They may say that one who is waiting for something good can never wait too long… but I am starting to feel the time crunch now… I have a lot of plants coming from Peru in a few weeks and I am nowhere near ready for them. I have ordered a lot of gear for the new cool vivarium, but two weeks have passed and only about half has arrived. The viv. has been standing like an […]
Finally there is a new large terrarium standing in the orchid room. Empty as of yet, but full of promise. This is truly a Valentine’s Day gift right up my alley, much better than roses!
I will convert this terrarium into a cool vivarium and create my own little orchid cloud forest in there. Well, perhaps “little” is an inappropriate description since it measures 175 cm wide, 160 cm high and 65 cm deep. A significant […]
It has been quite exciting to follow the development of the Prosthechea cochleata seed pod over the past few weeks. It has been swelling rather quickly and it has been a thrill to watch as it is my first pollination attempt. Then things started going wrong… The new bud forming on this years new bulb started turning brown, I did not see any […]
One week has passed since my first pollination attempt and, impatient as I am, I feel that it is time for a status update. In the right corner we have the graceful Paphiopedilum Vinicolor and in the left corner, the faithful bloomer Prosthechea cochleata.
The P. Vinicolor flower have now started […]
The congenial morning cup of coffee gave way to much more indecent ideas as the second bud on the voluptuous Vinicolor begun to unfold. The first flower was still in fine form and with one more on the way I felt the first could be sacrificed for science… or at least some experimenting. I have never pollinated an orchid before, but I have […]
Oh this is sooo exciting! My very first flask baby to flower – and she did it in record time! This Oerstedella centradenia came from Roellke in Germany and it was flasked out in May of 2008. That makes a trip from flask to flower of no more than 1,5 years. Impressive!
Both of the original shoots are producing buds now, and there are […]
Back in April (5 months ago) I decided to start a little experiment with Masdevallia and different growing mediums. Until then I had only cultivated my Masdevallia i sphagnum moss, but I wanted to try goring them in semi-hydro volcanic rock. I had two near identical M. tovarensis orchids so they were a logical choice for my small experiment. Warning: Sweeping generalizations and vague scientific conclusions ahead.
Here is the report on the result.
The control, Masdevallia […]
So a whole bunch of the little flask babies I ordered from Equatorial Plants last summer got to move out of the nursery this week. It was a pretty big job, but really fun to see how much the little guys have grown in about 9 months. It is almost like giving birth, well I am sure my dear sister would […]
I have decided to start a little experiment testing potting media with Masdevallias. I happen to have two lovely Masdevallia tovarensis orchids that need to be repotted, so they have been volunteered for the project.
I plan to place one back in sphagnum moss, like they both have been cultivated for the […]
Now, all interior for the new vivarium is finished. I am just going to run it overnight to check how hot it gets in there with the ceramic heatlamp (60W). Tomorrow a few orchids can move in. I am plannign on hanging some orchids on the sides and back wall then keep pots on the bottom.
