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!

December 2012

I've found that creating a post once a month works well, as most of the 'chids have been blooming rather sporadically. I have 3 new blooms to share, and all of them are first time bloomers.

Phalaenopsis equestris 'Rangiku'

This is a cute tiny flower. No fragrance on this one, but some of this species are known to be fragrant when there are many flowers. I received this little plant in a trade with a friend on the Big Leaf Forum, Rangiku, and I am very happy to have it in my collection. When the plant is mature it can carry hundreds of flowers on thin, delicate inflorescences.

 Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana

My partner and I have been looking forward to seeing this plant bloom for some time now. This is a line breed seedling from Joseph Wu, a famour hybridizer from Taiwan, by way of Krull-Smith in Florida. The breeders at Krull-Smith took their best to make this cross. It is quite fragrant, the initial fragrance is citrusy - like Fruit Loops, and the after smell reminds me of chemicals I used to smell in the salon, kinda like burnt hair... It's a very unusal scent, unlike my other Phal lueddemaniana, which has a very sweet heady fragrance.

 Phalaenopsis Germaine Vincent (violacea v indigo x speciosa 'C#1')

Example of Parents:

Phalaenopsis violacea                       Phalaenopsis speciosa 'C#1'

= Phalaenopsis Germain Vincent

I really adore this hybrid- very fragrant, and a nice mixture of both parents in terms of color and fragrance. As you can tell some random red blotches are showing through, and a nice magenta with indigo tones. The fragrance is reminscent of Phal violacea- sweet and spicy like cinnamon, with the soapy tones from Phal speciosa 'C#1'. I hope that when the plant is mature it will be loaded with flowers, already it is a strong grower- so I am hopeful for more flowers next blooming season! Since I do have both parents, I hope to remake this primary one day soon!

Today I decided to pick up a toothpick and try and set some pods. Here are the parents of the cross I am hoping takes:

 Phalaenopsis (cornu-cervi x Germaine Vincent)

Orchidview Visit 10/23/2012

Last week my partner and I took a trip to Folly Beach, SC- which is right outside of Charleston, SC. On our way we made a stop by my favorite Orchid Nursery- Orchidview- which is owned and operated by the Norton family; H.P, Katherine and Carol. They are the ephitomy of southern hospitality, and truly wonden rful people. I have learned so much  from them since my first visit in 2009. Here are some photos from my last visit.

 Phal bellina- extremely fragrant, compared to fruit loops.

Phalaenopsis bellina 'Orchidview' to the left & Phalaenopsis violacea 'Blue Chip' on the right.

Phalaenopsis Samera (bellina 'Orchidview' x violacea 'Blue Chip')- one of the darkest seedlings from the cross.

Phalaenopsis amabilis- strangely shaped leaves, but unique.

Phalaenopsis vioalcea ('Red' x Harvey')- sibling seedling to my Phalaenopsis violacea 'Sister'

Phalaenopsis amboinensis (HP's Gift x Hackneau II)- amazingly good color and shape. smells spicy.

Phalaenopsis hybrid with violacea

Phalaenopsis Luedde-violacea ( violacea N0154 x lueddemanniana 'Woodlawn')

Phalaenopsis Luedde-violacea

Phalaenopsis Fintje Kunriawati (pulchra x violacea indigo) and Phalaenopsis Luedde-violacea- both fragrant flowers.

A flask of a cross I pollinated December 2010 on one of my trips to Orchidview. The cross is Phalaenopsis Princess Kauilani (amboinensis 'Bryan' x violacea 'Blue Chip'). I saw a few good looking seedlings spaced out between 3 flasks. One flask had a really good looking seedling in what seemed to be a mostly empty flask- and the root on this seedling was showing some very nice potential in terms of pigments displayed. The roots of some Phals will produce pigment if exposed to strong light. My magenta violaceas produce a nice reddish color on the green root tip, my indigo violace produces a sort of muddy purple color- which is what i saw on that seedling. My hope is an indigo Princess Kaiulani!

Parents:

Phalaenopsis Princess Kaiulani =

Phalaenopsis amboinensis x Phalaenopsis violacea

I picked up three plants, and they gave me one. I got a Phalaenopsis bellina N0551, another Phalaenopsis corningiana that is from Carter and Holmes breeding program, and a Phalaenopsis Corning-cervi (corningiana 'Fernbrook' x cornu-cervi 'OK#55') which is from Peter Lin's breeding program of Big Leaf Orchids. We had such a great time- and can't wait to make it back soon! Hopefully next time there will be a compot or two for me to grow out!