OrchidSafari ARCHIVES*

1. PRE-DISCUSSION MAILOUT

2. TRANSCRIPT

PRE-DISCUSSION MAILOUT

This genera related to the oncidiums, or still in it, is from the Caribbean islands. In their native habitat, they are warm growers, with high humidity for most species. The amount of water depends on which island and which area is their point of origin. T. guianense is from a very arid area of the island of Hispaniola, mainly on the Haitian side where they get most of their moisture from dew. Others are from beachside in the Bahama Islands and are subjected to nearly daily rainfall and nightly dew.

The general conditions for good culture are high light, high temp, high humidity, and water. Since many equitants die from improper watering, to me water is the most important factor in proper culture. The first thing to consider is your media, and that will tell you how often to water. I have seen/used all of the following media: loose charcoal, loose treefern fiber, treefern plaques, cork plaques, and even sphagnum moss ( though I would not recommend it). Each method requires a different watering frequency.

WATER:

This is the first consideration when growing equitants well. Once you figure out how often you are going to water the equitants, then you can choose the potting media. Since equitants don’t have a pseudobulb or other water retaining biological mechanism, they want to have moisture when they need it and want to be dry the rest of the time. We need to supply this need either by having a minimally retentive media or a non-retentive media and adjusting our watering to match the media. OR, do like I do and match the media to my watering schedule.

Equitants want to get their roots wet so they can get the moisture they need, and then they want to dry out so they are not waterlogged. I killed my first cork mounted equitants because I didn’t give them enough water, I watered at the frequency of the ones I have potted. They didn’t appreciate it very much, and expressed it by turning brown.

Potted plants or plants in a water retentive media will need to be watered every two or three days, 2-3 times a week. Plants mounted on cork will need to be watered every day or every other day, but misted more often.

POTTING AND MEDIA:

Potting is the second consideration I use, after choosing how often to water. Match the two methods, and your equitants should do well.

I grow my equitants mainly in clay pots, with loose long tree fern fiber tightly packed into the pot. If a plant has a poor root system during repotting, I will wrap the roots that are present with one or two long sphagnum fibers. Since the water/dry cycle will break down the sphagnum moss and make it less water retentive. So after a couple of weeks, water retention is no longer a problem, at about the same time new roots have formed. Cool timing, the way the two go together. In this method, I water 3 times a week in summer, and twice a week in winter in Miami Florida.

My second most common method is to pot the plant in a pot using medium charcoal chunks. Again, it is a method which will retain moisture for a short time, but then dries quickly. Although some people say that the charcoal will filter out the impurities of the water, I believe that after a few weeks/months, it absorbs (adsorbs) all the stuff it can handle and is then no more effective than any other media. My beliefs only, no other claims are claimed. But it has good qualities otherwise, so who cares. I do like it better than aliflor, although a mix of the two works well. I water 2-3 times a week with this method also. Another popular method is tree fern plaques, hanging with the fibers oriented vertically. This method allows the roots to explore throughout the plaque, and offers water retention with quick drying. I tie a small thin pad of sphagnum moss on the plaque, and then put the plant on the pad. Again, the water retention is not a problem after a few weeks, but allows the plant to have more moisture retention when it is establishing itself. I water these 2-3 times a week also.

Another popular method is to mount the plant on cork. Again, use a small pad of sphagnum moss, and mount the plant to the pad. The best pieces of cork for equitants will have either folds or holes in them, so that the plant's roots will have a place to suck up moisture while the cork is drying. A related method is to use a roughcut cypress board, especially the kind used for outdoor fencing, instead of the cork. Both cork and cypress require daily moisture, a spray or two from a squirt bottle once or twice a day to simulate dew, and a full watering at least once a week or so. I don’t like this method since I don’t want to water every day. A method which does work, but I don’t recommend is sphagnum moss either in a basket or in a pot. You have to watch the watering frequency with this method, and see if the plant is happy and adjust accordingly. If you are experienced this will work, but is not good for those who can't tell if the plant is unhappy from too much water or too little water.

LIGHT:

Light is easy. Give them as much as you can. When I first buy a plant, I don’t know at what level it was previously grown, so I start at low cattleya light and move it brighter over a week or two. They need it bright to bloom. If the leaves start to turn red, cut back slightly on the light, but maintain a high level, at least cattleya light. They can do well indoors on a windowsill, or under metal lights, but I had problems blooming them under flourescents indoors. They grew well, but no blooms although I only had a two light setup, so it wasn’t that bright.

TEMPERATURE:

Since these plants originated in the Caribbean, they like warm temps. They don’t like to go below the 70F range. They like it in the 90's by day, with the 80's by night. They will tolerate temps in the 80's by day, with nights in the 70's, IF you can keep the light bright they will still bloom. So windowsill is no problem with the temps.

