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Fall Greetings! As I write this newsletter on September 30th,
the temperature has not hit 60 degrees today. It’s cloudy, the leaves are
falling all around us – Fall is definitely here. I have to admit I have
even turned the heaters on in the greenhouses now as night time low
temperatures have hit the upper 40s already. On Sunday, November 22, 2009 at 4pm I will also be playing a concert at Trinity Episcopal Church in Solebury, PA. This is near the New Hope, PA area. This program will include Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, a different selection of Chopin works, and the Rachmaninoff Sonata once again. For more information visit the Church’s website at Trinity Episcopal Church. Now, on to the orchids. If you have visited us recently, you may have noticed that Greenhouse #1 is looking a little low on inventory. It is our plan to close this house for the winter season. We grow Cattleyas and Oncicium hybrids in there, so we feel we can reduce inventory a little bit and still offer a great selection of Cattleyas in Greenhouse #2 and Oncidiums in Greenhouse #3. I am sure you will not see any gaps in our inventory, just smarter and leaner choices. Closing a greenhouse of this size will afford us a significant savings in our winter propane expense. Although it looks as if this will not be an especially difficult year for fuel prices, it makes sense to save! A quick follow up to the last news letter. I wrote about growing some Oncidium hybrids and Catasetum species in open baskets, without additional media. Some of the other plants we have mounted over the summer include Angraecum didieri, Angraecum leonis, Brassavola acaulis, Sediera japonica, Jumellia commorense, and many Restrepia species. (See Pictures below) All these plants are doing especially well and show good root growth. Some of them have been mounted on cedar shingles and we are discovering that the plants like this material and it works very well. It is also relatively inexpensive. While I still prefer the look of cork for mounting, the price is becoming prohibitive |
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 Brassavola acaulis |
 Sediera japonica |
 Jumellia commorense |
 Restrepia sp. |
I continue to read about orchid culture and enjoy a good experiment from time to time. I should say that I do NOT recommend “experimenting” with your whole collection. If you want to test a new idea on a few plants, it can be fun and educational.
In the past two years, we have changed our Phalaenopsis mix to include about 25% chunky peat moss. The balance of the mix is fir bark, large perlite and charcoal. This is an excellent mix and I highly recommend it. Just for fun, I planted some plants in a mix of 40%, 60% and 100% peat moss. At the end of the year, I found, without question, that these plants had the best root systems of any of my Phalaenopsis. I was pleasantly surprised. My experiment would hardly be considered scientific, but I wonder why more Phalaenopsis are not grown with increased peat moss. It is not terribly expensive. I expect that it breaks down pretty quickly, but we repot our Phalaenopsis every year anyway.
I am
taking this idea to another group of plants this season. I have planted a
group of Maudiae-type Paphiopedilums in our Phal. mix – the one with 25% peat
moss.
It is still early yet, but they seem quite happy at this time. The
real test will come later, perhaps after 6 months, when I pull several out of
the pot to examine the root system. I’ll try to keep you posted. I don’t see
why the Paphs would not like this however. They enjoy a close, moderately moist
mix. Time will tell.
John is surprised, but pleased, to see that our Complex style Paphiopedilums are in bud already (A few pictured below). It seems early to us, but we have had unusually cool night time temperatures since the middle of August. We are also seeing most Phalaenopsis plants in spike at this time also.
 Paph. In-Charm Hamavin |
 Paph. Yerba Buena x Yosemite Moon |
 Paph. In-Charm Greenery x In-Charm White |
 Paph. Hamana Gem |
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A couple of other quick notes: Mark your
Calendar for our next classes:
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To read newsletters you may have missed
click here: May 9, 09;
May 29, 09;
August, 09;
September, 09 |
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