House orchids 2011

[Hans J]

I have to confess that I'm not a big lover of Orchidaceae ....I grow only few Bletilla ,Pleione....
In last year my wife got as a gift a pot with a Cypripedium Phalaenopsis- it looks nice and we let it in our kitchen .After some weeks the flowers where faded and I cut the flowerstem .The plant looks healthy and so I decide to give it a new compost ( only pure pine bark ) ....to my big surprise in December start a new flowerstem which grows bigger and bigger .....I could see there was a lot of buds ( 20 !!! )
Now since two weeks are many flowers open - really nice !
Here are two pics of this pretty plant :
I have no idea which kind of Phalaenopsis ( or hybrid ) this is -sorry

Enjoy
Hans

[Pascal B]

Hans...ehrmmmmm...., that is a Phalaenopsis hybrid.....

Better value for money than any bouquet of flowers.

[Maggi Young]

I'll re-name this thread for other houseplant orchids for the year.

What a super display of bloom on the Phaelanopsis, Hans. They are called in English "Moth" orchids because of their flowers with pretty "wings".
One of the most reliable house plants and so beautiful.

[Hans J]

Oooops ....sorry 

as I told ...I have no idea for orchideace ....

Thank Maggi for re-naming !

Hans

[Pascal B]

I was in a big local garden centre yesterday and the range of Phalaenopsis hybrids is enormous! Specially the spotted ones are great introductions and they now also have "mini" series, hardly bigger than 20 cm in full flower. They are indeed great house plants being able to put up with about anything, that's why I said they are better value for money than a bouquet of flower, they are cheaper than flowers and last for many years. Although my mum might not be that happy with me because I brought them with me on several occasions and she now has a window sill with only Phalaenopsis....

[Graham Catlow]

That's a really nice Phaelonopsis Hans.
The flower colours and pterns have really developed over the past few years. They are really a much better buy than a bunch of flowers.

This thread gives me the opportunity to show my Rhynchostylis gigantea 'Spot' that is in flower now and for the first time. I bought it as a young plant three years ago. The scent is an amazing bonus. Can't describe it. It isn't overpowering just scenting the room nicely.

[Maren]

Hallo Hans,

that's a pretty Phalaenopsis, and you have looked after it so well. As far as naming is concerned, no chance, I'm afraid. Phalaenopsis are grown in vast numbers in Dutch horticulture. Their methods are fascinating. Everything is computer controlled to reduce human intervention. In some of the very advanced nurseries, plants are weighed individually to find out about their development, and feed is automatically adjusted where a plant is behind. This results in large quantities of identical plants of high quality.

Most of the young hybrid plants are bought in mini cells from Taiwan, where breeding / hybridising of Phalaenopsis and other tropical orchids make a significant contribution to the country's income.

None of these hybrids are named when they come on the market; they come with barcodes that allow some tracing back if there is a problem. Putting name labels on individual plants would be far too expensive. These plants are destined for the pot plant market, and what a success they've been. - Well done!

[Hans J]

Thank you Maren and Graham !

sometimes is it better not to read in books for advices ....

Hans

[Maren]

Last not least, that's a terrific Rhynchostylis gigantea 'Spot'. I see you grow it in a glass vase. I might try that.

[Graham Catlow]

Last not least, that's a terrific Rhynchostylis gigantea 'Spot'. I see you grow it in a glass vase. I might try that.

Thanks Maren,
I grow my Ascada's and Vandas the same way.
I fill the vases with warmed water twice a week for about 20mins or so. Once every fortnight I add liquid fertilser to the water.

[Pascal B]

Maren,

In the small town I live in one of the biggest Phalaenopsis nurseries in Holland is situated (http://floricultura.nl/hfdprdgroups.asp?id=145572). I once visited the place with friends of mine from India that have an orchid nursery in W Bengal and we were all blown away by how they work. At first I thought everyone was on a lunch break (except the ladies doing the sterile meristeming) because it was very quiet. During the tour however they told us they only enter the glasshouses in case of mechanical failure and once a week to check the pest indicators. Everything else is completely computer controlled, not a single hand was needed so very few people actually take care of the plants, they only take care of the computers. Amazing to watch. They produce some 4 million plants a year this way.....