PESTS:

The most common pest to attack equitants is scale. You have to be very determined to get rid of scale, since the larva and eggs can get down in between the leaves and are hard to reach. . I separate the plant, and its closest neighbors, so that the infestation doesn’t spread further.

The first line of defense when you first see a scale is to use an alcohol based mix to kill the little blighters and rub them off with a brush. I use a 50/50 mix of water/alcohol with a few drops of soap, and scrub with an old natural bristle 1/2" paintbrush. I have cut off the bristles at about 1/2 inch, so there is not much play while it is not too stiff. I like this better than a toothbrush. After I am done, I set the pot in a bath of the mix, and let the pot soak for 10-15 minutes. Then I repeat at 4-7 day intervals for a couple weeks. If this doesn’t get rid of the scale, I move up to a chemical mix, preferably a systemic insecticide. With a systemic, I don’t need to contact the insecticide by scrubbing with the brush. Repeat at 7 day intervals for a couple of weeks. Use the concentration recommended on the label, a weaker solution just breeds resistant bugs. Also, change insecticides every so often, so that resistant bugs are not breeding.

Another problem with equitants is that weak plants are susceptible to bacterial infections. I use rd20 or phyton27 when it happens. You can tell when they are infected because the fans turn yellow and fall off.

CONCLUSION:

The two main variables are watering frequency and potting media. Light and temp are constant for all the equitants, high levels of each. If you follow the matching method I outlined above, you should have no problem with culture.

Private consultations are available at a nominal fee.

TOPIC: Equitant Oncidiums (Tolumnia)
Moderator: Jim Watts
Wed, TTR 6 Oct 99

Present were 25:
Zeynep (Wilmington NC)
Gail_(Boca Raton FL)
Jade-in-Grand Rapids MI
Oz_Kathy (Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia)
Carol_Holdren (Boca Raton FL)
Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
John_in_Arcadia,_CA
MiamiBert
Barbara,_N._CA
sparkysteve (Boca Raton FL)
Thomas_in_Richmond,_VA
jim4eq (Miami FL)
Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Susan-from-Oregon
Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor MI
Kathy_in_N_Calif
David (need location)
ahorchid (Art - Simpsonville SC)
pecteilis (Tom - Algonquin Island KY)
graphicgreg (South FL)
di_gustard (need given name, location)
Clare_in_Arcadia CA
Steve_in_the_Adirondacks (NY)
speciesmark (Mark, Lismore, Australia)
janetteh (need location - again!)

Jade-in-GR
Hi all who are entering. Looks like Jim will be talking to a good bunch.

Zeynep
Hi, Jim are you ready for the crowd?

sparkysteve
OK, Jimbo--the floor is yours!

jim4eq
How's this for a start, courtesy of Leutticke Orchids, Tol. henekenii, from Dominican Republic with 789 hybrids registered.

Carol_Holdren
Very nice Jim, can we grow that?

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, do you have good success growing henekenii?

jim4eq
I know Matt wanted species, so here is another. T. pulchellum with 1086 hybrids, courtesy (unknown to him, but he gets credit) of Jay Pfahl's Internet Orchid Encyclopedia..

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
That's a more true color of pulchellum, mine is even lighter pink, almost white. A nice pix, Jim.

jim4eq
The henekenii is one of the harder species to grow, it comes from an arid region of Dominican Republic and is often seen growing on cactus. Some years, the only moisture is from dew. I had one 2.5 years, then overwatered it (sniffle). The replacement is 1 yr old.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
My dad and I went halfsies on a flask of henekenii, some are good size but others need to be reflasked (replated).

jim4eq
A nice whitish one, very small fans is Jay Pfahl's Sylvestre from Cuba.

Zeynep
Jim, don't you have a flowering size one, meaning henekenii?

jim4eq
Matt, my flask got infected, will get another one soon as possible. I got an adult to replace my dead adult, just set it apart from the rest so it doesn't get as much water.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
Very nice pictures. Thank you.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
My dad and I cleaned them out of the pulchellum 'Han Ben' they had left. It's a great one, I have a few seed pods on one now.

Barbara,_N._CA
The pulchellum I got from Carmela were all darker in color, they sure can bloom a long time!

Susan-from-Oregon
I've heard henekenii is very very hard to grow. True?

jim4eq
Susan, not if you remember it comes from an arid area with mainly dew for moisture. I spray mine lightly, and use larger charcoal chunks than for others. I will mount one on cork when I get another flask, and spray/mist daily.

The pulchellum can range from a light pink to nearly purple, very variable. This led to some confusion when it came time to name new species, several are no longer any good as they are lighter/darker than pulchellum 'ought' to be.

Here's another species, T. variegatum (Jay Pfahl). Like pulchellum, it comes from many islands.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Thats a nice variegatum, good bright color.

