new secretary the january meeting - oscov.asn.au · pdf fileask questions about all manner of...

THE NEMOS NEWS January 2018. Issue no. 298 The monthly newsletter of the

North East Melbourne Orchid Society Inc. President: Michael Coker Secretary: Peter Moskovic

Editor: Alan Rogers ([email protected])

NEMOS meets on the third Monday of each month at the Marwal Centre,

9-11 Marwal Avenue, Balwyn North (Mel. 46-B3) Culture Corner, the early session for new growers,

commences at 7.00 pm (except in December).

NEW SECRETARY

Alison & Peter Moskovic have both agreed to join the Committee, with Peter taking on the role of Secretary. This is great news for the continuing successful running of NEMOS.

THE JANUARY MEETING

Our guest speaker for 15th January will be Lilanga Balachandra. - Her topic will be Orchids of Sri Lanka. As usual each January, Dick Thomson will replace Alan Hope in Culture Corner – Dick will tell us how he grows and re-pots his Australian terrestrial orchids, and will have dormant tubers and potting mix for sale, so please bring cash!

NEW MEMBER

We welcome Peter Chen

of Bullen

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Dear NEMOS Members,

By the time you read this message it will be 2018! Has anyone made a resolution about something to change in their orchid life? What about changing your growing environment a little? What about changing your watering or fertilising regime a little? What about trying to

grow a new genus? A New Year is a good opportunity to change things up, or take on a challenge you have been thinking about for a while but haven't yet been brave enough to try. Be prepared to volunteer some suggestions that our next meeting – I will ask the attendees for their thoughts on the subject!

Our Christmas meeting was a great success. The catering was very good, Carmen had put together some fantastic hampers for the raffle, and I was delighted to win one of them! The auction also went very well – thanks to Julian for helping sell the plants, and of course, many thanks to all of our members who donated one or more items for the auction. There were some great lots on offer – so much so that I ended up buying $155 worth of new orchids!

At our January meeting Lilanga Balachandra will be our guest speaker. Her topic will be Orchids of Sri Lanka. I am very much looking forward to Lilanga’s presentation – it is great to have one of our relatively new members take on a speaking role. When I visited Sri Lanka in 2016 – it was only for a few days and I did not see many orchids, although I am aware that there are numerous species native to that country. I am sure that many of us have one or more Sri Lankan orchids in our collections – it will be very interesting to see the range of orchids in the country and hopefully glean some growing tips from Lilanga’s talk.

For those of you who have Facebook profiles – I recommend that you join the Australian Orchid forums, particularly Orchid Species Journal, Orchid growers Australia and Orchid Culture & Advice Australia. These forums are great ways to ask questions about all manner of orchid growing, see members’ photos of their plants and growing conditions, and make new friends yourselves. I'm a member of all 3 of those forums (as well as a number of others) and they have all enriched my Orchid experience over time.

That’s all for now – see you at the January meeting.

Kind regards, MJC

Page ! THE NEMOS NEWS: January 20181

Material for The NEMOS News

Do you have any tips or tricks for growing orchids, orchids you would like to brag about, even problems you would like an answer for? Please do not hesitate to send the details to me and I will publish it.

Wanted to Buy Are you looking for that ‘special’ orchid? Just

let the Editor know, as a member may have a spare plant they are willing to let you have

Arrangements can then be made between you.

Members enjoying themselves at the Christmas Dinner

The Christmas Auction table >>

Photos of Monthly Show Bench Winners

Some of you may have noticed me playing with my new iPad toy taking photos at the last meeting. Still need to refine my techniques, but I will continue as the photos came in useful for interpreting the results sheets, and also for the TNN results photos.

To make sure your winning orchid gets its picture taken, please come and see me at the end of the meeting.

Alan ————————————————

Orchids for sale/give away

Mike Pender is still downsizing and has Australian Dendrobiums and Sarcochilus in large numbers plus a few odds and ends.

Phone 9439 1716 for appointment


Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’ by Brian Milligan

Fred Pike was an inaugural member of NEMOS, one of a select number of orchid growers who helped to establish our Society in 1993. Five years ago Fred, now in his nineties, sold his house in Balwyn North and joined his wife in Faversham House, a retirement village in Canterbury. Prior to doing so, Fred sold most of his large orchid collection until only 50 plants remained. I then cared for these and sold them on Fred’s behalf on the NEMOS sales bench over the next few months. Eventually all that remained was an un-labelled compot containing five recently de-flasked seedlings, each of them bearing a single small leaf. Over the last five years I have raised these plants to flowering size. The first of them flowered last Christmas, and was easily identified as the well-known American species Brassia verrucosa.

Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’

A year later, four of the five plants have now flowered – all with inflorescences bearing essentially identical flowers. Three of these plants carried 1, 5 and 7 inflorescences but the fourth was except iona l in tha t i t ca r r ied 18 inflorescences, far more than I have ever seen on any Brassia verrucosa – and fully warranting its cultivar name ‘Fred Pike’! It was shown at the NEMOS Christmas meeting, where it earned a Club Cultural Certificate.

