Orchid blog
This blog is dormant at the moment, but it is still getting a lot of visitis so I will keep it up for you guys as a resource. My future adventures will be published on my new blog, hope to see you there!
My focus… if pressed to name favorites it would have to be orchids of the Pleurothallid Alliance. But a Paphiopedilum was the first orchid I ever fell in love with so slipper orchids will always be close to my heart, and while we are on the subject I might as well disclose a love affair with Neofinetia as well.
Nematode warfare round 2
It is fungus gnat season again... sigh! They love warm wet vivariums and now it is summer with a lot warmer temperatures - which was followed by an explosive increase in fungus gnats. They look like a small mosquito and some mistake them for the harmless common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster). It is called Sciara hemerobioides, or dark-winged fungus gnats ("sorgmyggor" in Swedish). You can tell them apart by watching how they act. The fungus gnat often run [...]
Cool vivarium – an even cooler installation
Perhaps it was wishful thinking believing that I was going to be able to cool the new cool vivarium all summer only with the help of outside air. But not really... we normally do not have such nice weather. I am not complaining mind you, it really is taboo to complain about "nice" weather in Sweden. It has been very warm here lately and last night I actually installed a small portable air conditioner for cooling the cool [...]
Dracula erythrochaete
This is a nice little cool growing Dracula from the cloud forests of Costa Rica and Panama where it grows at altitudes up to 1100 to 2100 meters. The flower measures approximately 5 cm so it is quite large in relation to the plant. It will produce about 2-3 flowers per inflorescence, one after the other. I got this in a trade with a friend last fall and it is now blooming for the first time. [...]
Lepanthes caprimulgus
I have recently become quite fascinated with Lepanthes, a very interesting large genus with ith about 700 species of strange looking flowers with neat colorations. I chose caprimulgus as my first Lepanthes because I love the stripes, and seeing it in bloom for the first time is very exciting!! I just bought it from Peru Flora back in April so it did not take long for it to adjust to its new life in my cool viv. I grow [...]
Cattleya forbesii
I have had an incredibly busy start to the summer, my lovely sister is getting married tonight... congratulations!! But there is also a lot blooming in the orchid room, I just need to find the time to share it with you all! Well, here comes a first summer greeting at last. My Cattleya forbesii is treating me to four lovely flowers this season, two per inflorescence. C. forbesii is named after the English orchid collector Forbes [...]
Phalaenopsis cornu-cervi
This is one of by absolute favorite Phalaenopsis species. It is a hot growing epiphyte/litofyphyte found accross Indo-China to western Malesia and Philippines where it grows at altitudes of 200 to 1000 meters. The common name is the deer antlered Phalaenopsis, and you can kind of see why although some clones have much more pronounced antler shaped petals than mine. The shape of the flowers and the high gloss waxy appearance is what I really like best [...]