Kathy_in_N_Calif Jim, odd that specification would be based only on color... no other criterion for determination of a different species?

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I'm doing a talk on equitants later this month to a local orchid society. I have the AOS awarded equitant slides from Pac South. Many species have not been recognized (CBR-CHM).

jim4eq
The pix are what I could find on the web of the species, most of the species I have are babies that I managed to find. Then during blooming season we had a cold front that set some to making keikis instead of blooms.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Leave them together and go for specimen plants!

Barbara,_N._CA
Jim do you grow only species?

Jade-in-GR
I think I had that one with the Onc. variegatum label. After reading you excellent pre talk handout I realized I overwatered it.

Sparkysteve
I saw Arlene MaGuire bloom a henekenii--that was the ONLY one I saw in bloom--but it eventually died.

Jade-in-GR
After hearing how easy these are to kill I think the genus should be renamed Phoenix. It has to die so you can get another!

jim4eq
Tetrapetalum and variegatum are different species. Even RHS and Selby recognize them as different as do the Jamaicans. Speaking of Jamaicans, I couldn't go direct to his pix, but here is Claude Hamilton's site at Hamlyn Orchids, excellent equitants.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Equitant species can be tricky to grow, hybrids CAN be more vigorous.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
The Hamlyn orchids site was very interesting, especially the color variation in T. pulchellums or is it T. pulchelli in the plural? [Oncidium pulchellum; Tolumnia pulchella...mlg] jim4eq
As long as I am giving vendor sites, here are Kawamoto and Palmer. Both have good pix.
Another vendor with no pix is Wilks.

jim4eq
If you are into species, send me an email at jim4eq@hotmail.com and I can send you my list of species vendors. I have 15-20 species, not sure anymore. I also have about 50+ hybrids. Many I have multiple plants of, so it adds up to about 200.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
Oh yes, Kawamoto Orchids, I just ordered six of his Tolumnia last night. They're one of my favorite orchids. I was wondering where else they might offer them for sale. I tried Anita Aldrich (Sundance Orchids), however, she did not have any available at the time.

Susan-from-Oregon
Jim, are there any Tolumnias that might be a bit more tolerant of cool conditions than most?

Barbara,_N._CA
Yoshiko, do you keep yours in a greenhouse?

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
No, my Tolumnia are quite happy on my window sills. I mist them about once a day and they are doing well. I find I cannot grow them in clay pots. Once I found that out, it has been easy. Mine are in small bark inside plastic pots. My pulchellum is getting ready to bloom.

jim4eq
Susan, the ones from the mountains are cooler growing and will tolerate temps down into the 50's. Some of these are calochila, arizajuliana, hawkesiana, lieboldii. Also, bahamense can tolerate cooler temps into the 50's.
(That bahamense picture was from sparkysteve, taken by Steve Jones.)

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I believe that triquetrum can be cooler and lower light, also handles moisture better than others.

Carol Holdren
I saw Anita Aldrich grow hers on that cork they put on walls stuck in a pot.

jim4eq
Right Matt, several are found both low and high...pulchellum, triquetrum, and the small ones are lower light and temp; variegatum and tetrapetalum grow from near sea level up to about 1000 meters.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
I give my plants almost a 10 degree shift in temperature in the cold weather, from about 70-75 daytime to about 60-64 at night (sometimes cooler) and all the plants appear to be ok.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I might as well tell what I grow my equitants in. I grow them in small clay pots with equal parts seedling bark, perlite, and pea gravel. Charcoal is optional.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor

I read somewhere that mounts might be seashells and that Tolumnia like to grow in seashells because they use the calcium. Is this true?

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Most of my species are mounted and my hybrids are potted. I try not to divide my mounted plants, however I do divide my potted ones because they don't seem to do well as specimen potted plants.

jim4eq
Almost any small media can be used, as long as your watering schedule and amount of water matches. Like I said in the mailout, I have them in everything from large aliflor, medium aliflor, small aliflor, charcoal, sphagnum moss, and treefern. The pots are plastic pots, clay pots, cork, and treefern (also a coconut husk). BTW, the pix from Steve are taken here in Florida, where bahamense is immigrated.

ahorchid
Are these equitants and tolumnias suitable to grow under fluorescent lights?

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Yes, add Rodriguezia to the list too. Rodriguezias have been bred with equitants quite a bit. Our Rods. are in spike right now.

Hi Art! Yes they should do well.

Barbara,_N._CA
I found my potted ones are doing better then the mounted ones. For Tolumnia, that is.

