Australian native terrestrial orchids

[Maggi Young]

Of course I don't!   

That's fine then, so long as you realise! 

[Darren]

Time to cover up the buds on Corybas.

At least here in the UK, Corybas are prone to aborting their flowers if they get too warm or dry at this stage in their development, so the trick is to keep the humidity up until the flowers open, I either pop the whole pot into a loosely closed polythene bag, or upend a clear plastic pot over them.

Below is Corybas incurvus in bud and under cover!

[Darren]

Eric, I've been scouring my literature on Diuris longifolia, corymbosa, and maculata.

True Diuris longifolia often grows with D corymbosa and hence is often mistaken for it. It has more mauve flowers and is equally shy flowering so my advice still stands. D corymbosa is often sold as D longifolia, though the long thin tubers are apparently only shared by D corymbosa and D emarginata among the cultivated species. Therefore I think these tubers probably are D coymbosa. The rounded tuber might however be true longifolia. I found a picture of the tubers of D maculata and they seem identical to your oval tuber so it could also be this. Confused? so am I!

[Eric Locke]

Darren ,thanks again for your interesting researched information. It will be very interesting to see which species I have.
Most of the Thelymitra also have question marks against them with Ixiodes mentioned as a possiblity for some . All however are nice large tubers, so hopefully some flowers soon.
Also included was a tuber of Arachnorchis Dilata and also  Lobelia Gibbosa that has very orchid like tubers growing along it"s very long fleshy roots.

Do you find Corybas difficult.?

Eric

[Darren]

Eric - I grow two species of Corybas. Incurvus & diemenicus.  Incurvus is easier and I've maintained it for about 12 years, with modest increase. It is less keen to flower than diemenicus. Diemenicus I've had twice. The first lot did very well (I was even giving them away at one point) until they crashed one year (virus?) and I had no survivors. Richard Manuel kindly re-stocked me about 5 years ago and I've had no problem with the new ones so far. Other than needing rather more shade and humidity than the other Australian terrestrials, they don't seem too difficult.

[Darren]

A month later and the Corybas are in flower. Light was lousy for taking pics so I've posted two taken this week last year. The flowers on each are no more than 15mm across. First is Corybas diemenicus, second is C. incurvus.

[Eric Locke]

Nice Darren I must give these a try if I can find any.

Have just recently been in contact with Paul Christian who often in the past have stocked many Australian Orchids .He tells me that due to the cities fee being raised from £5-£85 per genus ,it is now not worth his while unless he can find stocks from Europe.
I was looking particularly this year for Thelymitra hybrids and now wish I had purchased these last year.

Eric

[Paul Cumbleton]

Hi Darren,
What potting medium do you use for your Corybas?
I did have some once from Paul Christian but they never grew.

Cheers
Paul

[Darren]

Hi Paul,

They are in a mix which comprises my usual Australian terrestrial mix (20% 'toresa' 40% Seramis and 40% perlite) but mixed with a bit more humus in the form of fine composted bark. In the wild I believe many of these grow semi-epiphytically in the moss around tree or tree-fern trunks and I think a compost which suits Himalayan Pleione (or P forrestii) would probably suit them actually. Think good moisture retention, slightly acid pH and excellent drainage. Humidity is also crucial, especially as the buds develop. I don't grow them anything like as well as Richard Manuel does, so do ask him if you see him at a show.

'Toresa' - this is a treated wood-fibre product used by terrestrial orchid growers in continental Europe. It resembles coir fibre or rock-wool in texture and provides humus in a form acceptable to mycorrhizae plus good drainage and moisture retention properties. It lasts rather longer than many other forms of humus without decomposing and compacting.

I don;t know why yours didn't grow but freshly imported Corybas are quite tricky to turn round to our seasons as the tuberoids are really tiny (think of a bit of perlite) and are more vulnerable than most to over-drying if you try to keep them dormant until our autumn arrives. And if you plant them on arrival in our spring and they have not had a sufficient dormancy then they won't grow but simply rot away. A gamble either way!

[Peter Maguire]

Darren,

Do you have a source for Toresa in the UK? I think that Heinrich Bayerle sells it, and I had some tubers from him last year packed in the stuff, but I'd rather buy it locally if possible to keep the shipping costs down.

[Darren]

Peter - you could try Laneside alpines & Hardy Orchids near Preston. He (Jeff) is certainly aware of the stuff and it is mentioned in some links to his nursery. I've always bought mine from Heinrich. One of his 1 litre packs expands quite a lot and does me for a couple of years.

[Peter Maguire]

Thanks Darren, I'll try Heinrich. I wasn't sure how far one pack would go, and how many to order.

[Maren]

My Sun Orchid (Thelymitra nuda) has been flowering all week - the sun was shining, that's why. I took it to a show yesterday and the sun shone all day, so it obliged and created quite a little bit of interest.

[Eric Locke]

Nice Maren.
I am eagerly awaiting mine to open too.

Eric

[Darren]

There were a few Thelymitra in flower on wednesday afternoon when I got home but was too frazzled to take pictures and now the weather has gone cool so they won't open!

Here is the only Caladenia which does well for me - it is C. Harlequin x C. flava.