TRANSCRIPT
Conservation Series (Part 21) with Marilyn Light
TOPIC: Specimen Plants
Wed, WBS, 10 Mar 99
Present were:
marilyninOttawa
prankster (Susan - NE Oregon)
JanetteH (foothills of NC)
reparata (Agnes - Australia)
BTague (Barbara - N CA)
sparkysteve (Boca Raton FL)
Carol Holdren (Boca Raton FL)
peeteilis (Tom - KY)
richardinwestpalmbeach
marilyninOttawa
Today's topic is Specimen Plants. I thought that we could start by alliance, discussing what problems arise with specific
examples. Let's start with the Oncidium alliance which includes Oncidium, Odontoglossum, Miltonia, Miltoniopsis, equitant
Oncidiums (Tolumnia) etc. Since we are looking at specimens from both a show and a conservation point of view, just what
can we do to select and raise a plant for a show and ensure that the clone carries on?
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
How big does a plant need to be before you consider it a specimen? Any of mine that might come close, have one or two
leaves scarred by sunburn. Darn!
marilyninOttawa
Good question Susan. One point I raised in the pre-chat material is that you must resolve to pamper your potential specimen
from early on. Damage takes a long time to disappear. From a judging point of view, the specimen must have more growths,
have more and /or bigger or more colorful flowers and be in superb condition compared to previous CCM's for the
species/grex. >From a size point of view for the grower, a plant starts to be a specimen when there are multiple growths
blooming more or less simultaneously (3 or more according to type).
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I think that selection would be the hard part. But don't you think that sometimes counting the number of growths and flowers
and comparing to the already awarded plants in maybe not that fair...especially when it is very close.
marilyninOttawa
Janette. In my experience, you can select a plant with specimen potential quite early. Potential specimens may not be
spectacular on first bloom but there are other signs such as branching habit compared to sibs, flowering habit. I am now
starting to bloom out a new hybrid grex, Masd. Terrarium Treasure. Already on first blooming, one plant is showing potential.
Good flowers produced simultaneously on all four shoots! The others so far have only produced one flower at a time from
their several shoots. The oncidium alliance should be a good source of specimen plants. Most send out multiple growths and
can become rather large even after 3 or 4 years. Whether or not they will qualify as specimens remains to be seen. When it
comes to awarding a specimen, flower count and plant condition and size will be part of the judging process. You cannot avoid
comparing what you have being judged to what has already been awarded.
The Oncarata (agnesinoz)
Marilyn, looked this up in Alec Pridgeon's 'What Orchid is That' and the flowers of my phal are exactly identical with the Phal.
mariae in the book. Only things making it look like amboinensis are the deep maroon bars on the sepals and petals.
BTague (Barbara, N. CA)
The most impressive one I saw was a Dendrochilum in a 15'' pot, countless blooms.
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
Dendrochilum has such nice clustered P.bulbs. Not a visible rhizome between them.
marilyninOttawa
Dendrochilums do lend themselves to specimen culture. Care must be taken to provide all round lighting and to repot
regularly so as not to have any setbacks. Groom the plant often, removing any dead pseudobulbs that might appear towards
the center of the clump.
BTague (Barbara, N. CA)
Marilyn, on thing about Dendrochilum is there roots hate to be disturb.
marilyninOttawa
Barbara, Dendrochilums do have periods when they are in active growth Like now for Dend. bicallosum, and periods when
they are semi-dormant. I repot in the autumn when the plants are about to resume active growth. I shake off old
bark/medium and repot in a wider yet shallow pot (azalea pot). This issoon filled with the maturing new growth. At some
point, the center of the plant begins to go downhill and that is when I divide the specimen into smallerpieces (4-6) and start
over again. Extras go to others so the clone stays in cultivation.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I have a question about staking a plant. Just how tall should the stake be in the case of really tall spikes? James has an Onc.