Susan-from-Oregon
Thanks, Gents! I've taken notes. I may try Tolumnias again. I sure love their looks!

jim4eq
The main reason I have moved away from straight aliflor is that I water with a garden hose on the balcony. when I fill the pot, treefern or charcoal stays in place; aliflor tries to float up, moving the roots. so I use aliflor as a mix with treefern fiber and large sponge rock.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Jim, point of clarification, those pics of Steve's are bahamense? and how big are the individual blooms?

Barbara,_N._Ca.
I guess aliflor is just like perlite. Yes?

jim4eq
No, sponge rock is like large perlite. Aliflor is expanded clay pellets.

jim4eq
Susan, also the hybrids are much more tolerant of different temps. The main problem with indoor growing is getting high light for blooms. they will grow well under flourescents, but they want catt light levels to bloom.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
If you look around a bit, you can often find them for less than $10 each.

sparkysteve
What Jim didn’t mention is the 4 pix I posted on my webpage are native plants flowering in the wild here in Florida--and if you look closer you will see they LOVE to grow on rosemary bushes, which are native in Florida too.

jim4eq Bahamense flowers are approx one inch across, 1.5 - 2 inches high. Also, unlike most equitants, they have a scent, lovely ! [I got the size wrong, about .5 inch wide and one inch high, was using rough centimeter conversion of 1inch=2cm, but I was right on the fragrance -jw]

Zeynep
Steve, are you talking about Rosmarinus officinalis?

Jade-in-GR
Thanks for the explanation Steve, At first it looked like a strange form of Taxus. The mystery is solved.

jim4eq
Occasionally, tetrapetalum, calochilum, and pulchellum also have a light scent, but not many. The rest are odorless, but beautiful.

Yoshiko_in_Ann_Arbor
Is the scent on bahamense like the scent from pulchellum?

Sparkysteve
I tried to put a bahamense on my rosemary bush--the rosemary AND the bahamense died!!!!

Jade-in-GR
A definite failure in companion planting, Steve!

Zeynep
Jim, they are rather large flowers for Tolumnia.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, correct me if I'm wrong but the semi-terete or terete varieties include bahamense and calochilum.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Zey, that must be where some of these new hybrids with such a large size come from. I've seen them about the size of a half dollar. Wonderful!

Barbara,_N._CA
Rosemary bushes, we have lots of them, but to have bahamense grow on it, how nice.

jim4eq
Here's a cute hybrid, T. Newberry Doll, and I can give myself credit for it!!

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Ours at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate are nowhere near that big. They are about as big as variegatum.

jim4eq
And here's a relative of the tolumnia, ionopsis from Jay Pfhal's homepage

pecteilis
Are Ionopsis compatible in temp and humidity with equitants?

Susan-from-Oregon
S’pose they’d be comfortable up close to H.I.D. lamp?

Sparkysteve
Jim, if that picture was of Ionopsis utricularioides--that is also a plant native to Florida.

di_gustard
Not quite a flock of angels - but super pretty - same size - beginners like myself always are into size but I'm beginning to appreciate smaller as good.

Zeynep
Susan, make sure your plants are about 3 feet away from HID light, or they will be cooked tolumnia... then you have to tell us how they taste...:-)

jim4eq
Susan, for HID I'm not sure how close. Start the plant at normal range, and move closer until the leaves turn darker green. When they start getting a reddish tinge, it's like a sunburn, and back them off a little bit.

jim4eq
Matt, I'm not sure about the terete and semi-terete. I think they just prefer different hosts, I can’t think of any that actually touch the ground by choice...even the ones in the rosemary bushes are near the top of the plant, which grows about 2-3 feet high.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Doesn't terete refer to the leaf structure?

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Yeah, it does; means cylindrical (I think) in Latin.

jim4eq
Well, this spring I got a deal on some overgrown plants from last year. In a two inch pot, the plant was 8 inches wide, and had 12 spikes. Each spike put out 10-20 flowers on the first bloom, and 20-30 on the second.

pecteilis
I can not tell the flowers of Ionopsis and Rodriguez apart. Same growing conditions? I have finally gotten my Equitant to grow. One mounted on a tree fern stake.

Barbara,_N._CA
Tom, I have a Rod. decora, the flower is almost trumpet shape, you can't miss the difference.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Ionopsis generally have smaller growths.

pecteilis
Hi, Barb. Sounds lovely. I am looking for Rod. speciosa, the orange one. For the college; they love species too.

jim4eq
Rod. speciosa or Comparettia speciosa?

pecteilis
I was wrong, Comparetta speciosa.. Told you I couldn't tell them apart. *G*

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I'm pretty sure that Andy's Orchids has it. Yeah, its orange but a dark bright orange. Also puts out secondary spikes.

jim4eq
That brings us to another neat thing about equitants. In the spring, the first bloom is usually from the main spike. After 2-3 weeks, the blooms die. Then the side nodes put forth branches, which bloom again. Not as many flowers per branch, but you can have many branches. If you are lucky and the genetics/culture/gods smile upon you, a third blooming happens and you get a third month of blooms.