In nature Brassia verrucosa is found in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, where it grows on trees in evergreen or semi-deciduous trees at elevations between 900 m and 2400 m, and flowers between late spring and early autumn. Although the inflorescences are said to carry between 10 and 20 flowers, all of Fred’s plants averaged about 10 blooms on each inflorescence. The pale green sepals and petals carry darker green or brown spots, while the lower half of the whitish labellum is covered with dark green warts.

Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’

BM


Australian Dendrobium hybrids and pulling down the sheath.Also known as "Tulip Leaf"

Really import tip!

Sometimes growing orchids can be intimidating and somewhat difficult. Here is a great tip used by all the best Australian Dendrobium growers.

All hybrids that have Dendrobium Star of Gold 'Bathurst' in their background seem to suffer from this affliction.

The next generation to use Star of Gold 'Bathurst' had this genetic fault also.

The famous Yondi Tina 'Goliath' FCC is the worst for perpetuating the fault.

“Tulip Leaf” is when the protective young leaf sheath surrounds the expanding new growth strangles the young leaves into a water holding cup like a tulip flower.

The problem then lies in the fact this holds water. The young new growths tend to produce sugary liquids to attract ants and this mixes with trapped water to ferment and rot the new cane.

All the examples shown below are Dendrobium Brimbank Gold. A wonderful gold bloom, but a complete must for sheath peeling.

In a hobby collection its easily controlled by pealing and sometimes minor surgery, but in a commercial situation its just too much work. Better to try and breed it out. So how to do? Easy, just pinch the leaf fine sheath and peal it down to allow the water to escape. If you don't, bacteria and fungus may germinate and damage as shown below

So now you know!


But sometimes its not that easy. The new sheath may not be so papery and may require a scalpel or box cutter to slice down the sheath. This may be necessary if up to three layers of sheath need to be removed. What a bloody nuisance!

Be careful, as if done too early the growth may collapse. Also watch out for the growing flower nodes which look like lemon pips. This is where your blooms may come from.

This procedure may also be needed on Dendrobium speciosum and nearly always on Dendrobium Avril's Gold, even though there is no Star Of Gold in their background.

Warm humid weather and overhead watering also make this rotting more common, as does high temperatures.

It may also be necessary to perform this on plants as young as 50mm tubes. Below also shows the

botrytis attack from Tulip leaf I just caught before losing the growth. As now exposed to air, it should dry and heal. Reprinted with permission from Wayne Turville, Ausralian Orchid Nursery. https://www.australianorchids.com.au

——————————

WILL MY CYMBIDIUMS FLOWER THIS YEAR?

Several factors will determine whether our cymbidiums will flower well this year or not. Certainly, those plants that have been well grown will flower better than sickly ones that are struggling to survive. Large pseudobulbs usually produce strong spikes with many flowers. But not always! Plants that have been heavily fertilised throughout the year with nitrogen-rich fertilisers do not always flower well. To achieve good flowering, one should use a balanced fertiliser containing reasonable proportions of potassium and phosphorus as well as nitrogen.

No matter how well you fertilise your cymbidiums, they will not flower well unless they have received sufficient light. Growing them in the shade of trees is a very poor compromise to growing them in a properly constructed shadehouse fitted with the appropriate grade of shadecloth. Of course you are wasting your time if you build the shadehouse under a tree! It should be located where it receives direct sunlight for most or all of the day. Shadecloth which nominally blocks 50% of the light is generally recommended for Melbourne, although some


https://www.australianorchids.com.au

growers obtain excellent results with less shading. White shadecloth provides very good light dispersion, but it is visually obtrusive, and its use is prohibited by some councils.

Cymbidiums benefit from full sunlight during the winter months, and some growers remove their shadecloth then. But bear in mind that cymbidium flowers fade rapidly in direct sunlight, so flowering plants will have to be moved to a shady spot for best results on the show bench.

Flowering is not solely influenced by the choice of fertiliser or the level of sunlight that the plants receive. Your cymbidiums are probably deciding at this very minute whether they will flower or not, because it is during the months of December, January and February that most flower buds are initiated. This initiation of flower buds occurs in response to a substantial drop in temperature. It is believed that the temperature must fall below 13oC for several nights in succession, at least. Fortunately, most Victorians, South Australians and Tasmanians find it easy to grow and flower cymbidiums. In contrast, coastal Queenslanders find it difficult to flower most cymbidiums, although they grow well there. Only those hybrids bred from heat-tolerant species flower well in Queensland.

Victorians can encourage their cymbidiums to flower by watering their plants in the evening on hot days. Not only does it help to relieve stress (personal as well as plant stress), but it also helps to drop the temperature to that magical 13oC mark overnight.

No matter how well you grow your plants, it is unlikely that they will all flower. There is no doubt that some hybrids flower more readily than others, so it's not necessarily the grower's fault. Also, f lowering places extra s tress on cymbidiums, and ifs often observed that particular plants flower best every alternate year.

Novice growers are often so proud of their flowers that they leave them on the plant until the lips bleed, or even until the flowers collapse. Do not do it! It places great stress on the plant and it will affect next year's flowering. Cymbidium flowers

last almost as long in a vase as on the plant if they're picked at the optimum time. Generally that’s believed to be 7-10 days after the last bud has opened. Cut flower life can be extended by cutting about lcm off the end of the stem under water each week (pedantic readers should hold their breath!) The channels in the flower stem become clogged at the cut end with time. so cutting off the tip permits better water transport up the stem.