December and the spikes are about 6 or 7 feet tall and this is the first time it has bloomed. The tallest stake that we had was
four feet so the top part of the spike just leans over. If we were preparing this one as a specimen plant and wanted to show it,
would we be expected to stake it all the way up the spike to support it?
marilyninOttawa
Staking is used to display blooms, support blooms and to ensure that fragile inflorescences do not break in transit. As you now
know that this plant produces tall spikes, you must decide what looks best. I would think that staking to a uniform height then
allowing the tops of the inflorescences to drape attractively would be a possibility but I would want to see the plant to be
certain. Onc. leucochilum can produce 10 foot spikes which must be staked for transport to avoid breakage. With this
species, staking to the very tip is not required as the spikes are self supporting.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I think that is going to be the problem with this one though....the spike doesn't seem strong enough to support itself. It has
numerous branches and is already bending over and the flowers haven't even opened. Possibly using a strong wire stake would
work and be as visible as a bamboo stake....in other words, not look tacky. Not be as visible as a bamboo stake.
marilyninOttawa
Not all Oncidiums will produce spikes that self-support. I am thinking of Onc. baueri, citrinum, altissimum, etc. These
infloescences usually drape orflow through tree branches in nature. In a growing area, they should be managed in some way to
have the flowers well displayed and to permit a natural look. If the plant is to go to a show, a more substantial stake and
bracing might be needed. I have seen a hobbyist ride in the back of a truck with 12 feet of Onc. sprays draped about his
shoulders but staking would be easier all round. Travel stakes can be removed once you get to the show. Naturally draping
inflorescences are not necessarily a fault.
sparkysteve (TOPIC: Marilyn Light on specimen plants.)
Personally, I don't like staking---I think a plant should be strong enough to hold up their own flowers. I had a Paph.
spicerianum with 12 flowers and it liked just fine without stakes!
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I don't like to do it either, Steve. But with a lot of the oncids that have really long spikes, the weight of the spike will actually
pull the plant out of the pot if you don't stake it. We have had that happen.
Carol Holdren
I prefer plants that are more natural, not the one staked up like a Christmas tree. However Steve, when I saw that beautiful
plant staked, I did like it better!
BTague (Barbara, N. CA)
Steve, Paph generally will do OK, but Phal without the stake is unthinkable.
Carol Holdren
Marilyn, how do you keep the centers on large plants happy?
peeteilis ( inky)
Carol, go to a kitchen store and buy a cheap colander, plastic, cut to fit in a ten, twelve, fourteen inch pot. turn upside down,
keeps air moving in the middle of large pots. It is not necessary to disturb the plant nor is it necessary to cut right through
the rhizome. Once the dominance of the lead growing point is disrupted, dormant axillary buds will be activated in each
section. Induction may take eight weeks or more depending upon the plant. Each new growth will begin to extend and
eventually will flower. You can divide a plant once the new back shoots have developed their new roots.
richardinwestpalmbeach
There was a local commercial grower here in West Palm Beach who often broke or cut off a new lead in order to force a
Cattleya to develop two leads.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I have heard of doing this with catts, Marilyn, but didn't know how if would work for other genera.
marilyninOttawa
Steve, Sometimes a broken lead will produce one substitute, sometimes two or even three. Much depends upon the plant's
growth habit. Normally there are two 'substitute' buds ready to grow and take over if the primary shoot is damaged.
BTague (Barbara, N. Calif)
With Catts worked well, I've tried with Epid. & Brassia it didn't work.
marilyninOttawa
There is a keiki paste (hormone preparation) which can be used to induce extra shoots. Sometimes this works but not
always. I may be a purist but I prefer to select plants that naturally produce multiple leads. Such individuals exist in almost
every genus. You probably could induce multiple growths with B. nodosa but maybe not with B. digbyana. Plants do have
different growth habits.
sparkysteve
I have noticed on Enc. tampensis that if you just bend the bulbs apart a little--just to make a little damage--they will send out
new growths.
reparata (agnesinoz)
Marilyn, can I do the rhizome cutting even near the oldest pseudobulbs of a biggish cat?
