Terrestrial orchids 2015

[Steve Garvie]

Hi Steve,

thanks for the millimetres, that helps.
I have a couple of bags of quartz that have been languishing for years. Bought them from Jan Moors when I last visited him in Belgium and haven't found a use for them. The grains are much larger than your specification, one is 2mm and the other is 1mm on average. Do you think I can use that all the same as part of in cypripedium compost or would it make it too heavy?

Quartzite grit is perfect for Cyps (including Cyp. acaule aparently as it doesn't raise the pH of the substrate) as a component to improve drainage. I believe that some growers use almost pure quartzite with a little live sphagnum added for growing on seedlings of some of the more difficult species. The technique involves using polystyrene fish boxes with drainage holes about 2-3cm above the base and a plastic watering tube that runs through the depth of the quartzite medium. The base acts as a shallow water reservoir which is frequently topped up with rain water or RO water through the plastic tube so there is no overhead watering; water only reaches the roots of the seedlings by capillary action up through the quartzite.

[Yann]

All my Oprhys are grown in 9cm terra pot, 14cm deep.
They now are almost in flower , i water them by the top once a week.
Foliage can be watered it doesn't affect the plant when it's in the green stage.

[Maren]

Hi Steve,
many thanks, I shall use the quartz in my next round of re-potting.

[Steve Garvie]

Orchis quadripunctata

[Steve Garvie]

Barlia robertiana or Himantoglossum if prefered.




My plants have grown very well this year & are living up to the name Giant Orchid.
Images taken in evening sun last weekend. They have now been in growth for almost 9 months and are still looking quite fresh though this will not last as the recent superb sunny weather has dramatically raised the heat in my greenhouse. Already some ophrys & juno iris are dying back.

[mark smyth]

Barlia robertiana or Himantoglossum if prefered.

The scent is fantastic

[Neil]

Steve

That is a nice specimen of Himantoglossum robertiana, how long have you had it?  Mine is just starting to fade now it been in flower since Christmas, this hot weather is causing a lot of the Ophrys to start yellowing. 

[mark smyth]

Too many here are turning yellow with spikes only just showing. Will these abort?

[Steve Garvie]

Steve

That is a nice specimen of Himantoglossum robertiana, how long have you had it?  Mine is just starting to fade now it been in flower since Christmas, this hot weather is causing a lot of the Ophrys to start yellowing.

Thanks Neil!
This is now the fourth year in my possession. I got it as a young tuber which didn't flower until the second year -a rather short flower spike! Last year it became much more robust. This year it looks even better. Do they ever get big enough to produce more than one replacement tuber?

Too many here are turning yellow with spikes only just showing. Will these abort?

Mark, if possible you should place them somewhere cool and shaded. Resist the temptation to "rescue" them by liberal watering as this will just encourage rot.

[mark smyth]

I've been watering the sand. Tomorrow I'll go and buy some shade cloth

[mark smyth]

This chrysalis, c10mm long. was inside a rolled leaf of an Ophrys insectifera. Because its a moth I'm guessing its an enemy. Although I threw it on the green house floor I know where it is so maybe I should put it in a sample bottle and see what hatches

[SteveC2]

Steve, I have had them make a double tuber such that they perfectly demonstrate why they are called Orchids.  I thought about taking a photo to include in my talks but foolishly didn't as I decided it was a bit risqué.  I have also had the opposite experience where after flowering the next year's tuber is very small.
]Normally I have found the tubers to be roughly spherical, but this year when my very early flowering plant went over I found something more the shape of a Dactylorhiza tuber, but at least it is huge.

[SteveC2]

Too many here are turning yellow with spikes only just showing. Will these abort?

Mark, I would expect the flowers to develop even without much in the way of leaves, presumably using energy from the old tuber, hopefully not the new.

[Maggi Young]

"a bit risqué " to show the tubers in a talk?  Away ye' go - you'll be putting  long covers on your table legs next! 

[mark smyth]

Bumble bees are ruining my orchid flowers by biting their way in to get the nectar - naughty bees!