ORCHIDS Vol 86 No. 6 April

Top Dressing Your Orchids pg 264

RETAIN MOISTURE by placing a layer of sphagnum moss at the top of your pot. Newly emerging roots will jump for joy! Environment humidity will also increase.
PREVENT WASHOUT of your fine bark, soil-less or terrestrial mixes by adding a top dressing.
BUFFERS ROOT ZONE pH. Alkaline water? Consider adding acid-generating top dressings to keep your potting mix in the slightly acidic range which is optimal for nutrient availability.
ADD TIMED-RELEASE FERTILIZERS so that nutrients release and wash over your roots every time your water.
Ca & Mg SUPPLEMENTS such as: granular dolomitic lime, crushed oyster shell and steamed bone and fish meal provide essential nutrients. Be aware that they do increase root zone pH.
ORGANIC additives such as Alfalfa Meal increase the organic matter in your potting medium and stimulate microbial life around your orchid roots. It also contains trace minerals and trianconatol, a natural fatty acid growth stimulant. Fish meal is a slow release fertilizer. Kelp is rich in trace minerals, plant growth regulators, vitamins, hormones, amino acids, enzymes and chelated nutrients. (i.e. Purely Organic fertilizer contains alfalfa meal and kelp)

For new members, the American Orchid Society’s ORCHIDS magazine is a monthly must! When you subscribe to a digital or mailed copy, you are invited to view live streaming webinars. You can also view the archives. Visit http://www.aos.org/orchids/webinars.aspx

AOS WEBINAR – Orchid Aquarium / Terrarium Culture
Thursday May 11, 2017 @5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PST
Members Only – Webinar Details Page – Registration Page

Join Daniel Geiger, Ph.D. Curator of Malacology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, California as he presents a fascinating talk on raising orchids in confined spaces, terrariums and aquariums.

– Krystal Goulart (VP & AOS Rep)

ORCHIDS Vol. 86 No. 2 – February Issue

The February issue of Orchids magazine is so stellar that I am highlighting a couple of major articles. Don’t loose this issue under coffee table stacks. If you don’t have it, order it!

Extreme Bulbophylums pg 92
A list of Thomas Mirenda’s top 10 vying for the most bizarre, unearthly and beautiful but putrid smelling. Photos from the Smithsonian’s 40+ year collection with cultural info will WOW you!

Choosing Fertilizer Based on Water Quality pg 108
Wild orchids obtain their moisture through rainfall, dew and mist. This pure water collects dissolved minerals as it percolates down tree organic matter, through soil and rock strata and via waterways. Most orchids enjoy slightly acidic conditions. Too acidic renders most nutrients highly soluble which can lead to nutrient/fertilizer toxicity. Too alkaline can render nutrients insoluble. Balance is the key. Really digest these 9 pages of words of wisdom by legendary Roy Tokunaga to understand how to maintain your root zone pH. Happy roots makes happy plants.

Native Orchids of California pg 118
You now have 40 more reasons to adventure and hunt with abandon in our beautiful state. California boasts 35 species and 5 subspecies throughout all counties but Solano. Use this article as a guide and get hunting after this stormy season ends!

Cattleya Constance Wigan pg 126

A fascinating history on why Cattleya Ophir was preferred over Cattleya Constance Wigan as an important early parent of yellow cattleya hybrids. C. Constance Wigan offers quite the breeding mystery.

–  Krystal Goulart (VP & AOS Rep)

January – A Month to Look Forward to

It is pretty unbelievable to see our January speaker, Fred Clarke, in the December issue of Orchids magazine. Open to page 888 to see Fred receiving the AOSExcellence in Hybridizing Award for his work in the Catasetum Alliance. Then turn to page 920 to see a full page photo of Fredclarkeara Desert Tenor ‘Sunset Valley Orchids’, FCC/AOS, with more to follow in subsequent pages. Impressive and what a way to start off a great New Year for us!

Personal New Year’s resolutions may be hard to manage, but finding a “perfect flower” to add to your collection might be the easiest way to start that journey. Look to the genus Clowesia for that (“perfect” as having bisexual parts) and be impressed by its multi-week flower longevity and 12-30+ flower per infloresence count. Compact, pendulous and some having fragrance, you can easily find space and a reason to collect these fascinating gems.