Zeynep

I want to make correction to Sparky's comment about Rosemary Bush being native to Florida.... Rosmarinus officinalis = Rosemary is native to S. Europa and N. Africa.

jim4eq

Even if you break off the spike accidentally, if there are nodes below it the spike will usually sulk for a week, then decide to grow out at the node.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
triquetrum does this to perfection...triquetrum is now being used as a parent to even go a step further to develop this branching habit to make them bloom all at once.

jim4eq
Also, triquetrum come in many levels of spotting, from very sparse and almost white, to very heavy and almost solid red. One reason they have the most hybrids, over 1156.

Jade-in-GR
Jim or others . Do you have a photo of T. hawkesianum?

Graphicgreg
NOTE on the rosemary bush - this is not the herb rosemary, just something that the natives call "rosemarybush". It grows in the pine scrub in northern Palm Beach and Martin counties. The Onc. bahamense grows low in the rosemary bush with the roots going down into the Cladonia lichen and detritus below...sometimes even into the sand!

jim4eq
That was one reason I posted the American vendors I did, have small BS plants for under ten dollars.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, what is your favorite equitant, species and hybrids?

Zeynep
Jim, after successfully killing some of the Tolumnias in the beginning of my Orchid Mania, I finally purchased three at HD at a very good price... They kept on flowering even the second year, so I decided that I can branch out...now I have a good amount of them.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
No comments on the large lipped hybrids coming out of Hawaii? Their backgrounds? I wish I could remember the names - maybe that's why I'm not in the judging program! *G* But last year in Santa Barbara the Hawaiians had very large flowered hybrids I think Arbec might be trying to hybridize them too... graphicgreg
Did you have problems with all of the rain this summer, Jim? Our equitants had been growing wonderfully and then the rains came. I musta moved them under shelter at least a dozen times. Even the way we have them potted they can't take all day rain for a week. We had the leads on a few rot out.

jim4eq
I really only had one rot with the summer rains, I had just put it in a treefern basket with a sphag bed for initial retention while it rooted into the pot. Then the rains kept the moss wet, instead of letting it dry. I lost about half the plant, will only put up about 8 spikes this year. When I bought it, it had ten ($1 per spike).

di_gustard
Jim is $1 per spike a guideline for you? lol!

Barbara,_N._CA
my favorite hybrid is Barbie, it is the most colorful flower, and cute too.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Those are great. I like the reds with dark red borders on the lip.

When I visited Puaunani Orchids on Oahu, Hawaii, he had a hybrid called Spunky that was pretty big, of course I bought a few.

[One of the larger lipped ones is Onc. Seka (Baulble x Golden Sunset) - it's 40% triquetrum, 28% pulchellum, 18 desertorum, 10 urophyllum, 3 henekenii...it was the first REALLY big-lipped equitant I ever saw...the first Seka awarded was 'Sun King' a plant grown by Anita Aldrich and awarded an HCC in Houston in 1985; it went on to get an AM again at Houston in 1990. NS was 3.4 the first time, 3.5 the second...sure looked like 2 inches to me! *S*...mlg via Wildcatt!]

jim4eq
My favorite species would have to calochilum, even though I have only killed it so far. Beautiful flowers. My favorite hybrid changes as my mood does, but Anita Aldrich has many beautiful color variations. My current favorite is Delight (pulchellum x henekenii), a white flower with a dark dark purple center.

Graphicgreg
I don't know what recommendations Jim has made for potting these things, but I think Rob Palmer's (Home Depot) idea is a winner.

So if you buy HD equitants don't get creative. A clay pot with a few chunks of charcoal works great for us anyway.

jim4eq
North Carolina is also breeding large lips, a pulchellum hybrid called Rose Beauty. The ones I have seen are bigger than a Gower Ramsey, about 1.5-1.75 wide.

Graphicgreg
We had some Pink Favorite hybrids bloom this year with huge lips too - at least an inch-and-a-half across ----stunning!

di_gustard
Which do you consider the most fragrant?

Kathy_in_N_
Sounds great, Jim. I noticed at the Santa Barbara show that the hybridizer wasn't selling any of his large lipped ones! *G* Only the usual ones! But I bought them anyway!!

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Here's Barbie 'Strawberry Delight' from Kawamoto.

sparkysteve
I limped calochilum along for 3 years-- or so and I think that had an aroma to it.

