. I've got my fingers crossed that the protocorms I was able to salivage will make it.

Germination

It's been 30 days since I sowed the orchid seeds- and one flask has started to show the signs of germination! I'm very happy that the vapor sterilization technique worked! Here is a photo:

This is Phal (Samera x Penang Girl). 

 Here is a photo of my collection's new home, as of Spring 2013.

One of my most recent blooms, Phalaenopsis micholitzii. Very beautiful, waxy bloom. No fragrance sadly, but the texture is gorgeous, and the lip is really fun! This is from Orchids.com aka Norman's Orchids.

My partner and I are going to a local show tomorrow in Asheville to hear Tom Harper from Stones River Orchids give a presentation on Phalaenopsis, and speak about his recent trip to Taiwan. I am very excited, and I hope to learn a lot. I'll take some photos and update with a new post!

First Flasking Attempt!

I recently had two pods ripen, and decided it was time for me to try sowing the seeds on my own. I got the idea from the Big Leaft Orchid forum, when a member posted about their recent adventure into flasking using a vapor sterilization- the post garnerred a lot of attention, and several other members have tried, and it seems to work if done properly.

First I cooked up the media, which contains the nutrients necessary for the plants to germinate and start growing. Once it cools, it congeals so that the seeds can rest on the top of the media to begin growing roots. Here, I have poured the media in, and loosely closed the lid to prepare for pressure cooking, or autoclaving.

I put the jars into the pressure cooker to autoclave them. This ensures that any bacteria or fungi has been eradicated from the jars, as these will overtake the young developing orchids, and they would surely die. You turn it on high until steam comes rolling out of the top, at which point you leave it like that for 10 minutes, and then you place the weight on top. Once the weight begins to jiggle you turn the heat down until it only jiggles a few times a minute, for 15 minutes.

 After the jars cool, you pull them out of the pressure cooker, and screw the lids on tight. I let the jars sit for 1-2 weeks before sowing the seeds, this allowed me to see if I had effectively sterilize the insides of jars.

Here is a photo of the seeds from one of the pods. Each tiny yellow speck is an individual seed, there could be a million seeds in this photo- they are SO tiny!

In this photo, the vapor sterilization is occuring. I removed the lids on the jars, very carefully placed the seed into the jars, avoiding putting my head directly over the jars- I've heard this is a sure way to contaminate your flasks- and sealed them with one layer of plastic cling wrap with a small hole (that had been resting on an alcohol soaked paper towel), and placed a cotton ball soaked  in bleach over the hole, and then sealed with another layer of plastic cling wrap (also resting on a soaked paper towel) and then left the jars for 3.5 hours to fumigate. This is the process that ensures that any bacteria or fungi that may have entered the jar while sowing the seeds was killed. Since the seeds are in a dormant state, the fumes would not kill them- hopefully!

Here is a photo where you can see the seeds that have been sown into the flask. They are floating on a very thin layer of water, with the agar directly beneath. I'm hoping that there is not too much water, never done this before, so it's all been a learning experience. Hopefully in 30-60 days I will start to see green protocorms begin to sprout up!

Here are the two pods that ripened.

This one was empty- the flower on the left has an extremely complex lineage, and for these reasons I'm sure that this cross failed. It's very likely that the parents had a different number of chormosomes, which would be like breeding the offspring of (Horse x Donkey) to a Horse.

This cross had tons of seed, as the parents are more genetically similar, each of these has a common parent- Indigo Phalaenopsis vioalcea. I'm SUPER excited about this cross, hoping for greenish flowers with purple/magent blush, great vigor and STRONG fragrance, as both parents are extremely fragrant!