marilyninOttawa
When back cutting orchids, consider the whole plant and its relative vigor. If the Cattleya is healthy, count the pseudobulbs
back from the lead. Cut partially through the rhizome after every 3-5 bulbs. Very old bulbs may not produce new shoots.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
Marilyn, with the cattleya family, some of the plants have pseudobulbs that just naturally want to lay over. Do you recommend
training them in some way so that they stand straight up or just let nature take its' course? The plant really can look straggly
when this happens.
marilyninOttawa
Janette, Hybrid Cattleyas or any other plants that produce floppy, straggly or otherwise atypical growths should be culled
from a collection. I realize that this is difficult, especially if the flower is nice. I am not talking about Enc. citrina whose
pseudobulbs are pendant. That is the way they grow. I am referring to hybrids that have inches between pseudobulbs, whose
pseudobulbs grow atypically. No amount of culture can fix that.
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
I have a Cattleya prostrata. Been trying to tame it for 2 yrs. The plant is SOOOO ugly, I remove the blooms as soon as they
ripen, so I can enjoy them without seeing them on that floppy eyesore. Cull....Darn. It does bloom well...
marilyninOttawa
Well Susan, you choose. You don't have to cull but I wouldn't invest hours trying to make it do what it naturally cannot do.
Sounds like you have come up with a great compromise.
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
Instead of culling, I usually involve 'loser' plants in sinister experiments....New, unheard of media, and so on. Perhaps I'll mount
Ol Ugly some bold, unheard of, new way. I'll report back on it!
peeteilis ( inky)
Marilyn, my Lc. Mini purple, Tamami grows all over the place, points every which way but up. But it BLOOMS is it bad?
marilyninOttawa
Inky. Try growing the Lc. Mini purple on a horizontal mount.
peeteilis ( inky)
So? Does it paste itself to the mount? I have it in five four inch orchid pots (home made) and it flowers all over the place, but
the pseudobulbs are at a forty five to prostrate.
marilyninOttawa
Lc. Mini Purple is L. pumila x C. walkeriana. These species have a creeping habit. You best raise them in a shallow basket with
coarse cork bark pieces or on a cork bark mount. Try fastening a piece of cork to a pot and allow the plant to grow onto the
bark that way.
peeteilis ( inky)
Marilyn, I might be able to do that now, I have put in a cheap but effective humidifier. Now the plants can breathe out of the
pot.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
We have had horizontal mounts recommended to us for several of our plants. Is this an effective way to grow a specimen
plant....say something like a B. nodosa?
marilyninOttawa
You see how a plant growth habit must be considered when attempting to achieve a particular result. To get specimens, we
want plants that readily form clumps of pseudobulbs/growths, that bloom synchronously on many growths, and that are
compact. These are the types to select for specimen culture. The others that are not so compact or productive are still nice
plants but not candidates for specimen culture. I have been raising Onc. henekenii on horzontal pieces of lilac branch, mostly
for the convenience of having all the seedlings close to the light. I have noticed that the roots love it on the underside of the
mount where it is shady. The horizontal mount may be more suitable to roots that are negatively phototropic (grow away
from light). I am now doing the same with C. walkeriana, C. Snowblind and with Lc. Love Knot, all walkeriana hybrids. So far
so good.
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
In looking at pictures of some plants grown in Japan, I'm intrigued that there is often a mound of moss on the pot, and the
orchid perched above the pot on the moss. I think this looks great. Maybe it would work for those upward stragglers,.
JanetteH (still cold in the foothills of NC)
I've noticed that too, Susan. Why do they do it that way?
prankster d (Susan from NE Oregon)
Janette, Don't know. Seems standard method for Neofinetia. I've seen other plants grown like that too.
marilyninOttawa
I use the mounded moss method for masdevallias with semi-pendant blooms. I simply make a mound when repotting and
plant the orchid in that. Keep well watered.
marilyninOttawa
In closing, I advocate sharing of really good specimen plants with the orchid world. This can be sharing, selling, trading but
keep those good genes in circulation. Good night all from the snowy North!
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