Barbara,_N._CA
Thanks Earl, I have that, also the Barbie 'Patche' have more white dots.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, do you have Onc. Carotene? It blooms many times a year. Good yellow. It's not a true equitant per se as it has (I think) onustum in it.

jim4eq [re spike pricing guideline from digustard earlier -jw]
No, I got lucky. One of the local vendors had visited Sunbulb a couple weeks before the Miami show, and picked out some big plants that were old crosses along with the smaller new crosses. When I visited the vendor the week before the show, he sold them to me for $10. Along with the new crosses, I picked up 9 plants that had 8-16 spikes on them. I wanted to make a display for the show, but they didn’t open in time.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
I don't like them so pinched in the middle, I like them more like this: ,large lipped and fuller.

jim4eq
Yes, I have a carotene, nice plant.

Clare_in_Arcadia
Barbara, what don't you grow up there?

Susan-from-Oregon
I got an onustum a couple of months ago. I think we're going to be very happy together.

Barbara,_N._CA
Hi Clare, I have them in my GH, in clay pots with charcoal chips. On the lower shelf, as my GH is too bright.

jim4eq
Nice Yagi, I have a yellow one also.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Ooohhh! Didn't know they came in yellow!

graphicgreg
Me too, Kathy - I prefer a more rounded lip rather than anchor shaped. We have that Ralph Yagi and it is wonderful. [anchor shape is from strong triquetrum background -jw]

jim4eq
One other reason to start with hybrids, especially indoor growing. One of my T. prionochilum had a spike I measured at ~53 inches, AFTER I had cut off two keikis. I have a tetrapetalum which was about 38 inches. Most hybrids don't go over 18-24 inch spikes.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Mem. Ralph Yagi, what a great and varied hybrid. A must have!!

Sparkysteve
You're right, Matt, even I could grow that one!!!!!!!!

di_gustard
Now that is pretty!

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Jim, Matt, who do you like as vendors for these babies? I know you all put up links previously but who is good to work with? All the same? Like some better than others?

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Didn't someone mention Rodriguezia earlier? Here's a bigger one of the thumbnail.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Rod. venusta. My favorite! I have a giant specimen plant. I hope it has at least 15 spikes this year. grows like a weed.

graphicgreg
Hey, Earl, nice Rodriguezia venusta! Our cat killed ours.

I must be the only person who has trouble with onustum - can't seem to get the watering right. I know it likes it D~R~Y, but then the spikes abort. Oh well, the plant survives so I'll keep trying. Here's a nice red equitant that Ken Kone got an AM on a few years ago.

jim4eq
Susan Perreira is another older cross that is excellent. I had (sniffle) the clone 'freckles', which was a reddish orange with a yellow-orange center absolutely covered with pin sized freckles of a dark orangish-red. Three shades of orange, with all distinct.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Luetticke Orchids, Kawamoto, Puaunani Orchids, Camp-Alota-Noise. There are many I have yet to try.

Clare_in_Arcadia
Jim, I'm sorry if this was answered earlier, but I just came in. How big is your collection? And do you divide everything up by watering type?

graphic-greg
Zey, what is the name of the NC vendor who was at Redlands? He is the one with the .... Kitty Crocker is the HUGE pink, especially 'rose giant' I saw one at last years Miami show, during the judging. At lunch, while everyone else was eating, I was on the phone ordering. Now you know why I am skinny LOL

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Camp a lotta Noise, I've looked at their stuff, Nice to know they are nice. I'll check them out again! As well as the others! *G* Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I bought two equitant hybrids that were healthy and arrived in good condition in clay pots with charcoal chunks.

Clare_in_Arcadia
Kathy, Although I have never bought from them they were so nice in attempting to walk me through bulbo culture. I give them high marks for being very service oriented.

jim4eq
Clare, I have about 15-20 species (50-60 plants) and about 50 hybrids (100 plants). I don’t vary my watering at all, but instead I change the potting media. the ones that like it drier I put in a courser media, and the wetter ones I put in finer media. That way, I can still water every 2-3 days, and the plants get enough water.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, have you done any of your own hybrids?

Graphicgreg
No Chance, Zeynep - We still have the Onc. Popoki that we got an HCC on last year, unfortunately I don't have a pic handy but it is a beautiful crimson, round flower.

Zeynep
Jim, Tolumnia Kitty Crocker is one of Carter and Holmes crosses.

Janetteh
Carter and Holmes made the Kitty Crocker cross and they are in SC. Kitty is Gene Crocker's wife, the head grower at C&H.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
I bought one of their venustas at the LA New Otani Show last year. I might make a sib cross.

jim4eq
Other good ones are Palmer orchids in FL, Wilks in HA, and the place in NC that Z wont give me the name for (hint hint) [ok, so it was SOUTH Carolina, as already pointed out -jw]

Zeynep

Jim, the grower you were talking about is Woodland Orchids, Charlotte, NC. But Onc. Kitty Crocker and some of their new hybrids can be purchased directly from Carter and Holmes.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Here's a nice lip, tho again with the deep cut in the lip (but oh!, the color)

graphicgreg
Here's Palmer's website. Rob is the head grower at SunBulb so his stuff is the best of what they have.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, have you ever talked to Jon Oka?