There is no doubt that cymbidiums flower better in some years than others. So if you follow the above advice and your plants still don't flower, don’t blame me! BM

Reprinted from TNN January 1994

SHOW-BENCH RESULTS FOR DECEMBER

OPEN SECTION

DENDROBIUM HYBRID 1st. Akatuki Queen x Golden Blossom B. & L. Milligan 2nd. Bohemian Rhapsody A. Hope MASDEVALLIA HYBRID 1st. Gairiana A. Hope 2nd. Rouge ‘California’ (= Vin Rouge) A. Hope ONCIDIINAE ALLIANCE: Miltoniopsis Hybrid 1st. Miltoniopsis Crimson Cascade M. Coker PAPHIOPEDILUM: Maudiae Style Hybrid 1st. Rhynchostele Violetta von Holm M. Coker PAPHIOPEDILUM: Novelty Style Hybrid 1st. Ho Chi Minh x hangianum = Paphiopedilum Hung Sheng Pink Snow M. Coker 2nd. Jogjae M. Coker PAPHIOPEDILUM SPECIES 1st. superbiens M. Coker 2nd. wardii M. Coker 3rd. gratrixianum A. Hope PHALAENOPSIS HYBRID 1st. Zwingli ‘Point’ A. Hope 2nd. Brother Precious Stones A. Hope 3rd. Pinlong Christmas A. Hope


SPECIES: AMERICAN 1st. Miltonia vexillara F. & J. Coker 2nd. Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’ B. & L. Miligan 3rd. Prosthechea prismatocarpa M. Coker SPECIES: ASIAN 1st. Dendrobium chryseum B. & L. Milligan 2nd. Vanda tricolor P. & G. Young 3rd. Bulbophyllum wendlandianum A. Hope SPECIES: ANY OTHER REGION 1st. Disa uniflora M. Pender 2nd. Disa uniflora M. Pender 3rd. Disa tripetaloides M. Pender ANY OTHER HYBRID 1st. Disa Kalahari Sands #1 B. & L. Milligan 2nd. Disa Kalahari Sands #2 B. & L. Milligan 3rd. Disa Kalahari Sands #3 B. & L. Milligan

INTERMEDIATE SECTION AUSTRALIAN NATIVE SPECIES 1st. Sarcochilus ceciliae I. Forrest PHALAENOPSIS HYBRID 2nd. Unknown J. Newitt SPECIES: AMERICAN 1st. Cattleya purpurata I. Forrest 2nd. Cattleya purpurata I. Forrest

NOVICE SECTION AUSTRALIAN NATIVE SPECIES 1st. Cymbidium suave G. Montalto LAELIINAE ALLIANCE HYBRID: Nov. Style 1st. C. Caudabec Candy x Rhy. Love Sound M. Prickett MASDEVALLIA HYBRID 1st. Frosty Stripe ‘Beenak’ M. Prickett 2nd. (Red Hot Chilli x macrura) = Chillimac M. Prickett ONCIDIINAE ALLIANCE: A.O.S.H. 1st. Oncostele Wildcat ‘I-Hsin’ M. Prickett 2nd. Colmanara Wildcat ‘Bloodshot’ = Oncostele Wildcat ‘Bloodshot’ B.& L. Lawrence PAPHIOPEDILUM: MAUDIAE STYLE 1st. Mad? (= Mod?) Maude G. Montalto PAPHIOPEDILUM: NOVELTY STYLE 1st. Rosy Dawn G. Montalto PAPHIOPEDILUM SPECIES 1st. niveum M. Prickett PHALAENOPSIS HYBRID

1st. Unknown C. Gobbi 2nd. Unknown C. Gobbi VANDACEOUS ALLIANCE HYBRID 1st. Ascocenda Princess Mikasa = Vanda Princess Mikasa M. Prickett SPECIES: AMERICAN 1st. Cattleya intermedia M. Prickett SPECIES: ASIAN 1st. Dendrobium loddigesii B. Lawrence 2nd. Phalaenopsis violacea M. Prickett 3rd. Dendrobium loddigesii A. Rogers

THE BIG WINNERS

JUDGES’ VOTE & BEST IN OPEN SECTION

Disa Kalahari Sands Brian & Lorraine Milligan


POPULAR VOTE & BEST IN INTERMEDIATE SECTION

Sarcochilus ceciliae Ian Forrest

BEST IN NOVICE SECTION

Oncostele Wildcat ‘I-Hsin’ Meg Prickett

BEST SEEDLING FLOWERING FIRST TIME

Sarcochilus ceciliae John Newitt

BEST CULTURE

Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’ Brian & Lorraine Milligan

CLUB CULTURAL CERTIFICATES Brassia verrucosa ‘Fred Pike’ Brian & Lorraine Milligan Sarcochilus ceciliae Ian Forrest


new secretary the january meeting - oscov.asn.au · pdf fileask questions about all manner of...

Documents