Read about Clowesia and its Hybrids in the December issue on page 920. This genus only has 7 species and few intrageneric hybrids, but it has been used with great success in breeding with the Catasetum and Mormodia genera to impart and enhance many desirable features.

AOS WEBINAR #1 – Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton
Tuesday, January 10, 2017 @5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PST
Members & Non-Members Invited – Webinar Details Page – Registration Page

Please join Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Director of Education, for a Q&A session on how to grow and care for your orchids. If you have a question, please submit your questions by Sunday, January 8th to stillisch@cox.net

AOS WEBINAR #2 – Novelty Cattleyas with Fred Clarke
Tuesday, January 25, 2017 @5:30 PM – 6:30 PM PST
Members Only – Webinar Details Page – Registration Page

A look at a classic Paphiopedilum hybrid and its breeding influence. Join Dave Sorokowsky, owner of Paph Paradise, as he discusses the interesting history and hybridizing of this delightful Paph. So many of the Paph hybrids have Maudiae in their background; learn how it has influenced hybridizing over the years.

–  Krystal Goulart (VP & AOS Rep)

AOS WEBINARS – Members & Non-Members Invited

The AOS does a great job in offering webinars (online video presentations) to everyone at all hours of the day and night. Greenhouse chats about orchid culture and in-depth discussions regarding your favorite orchid genus, pest management and conservation are but a few of the subjects offered through this
highly accessible service. All you need is access to a computer.

What are the Greenhouse Chats all about? They are Q & A sessions giving broad spectrum overviews of orchid culture. Great for the BEGINNER looking to pinpoint a problem or looking for direction before doing further research. Free to all. September’s session touched on subjects ranging from mealybugs, growing under lights, orchid naming, magic carpets, re-blooming and fertilizer. Ron McHatton speaks to a worldwide audience, so his discussions cover a wide angle view.

Registered and missed it? No worries. You can still watch last September’s webinar, Wonderful World of Phragmipediums by Jason Fischer. Did you know that the most successful pollination of P. besseae occurs within the first 48 hrs of blooming? Get to it!

New to it all? Visit the AOS website and scroll to the bottom. Click on the Webinars image. Scroll through listings of future and past webinars dating back t o March 2014. Register for an upcoming webinar or instantly view an old one! Click on your subject of choice, click watch now, enter your name and email address, click register and instantly watch at your leisure. Press pause, re-wind or fast-forward. Re-watch again! You control it. You don’t have to register for an upcoming webinar to be a part of it.

Please take advantage of this wonderfully educational service. While most webinars are open to non-members, some do require AOS membership – just another great reason to join!

AOS WEBINAR #1 – Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton
Tuesday, November 8, 2016 @ 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST
Members & Non-Members Invited – Visit Registration Page

Please join Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Director of Education, for a Q & A session on how to grow and care for your orchids. If you have questions, please submit them by November 8th to stillisch@cox.net

AOS WEBINAR #2 – How to Grow Killer Odonts Without Getting Frostbite with Russ Vernon
Wednesday, November 16, 2016 @ 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM EST
Members Only – Visit Registration Page

Learn how to grow those fabulous Odontoglossums! The regal Odontoglossums have a long tradition of finding favor among orchid connoisseurs. Their colorful and often intricately patterned flowers make them well worth the effort to grow them if you can provide the right conditions. Join Russ Vernon as he shows how their cultural requirements can be easily met.

ORCHID CULTURE – Cymbidium goeringii

A fabulous article about cultivating C.goeringii in South Korea awaits you on pg 124 of this summer’s Orchid Digest. The author’s visit to the Korean Orchid Society coincides with the famed national Cymbidium goeringii auction and great storytelling, culture tips and photos follow.

A major misconception about this orchid is that it is a “cool grower.” In fact, C.goeringii prefers 68F + temperatures during the active growing season. Continual cool summer weather will cause plant decline over the years.

ORCHID CONSERVATION – Preserving the endangered Ghost Orchid

Due to the common poaching of D.lindenii, about 2,000 ghost orchids remain wild in Florida today. Incredibly, this is about to change. Recent results from a team of researchers at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have shown that a successful laboratory seed culturing technique for the Ghost Orchid has been established.

Once cultured, the seedlings are acclimatized in a greenhouse and later reintroduced back into the wild. Thus far, 70 out of 80 ghost orchids cultured within Professor Kane’s UF lab have survived in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in Collier county.  Read more about this orchid conservation success story on page 118. For those who don’t subscribe, inquire with our Society Librarian.