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Jon and his dad did a lot of work with this group back when I was in HI; is Jon still at it?

jim4eq
Not sure, where does he work? I have talked by phone to most of the growers of equitants, looking for species and new hybrids. I have emailed all of them.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jon Oka is/was one of the foremost equitant breeders. He made many of the famous hybrids. He grows in his backyard (I guess) in Honolulu.

I don't know, I sure wish I could've seen his place last June when I was in HI.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Here's Chet's site; feel free to tell him hello for me!

jim4eq
Another fine breeder is Anita Aldrich of Sundance orchids in Galveston. But, her reputation exceeds her supply, she is nearly impossible to get plants from. As soon as she has them for sale, they are gone. I have begged and groveled, but the goddess refuses to heed my worshipful entreaties. I have to get them second hand.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Jim, are there any color varieties that you would like to see more of? I'm partial to the orange ones.

Clare_in_Arcadia
Now, I know I'm in with a bunch of equitant lovers here, and frankly I don't have one. So what's the big interest? I know that sounds like heresy. The colors are great but a lot of other orchids have great colors. Other orchids have much more variation. Is it size? Is it to say, Yes, I can bloom one? Come on and convince me to buy one at the New Otani show.

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Clare, I think small size is the big catch. Color and the cuteness of them are secondary. I'll be at the show and help you pick one out.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Consider that you can grow maybe 2 dozen mature specimens in the space required for maybe 4 normal catts.....

graphicgreg
Alright Clare, here's an enticement - they cost about a third of what a Cattleya or Paph does and stay in bloom three times longer. More bang for the Buck.

jim4eq
Clare, for me it started as a matter of space. I can have a two inch pot put up 4-6 spikes, each with 15-20 flowers. On a balcony, I can have 10 equitants in the space of one paph. rothchildianum. And, equitants bloom in about one year from flask, if not less.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Clare, what I like about them is that such a warty little plant tosses up such a tall spray of wonderfully colored flowers, Kinda like botanic fireworks!

Clare_in_Arcadia
Alright I'll give it a try. What an easy push over. Frankly I was worried that I had to have these branch things all over the greenhouse and feel more comfortable knowing that I can pot them up.

di_gustard
Clare, you sure now how to phase a question to get the educated animated!

Clare_in_Arcadia
It comes down to answering a basic beginner's question.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
It would seem we have a number of equitant lovers here tonite. *G*

jim4eq
Also, Claude Hamilton is a very nice person. Although he is in Jamaica, he ships from Miami so the recipient in the US doesn't need to worry about permits. He knows me so well that when he finds a T. lieboldii in Cuba, he emails me, knowing I will take it even if I already have one. If I have less than 5 of a species, he has a standing order.

Graphicgreg
Ah yes, Anita Aldrich...her words of wisdom still ring in my ears, "more orchids are killed by overwatering than underwatering".

jim4eq
As for colors, I like the orange also. I also like the way that people are breeding for more refined markings. For a few years, it seems like everything was big blotches, some of them looked like gorbachev's forehead. Now tho, some of the more exciting ones I have seen are blushes, with a dark center and spreading out on a light background. Also, I have seen a couple of Anita's new breeding, one is a calochilum cross that has fimbriated lips, although it is spade shaped. Perhaps a second/third generation will keep the fimbriations and get rounder.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
One thing I've noticed with these things is that they get mealies in the fans and its a bugger to get out. I killed 3 with alcohol wipes.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
And they rot if water is left standing in their fans too. so they really want to dry quickly.

jim4eq
Mealies and scale. I use a squirt bottle with alcohol/water/soap to drench them, then water about an hour later to clean them.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Onc. Stunner 'Richella'. Richella is Rich(ard and St)ella Mizuta, noted breeders in Onc/Milt alliance. Anyone know who made this cross?

Kathy_in_N_Calif
I didn't water/wash later. Mine shriveled and died. Quite sad about it still!

Jade-in-GR
Yes, I had trouble with mealies as well. They love those tight leaves.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
I think scale is worse, though, since the brown is hard to see down in the axils of the leaves. Lost quite a few that way!

Tolumnia_Matt_Ventura,_CA
Clare, was it red spotted darker red (sort of)?

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Other than that bout of mealies I've found them to be quite disease resistant. Not that I've had much trouble in that area - knock wood -

Jade-in-GR
I love Sun Spray for scale.

jim4eq
Here is the start of my photo album. I only had time to put up the small ones since I am trying to co-ordinate an order from Ecuador for some species of masd/drac and others.

jim4eq
I have problems with sunspray since I grow on a balcony and you are supposed to keep the plant shaded during the first day or two after spraying. I would have to wait for a rainy/cloudy day and let the critters munch, so instead I use the alcohol and then go for insecticide if that doesn't work.