[Maren]

Pascal,

I'd love to see that; alas, my knowledge is only second hand from people who work in such nurseries and exhibit at the orchid shows in this country.

Were you allowed to take pictures? 

[Pascal B]

Pascal,

Were you allowed to take pictures? 

I probably was allowed but had no camera with me, sorry. Thought it would be interesting for my guests, didn't expect to be impressed myself because I visited the place years before and then it was still a "normal" nursery. However, the normal nurseries that cater for the orchid enthusiast decrease in number. It is not that the market gets smaller, for some buying or getting a Phalaenopsis is the start to get interested in botanical orchids, but the cost of running a low scale place gets too high so the few left are either holding on or make the transition to the large scale automated nursery.

But it takes just one visionary nurseryman to pick up on a trend and before you know it you can buy some "house-proof" Pleione hybrid on a large scale at the supermarket the same way you can by potted hyacinths as the heralds of spring.... Stranger things have happened. Phalaenopsis were rare and exotic plants about 10-15 years ago and one of the grandparents of the modern hybrids, P. amabilis, still does best in a high humidity greenhouse so I am surprised how easy the modern hybrids can put up with overwatering and central heating.

In Holland you have "open nursery days" where once a year most nurseries in the industry open their doors for everyone to visit (this year 2nd and 3rd of April) and a photo-ban would not be practical. Further down the road there is an equally impressive producer of young bromeliad plants (www.bromeliad.com) that works the same way. Kinda odd if you consider the fact that the small farmer town I live in is far away from the Aalsmeer area with all the really big glasshouses and basically consists of a 3 mile long road with both nurseries at the end of it. Both nurseries started out small years back, I still remember so I must be getting old....

[Maren]

Thanks for mentioning the date, I have put it into my diary. I have no interest or funds to go that way myself, but I find all this stuff most interesting. I suppose having been an IT person during my professional life may have something to do with it.
I also understand that Dutch horticulture is developing some revolutionary concepts in heating, based on non-carbon inputs. All of this is most enticing, but the start-up investment is way beyond my reach, so I can only admire these technological breakthroughs from a distance. I hope to learn more in time.

[monocotman]

Maggi,

so glad you've created this thread!
I've been experimenting with growing various orchids in the house for the past three years.
I used to have a heated greenhouse full of them but lost it after a house move.
So what will and won't grow in the lower light and drier atmosphere of the house?
First photo shows the general set up. A series of trays filled with pebbles sat on a trolley in front of an east facing window in the kitchen diner.
This is a fairly cool room as no one is home during the day. Temeratures vary from 10-17 degrees c.
The orchids spend most of the year here but go into the cold greenhouse for a few months in the summer. They seem to like it underneath the tomatoes.
Cymbidiums seem to be fairly straight forward. This is a large NOID cym bought last year. This year there are four spikes. These new hybrids from Holland seem to be easier to flower than older ones - the spikes are shorter so maybe cost the plant less energy and are therfore produced more easily.
Next is a dendrobium kingianum hybrid. These again seem to be easy, growing in summer and resting/flowering in the winter.
Paphiopedilums seem to be a mixed bag. This is Paph Dorama and pretty close to paph insigne so fairly tough and vigorous. The maudiae types (next photo) also grow well. Other types do not - it is probably too cold.
The next NOID cattleya hybrid does well - it flowers every January without fail, probably because it grows like the dendrobium, in the warmer summer and rests then flowers in the winter.
I love the phragmipedium hybrids and these sit in half and inch of rain water all year round. They do quite well - this is Memoria Dick Clements ( besseae x sargentianum).
The final photo shows two young phrag hybrids - both are kovachii crosses( x schlimii and x Living Fire). They've recently been potted from a bark mix into Tesco finest cat litter and have really taken off, despite the cool temperatures. Kovachii is supposed to like growing in diatomaceous earth so I thought I'd try the hybrids. They love it,

Regards,

David