AOS WEBINAR #1 – Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton
Tuesday, October 4, 2016 @ 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM PDT
Members & Non-Members invited

Please join Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Director of Education, for a Q&A session on how to grow and care for your orchids. If you have a question, please submit by October 2^nd to stillisch@cox.net. Register now using this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5542827607459102465

AOS WEBINAR #2 – The Cattleya Alliance in Mexico with Ron McHatton
Thursday, October 27, 2016 @ 8:30 – 9:30 PM EDT
Members only

Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Director of Education, will present a survey of the Cattleya Alliance in Mexico. Register now using this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/433628621930055193

–  Krystal Goulart (AOS Rep)

BE INSPIRED. BE CREATIVE.
Sometimes you may unexpectedly find yourself to be the vessel for others’ inspirations. Such as the other day when I arrived home and shockingly found a 6 foot fallen redwood tree trunk in my backyard. With no redwood trees in sight, I was seriously confused. Then I noticed a semi-hidden misting system pointing to a patch of lush moss on the end of the log. Out comes my boyfriend from the side gate with more pieces of strange looking wood. “It’s for your orchids!” he blurts out. He saved a high traffic road from a fallen tree and felt compelled to transform it into a life size orchid mount. Mind blown! Sitting in full Santa Rosa heat and sun I feel limited with orchid options, but when I witness the enthusiasm, creativity and fearlessness of my other half (installing misting systems, planting nearby trees for shade and carving orchid root nooks), I am filled with an intense orchid growing spirit. Don’t give up! Educate yourself regarding your orchid growing dreams and forge ahead! Read Unusual Natural Mounts in the August issue of Orchids Magazine. Awesome ideas, sound techniques and culturing advice, this article will get your creative juices flowing and excite you into transforming any natural material into a prized orchid mount.

AOS WEBINAR #1 – Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatt
Thursday September 8, 2016 @ 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM PDT
Members & Non-Members invited
Please join Ron McHatton, American Orchid Society Director of Education, for a Q&A session on how to grow and care for your orchids. If you have a question, please submit by August 8th to stillisch@cox.net. Register now using this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9103301344895379713

AOS WEBINAR #2 – Wonderful World of Phragmipediums by Jason Fischer
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 @8:30 PM EDT
Members only
Join Jason Fischer of Orchids Limited in Plymouth, Minnesota, as he discusses some of the wonderful phragmipediums and how to grow them. Register now using this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/552365872121886541

–  Krystal Goulart (AOS Rep)

Wow! The American Orchid Society (AOS) has a brand new website! I took a look at it today and it’s pretty cool. The website address is aos.org and the first thing you’ll notice are the pretty new pastel colors. I like a good look, but I’m mostly a ‘content’ girl. Not content; I mean I’m pretty rowdy most of the time, but rather content – you know, the meat in the sandwich, the stuffing the turkey, the frosting in the oreo. Got it?

Growing orchids is a journey. Some of us have been at it for much of our lifetime, while others of us are still wiping the drool off our chin while staring entranced at our first orchid. Regardless, we all have questions from time-to-time. While the addiction adventure is incredibly rewarding, it wouldn’t be an adventure without challenges.

As a member of the American Orchid Society (AOS), you don’t have to face those challenges alone. Being part of the AOS community means having thousands of peers and mentors around the world to guide and support you on your path to orchid growing bliss.

While there are still many great freebees for non members, membership in AOS is a wonderful thing and gets you some of the exclusive goodies only available to members. Fantastic articles in ORCHIDS magazine, live and on-demand webinars, live question and answer chats… where you can have your specific questions addressed, physical shows, conferences and events…and most important, your AOS membership card which proves you are on the road to that exalted platform where the expert orchid growers live, close to the sun, looking down at the rest of us and beckoning…..beckoning……

Please consider joining the American Orchid Society. With your membership you receive Orchids Magazine. If you don’t know what the magazine looks like, see our Librarian, Helen Orgill, to borrow issues. See me with any questions.

The following is a link to AOS articles for beginning growers: www.aos.org/orchids/orchid-care.aspx
and a link to public webinars (available to non-AOS members: http://www.aos.org/orchids/webinars.aspx?p=1&f=1#recorded

–  Karen Wofford (AOS Rep)