Kathy_in_N_Calif
Jim what kind of insecticide? Malathion?

Jade-in-GR
Since I try to grow organically Sun Spray or alcohol are as strong as it gets. Then again , I am inside so the nasty stuff could really get nasty if I used it.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Here's Onc. Seka "Sun King" AM/AOS picture from Pat's catalog. Interesting color and pattern. What's neat about the equitants is the question "Where do all these colors and Patterns come from". Ans. = "Goodale's Weeds". (Hawaiian IN joke *g*)

jim4eq
I switch between malathion and orthene. I will use one for a while, then the other so the beasties dont become resistant to either one.

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
Except for some bright yellows, one lavender and one purple, most of the species are drab. And relatively ''poor'' shape.

jim4eq
Yes, Goodale Moir started the equitant breeding and identifying back in the 60's. He wrote the first books, Variegata Oncids and Breeding Variegata Oncid's.

Zeynep
Clare, Jade, I do agree with you SunSpray Oil is the best for scales, and you can mix it with half strength of Pyretrine, or Orthene, or Enstar II.

jim4eq
hey, I just realized theHtime, what happened to the "oh Jim, it's only for an hour" stuff that lois talked me into???? [This comment was made at the 2 hour, 15 minute point. Guess a great topic on great orchids got great results, LOL -jw]

Zeynep
Thanks Jim, Good job!!!!!!

Jade-in-GR
A friend has used Enstar for scale and had really good results. Does it work for Dobois scale as well? Those buggers are really nasty and sooooo small and deadly.

Jade-in-GR
A job really well done. Lois knew who she was talking to when she said "just an hour". Sure wish many of our speakers were so well prepared. The hand out is really a good one and will be useful. Kudos for you!!!

Earl_in_Vacaville,_CA
One last pic. Onc. Louise Elmore "Elsa" jim4eq
Nice one Earl, I have two of them. from The Hollow up in Kentucky or nearby.

I dont know, Jade. 90% of the time I only use the alcohol, and that gets rid of them. but if I haven't been paying attention and get a bad infestation, then I step up to the nasty stuff, and leave the balcony door closed. LOL, I also have a painter's mask for when I go back out.

Zeynep
Jade, I usually use Ultrafine Oil half strenght + Enstar II (1st week 1 tsp/gal, 2nd week=1/2 tsp, 3rd. week=1/4 tsp). It is a good combination.

di_gustard
Thank you, Jim, for an interesting presentation - I'm not yet so knowledgeable as most, but yout humor keeps it interesting.

Steve_in_the_Adirondacks
Thanks, Jim. Even though I didn't join in tonight, I have been reading and looking at the pictures. Good job.

jim4eq
Since the balcony gets only a few hours of sun, I have mine shaded only with window screen. So the label indications for the spray oils are not good. When I get a greenhouse and can use shadecloth, I'll use it as a preferred method.

Thanks. I took off early from work to doublecheck the bookmarks on the pix, then had my computer freeze at 8:15 pm. I lost all my references, had to hurry and find them again, whew. But it worked, and the heart pounding replaced my excercise session.

Janetteh
Even with the sunspray oil mixture, it is hard to get scale off of equitants.They burrow down in the fans when the mix can't get to them. Don't know what the answer is to that one. Diligence, I guess.

Zeynep
Janette, some of the orchid growers also use Cygon but it is not approved for greenhouse use her in NC. It is an excellent systemic.

Ahorchid
Cygon is really nasty stuff

Jade-in-GR
Absolutely, Absolutely, that is truly nasty stuff. If I had to go with something that strong just to keep my orchids I wouldn't keep orchids.

janetteh
We have some cygon for outside use, Zeynep, but I am leary of it. Try to find something not quite as toxic or risky as cygon. Have you ever had a problem with aphids in the gh and if so, what did you use?

Zeynep
It is *good* if you cannot get rid off the stuff with anything else.

jim4eq
For the Species Society, I had to round up some of the plants. While Robert Randall at Carib Orchids was deciding what to give us, I found a nice papilio alba. Now, it has THREE buds about to open off the same spike. I hope it waits until judging, but it will probably open now and have just faded when judging occurs. *sigh*

Jade-in-GR
Jim enlighted us on a whole new Genus to spend our hard earned $ on.

Zeynep
I use Ultra fine oil with everything.... You can use pyhertrum (SP?)/rotenon, Orthene WP, or oil+Enstar II.

jim4eq
di, as for the educated part, I know a lot about a few favorite genera like equitants. There are many like phal that I know little about, and I am learning the rest like phrag/paph.

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