Current Blooms

Lc Puppy Love 'True Beauty'

Current Bloomers

Dendrobium NOID, mounted on driftwood.



Cattleya maxima

Current Bloomers

Howeara Lava Burst 'Puanani'



Epicattleya Siam Jade 'AVO'


Diacattleya Chantily Lace 'Twinkle'

C. Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin'

Recent Flower Photos

Hawkinsara Sogo Doll 'Jennifer'



Phaleonopsis (hybrid, unidentified)



Encyclia prismatocarpa


Blc. Waianae Leopard 'Ching Hua'

04/14/2009 - Blc. Sanyang Ruby 'Sin May'

This plant is a recent purchase. It was already in bud when I got it so I can't take credit for the flowers.
We will see next year how the plant performs at bloom time.

04/09/2009 - New flowers update

Cattleya maxima

I bought this about two years ago as NBS (Near blooming size) which means that it is anywhere between 1 to 3 years from blooming.

Some online vendors claim that their plants are NBS but could actually fall into these other size categories:
ksNBS = kinda-sorta near blooming size.
dpNBS = definitely probably near blooming size.

And then there is the dreaded nNBS = Nowhere near blooming size.

I'm glad the plant I got was closer to actual blooming size.









Unidentified cymbidium
Something happened to this plant and only produced four oversized flowers.
Cymbidiums normally produce long inflorescences with smaller flowers.




Assorted epidendrums

01/20/2009 Its a new year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

I know its several days late but I have been quite busy with chores (gardening and otherwise).
It is starting to warm up again and I have retired the electric heaters. They are back in storage until they are called up to service again next winter.

It is getting quite windy and several of my bubble wrap sheets around the greenhouse are getting ripped out.

Overall, the greenhouse and the inhabitants handled this winter quite well. There are a few orchids that are in bud and I hope to see more around spring-autumn.

12/24/2008 - Winter Chills Approaching

Winter is starting to show its bite.
The temperatures are starting to dip into the low 30s (F)so the greenhouse needed two electric heaters just to keep warm.

None of the orchids are showing any signs of complaining though. I guess they know that any temperature inside the greenhouse will be a lot better than outside.
A couple of mornings already, we woke up to see everything coated in a light layer of frost. Most of the trees in the backyard are starting to go into dormancy.

10/07/2008 - Some orchids in bloom

Just some orchids that are in bloom in the greenhouse.

A NOID Dendrobium mounted on driftwood.






Another NOID Dendrobium mounted on driftwood.



Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin'

10/28/2008 - Lc Longriver Compton 'Golden Star' FCC/AOS

Here's one for all you floofy fans.
Large plant, large flowers.

10/09/2008 - C. Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin' x Self update

Here is the growing seed pod.
I anticipate it to be much bigger in the coming weeks.

10/09/2008 - October weather swings!

Yes folks, it is October again - the season of the dreaded drastic diurnals for my local area.

This is the usual time when summer and winter forces are duking it out and leaving dead orchids in their wake. And add to that the occasional Santa Ana winds and you could have dead plants from your neighbor's garden landing in your yard.
Daytime highs can peak at 100F outside the greenhouse and then dip into 50F at night.

So during the day I have the greenhouse in "summer mode". Misters active, exhaust fan and HAFs running full blast, etc.
But after sunset its time for "winter mode", I shut off the water supply, bring the electric heater into the GH plug it in and make sure all the auto-vents have sealed shut.
The next morning, I remove the heater and open the water supply and the cycles starts all over again.

I cannot leave the heater inside the greenhouse during the day because I dont want to risk getting it wet or damp with the misters active. The last thing I want is a deep-fried gardener (ME!) in my greenhouse!

I anticipate this routine to go on for a few more weeks until summer finally gives up and I can permanently shut down the misters until next summer.

09/23/2008 - Orchid Detox: Update

All the plants are growing nicely.
So far they do not seem to miss all the other supplemental ingredients that I used to give them.
But it is still too early at this point to tell if the new feeding regimen is better than the previous system.

09/23/2008 - C. Hawaiian Wedding Song self pollination update

Here's a picture of the seed pod today.
This thing is growing fast.

09/18/2008 - C. Hawaiian Wedding Song self pollination update

Since the two seed pods were visibly swelling and developing well, I decided to cut away one of the seed pods to allow the plant to focus energy on the single remaining pod. I believe that this will give one seed pod a better chance of growing properly instead of having the plant divide its resources to sustain two seed pods.

I will keep you posted on the progress of the seed pod in the coming months.

09/16/2008 - New Hybrid attempt failed

I checked the ovary of the pollinated cattleya this morning and it was turning yellow.
Clear signs that the pollination did not take place.
There are a couple of reasons why it could have failed.
1. I did not properly insert the pollinia into the stigma.
2. The two hybrids are probably incompatible.

Another remote possibility is that the Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace (Diacattleya) is a sterile hybrid. I will need to research that some more.

This was the hybrid attempt between the Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin' and Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle' (Syn. Diacattleya)

Attempting a new orchid hybrid

This afternoon I have decided to attempt hybridizing two orchids that I have in the greenhouse.

Pod parent: Cattleya Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin'


Pollen Parent: Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle' (Syn. Diacattleya)


Comparison of the plant and flower sizes of the parents:






Pollen removed from the pollen parent:


Pollen attached to the stigma of the pod parent:


So in a few months I will find out of the seed pod is viable and will then attempt to germinate the seeds.
If that process is successful, then I have between four to eight years to wait if this breeding results in any desirable flowers.

John

09/07/2007 - Diacattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle' HCC/AOS

I have had a hard time trying to get this plant to bloom successfully. It had produced inflorescences in the past but the flower buds keep failing at the last moment.

This time it produced two inflorescences with only two flower buds each. The buds did not fail though, and here is a close up of one of the flowers.



This orchid is synonymous to Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle' HCC/AOS.

09/07/2008 - Orchid Pollination Attempt

I attempted a self crossing of two C. Hawaiian Wedding Song 'Virgin' flowers friday afternoon.
It looks like the flowers recognized the pollination attempt and the ovaries are visibly swelling.

Since it takes several months for the seed pods to mature, it will give me time to gather all the necessary materials for seed flasking.
I will also take this time to practice making some flasks to make sure that I have the routine and techniques down before attempting on real orchid seeds.

Here's a picture of the two seed pods growing: