Pleione 2015

[Steve Garvie]

flowering now  .... the first on my Pleiones this year.

Pleione forrestii

Nice plant!!!

My first of the year are some forms of Pleione humilis.
Typical form (a vigorous individual with three separate flowers/growths on the one pseudo-bulb):



Violet-lipped form:

[ashley]

Thanks very much Steve.  Your method is obviously successful

[Paul Cumbleton]

Steve,
I have to disagree about the advice to avoid fertilisers that use urea/ammonium nitrogen sources. The idea that orchids can't make use of urea or that they do badly on it are one of those "myths" that go round but which I'm afraid simply aren't true. There is plenty of evidence from both science and experience to show that orchids in general grow well with urea-based fertilisers. Obviously, all a bit much to go into here in detail but just to give a couple of experiential examples: many orchid labs use urea as the sole nitrogen source in their flasking media. Being sterile, there are no bacteria present to break down the urea. Yet the orchids thrive in the flasks. Why? Because -as the science shows - orchids can take up and use urea directly without the need for it to be processed first by bacteria. Commercial labs simply wouldn't be doing this if they believed the myth that orchids cannot directly make use of urea or grow poorly on it.

Secondly, many growers get great results with Pleione fed on urea base fertilisers. Ian Butterfield currently uses Miracle-gro where the nitrogen comes from urea and ammonium forms of nitrogen. His results are very good. I have used it too with great success.

Paul

[Steve Garvie]

Paul you have far more experience than me of growing Pleione so I am not in any position to argue.
I would not dispute the ability of orchids to absorb and use urea.

I like to grow many of my Pleione in live sphagnum.  I have found that those pots where the sphagnum remains viable through to the end of the growing season also produce the best pseudobulbs. Urea can be converted by saprophytic bacteria into ammonium salts which alter pH and seem to have a harmful effect on the living sphagnum hence my preference for avoiding urea. From what you say it sounds like my concerns are needless but we all tend to stick with what we think works for us.

[karel_t]

After good achievement with P. maculata, I'll try to grow P. forrestii tied on the bark this year.
K.

[hud357]

I like to grow many of my Pleione in live sphagnum.  I have found that those pots where the sphagnum remains viable through to the end of the growing season also produce the best pseudobulbs. Urea can be converted by saprophytic bacteria into ammonium salts which alter pH and seem to have a harmful effect on the living sphagnum hence my preference for avoiding urea. From what you say it sounds like my concerns are needless but we all tend to stick with what we think works for us.

Interesting in that I find that pure sphagnum is a terrible substrate, nutrient wise, for many other Orchids. Much yellowing.

I wonder if sphagnum inhibits the growth of bacteria/fungi that would normally assist in the breakdown of eg. Urea. Urea or any other source of nutrients. Sphagnum is very good for plants that cannot tolerate 'fertilizer' such as carnivorous plants but I'm not convinced about using it for 'Orchids' unless that is their natural habitat. Possibly that healthy Sphagnum is a sure sign of conditions won't allow the efficient breakdown of Urea?

For some reason I'm reminded of a post when I first joined another forum and commented that the LBM's should be left alone because they are so poorly researched that they may well be essential to the 'health' of the terrarium for all we know. I haven't changed my mind yet.

Every late Summer/early Autumn I get out looking for 'Ceps' (Boletus edulis) and I can see where they will appear even with a Winter viewing. I can just look at the ground and the plants growing there and know that they (Ceps) will appear at the appropriate time. Don't ask me why. I just can. No science, they will be there though. Perhaps it all boils down to interactions that we are only beginning to look into.

If anyone has any relevant 'research papers' then I would be very interested to see them. We tend, I think, to research 'growth' but decay is just as important. How does a Moose become plant food? Will a Moose become plant food if it dies in a Sphagnum bog?
 

[hud357]

Just a copy of my comment on the forum mentioned above ...

I don't think that they are much of a problem from the plant or sphag POV. Indeed, you might find that they help and pretty soon everyone wants some mycelium from you. LBM's* perform many un-researched functions.

They probably act like some kind of very slow release fertilizer utilising any dead sphag. If your plants are doing just fine then I would leave your mushrooms alone.

 *Little Brown Mushrooms

[Maggi Young]

Just a copy of my comment on the forum mentioned above ...
*Little Brown Mushrooms

   Thanks hud, I was just about to ask  what the LBMs were.

[goofy]

hello friends,
some more Pleiones are blooming

Pleione Pinchbeck Diamond


Pleione forrestii Vietnam form


enjoy

[Roma]

Under the bench at Dunblane on Saturday, John Amand had three trays of pots stuffed full of unnamed Pleiones for £15 each.  this pot is about 10cm diameter.  Some of the pots had fewer pseudobulbs with at least one nearly as big as an apple and some had more slightly smaller pseudobulbs.  Several people (me included) were seen on their knees scrabbling under the bench.  I eventually decided on a medium number of medium sized lighter green pseudobulbs.  Now the wait to see what I have. 

[Pauli]

I have seen such pots in a local garden center ( 15 Euro here) and I think it is the hybrid grandiflora x formosana. They are from the same source as the Cypripediums (Anthura B.V.)

[Paul Cumbleton]

Steve,
Sorry, I hadn't realised your concern about urea/ammonium sources of nitrogen related to their effects on your substrate rather than the plants themselves. I've tried growing in live Sphagnum but for me it was a difficult medium to manage. Surprisingly, there is still a lot that isn't known about what goes on in potting media. The interactions of the medium, fertilisers, bacteria, fungi and the plant roots (and their exudates) are quite complex and little studied to date.

Hud, to find scientific papers the best thing is to use Google Scholar, a special search available from Google that searches for scientific publications only. You can find it at http://scholar.google.co.uk/.

Paul

[karel_t]

Hi Paul,
Very nice design of your new website indeed - congratulation 
K.

[karel_t]

I have to return to your website Paul. It is absolutely great job, with many new and inspiring information and fantastic photo gallery. I believe, that it will be a fountain of information for all of us. Thank you. 
K.

[Paul Cumbleton]

I am extremely pleased to let everyone know that my completely redesigned Pleione Website is now live! The site is still at the same address i.e. www.pleione.info
The new site not only has a completely new look, it has well over 1000 images (compared to 300 on the old site) all browsable as thumbnails. Many of the plants shown have never been illustrated before. All the other information from the old site is there, but updated and much has been re-written and added to. The site is also ‘responsive’ so should work on all screen sizes including smartphones (though being picture-rich it is better viewed on a large screen!). I hope you like it!

Paul