# Specimens.



## Stone (Aug 2, 2013)

I love growing specimen sized plants. (as I'm sure we all do) So which species can we expect to grow like this (say 6 flowers or more?)
Some I've seen are insigne of course as well as charlesworthii, fairrianum, henryanum, purpuratum, spicerianum, villosum and looks like tigrinum too! 
But some never seem to grow this way eg. superbiens, hookeri. or do they?? But then I was astonished when I saw this malipoense:
http://www.soos.ca/images/paphmalipoense.jpg


----------



## JeanLux (Aug 3, 2013)

Wow, that's an extreme speci!!!! Lots of spikes with 2 blooms :clap: !!!! 

I have one coccineum developping act. 4 spikes! Jean


----------



## Trithor (Aug 3, 2013)

You can add gratrixianum, stonei, roths, barbatum, barbigerum and exul to your list. Under my culture sanderianum seems to only mature one growth at a time, as does argus, so although these have been in my collection for some time now, they remain single growths.


----------



## Stone (Aug 3, 2013)

Trithor said:


> You can add gratrixianum, stonei, roths, barbatum, barbigerum and exul to your list. Under my culture sanderianum seems to only mature one growth at a time, as does argus, so although these have been in my collection for some time now, they remain single growths.



Yes and callosum (although a bit difficult it seems?) and venustum. I also have a pic of henissianum in the habitat with 7 flowers but I'd like to see one in cultivation do that.


----------



## reivilos (Aug 3, 2013)

How about:





(source: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7076/7379714008_6affe35dae.jpg)

Villosum:




(source: http://www.pflanzenfreunde.com/orchid-photos/orchids-8.htm)

That stonei:
http://www.orchids.it/2008/07/17/gli-anni-passano-e-i-bimbi-crescono-anche-le-orchidee/

That volonteanum (I saw this one):





You need a growth to have a spike... So no clumps, no multiple spikes...
I think it depends on the species tendency to clump (insigne) *and* the specimen (*and* the age of the plant, etc etc). Check out the hangianum I acquired rencently:




Around 10 mature growths, and 4+ new growths at a time! It grows a leaf a month.


----------



## Trithor (Aug 3, 2013)

That insigne is insane! #*$k me! Eeeeyoouweeee!
I am going to work especially hard in my greenhouse tomorrow (after coffee and before lunch with its inevitable bottle of wine). I am going to have to learn how to grow properly!(belated New Years resolution to replace not eating so much chocolate)


----------



## gonewild (Aug 3, 2013)

Trithor said:


> That insigne is insane! #*$k me! Eeeeyoouweeee!
> I am going to work especially hard in my greenhouse tomorrow (after coffee and before lunch with its inevitable bottle of wine). I am going to have to learn how to grow properly!(belated New Years resolution to replace not eating so much chocolate)



Orchids like wine, do you share?


----------



## Trithor (Aug 3, 2013)

gonewild said:


> Orchids like wine, do you share?



I will go get another glass, all are welcome to my little party!


----------



## gonewild (Aug 3, 2013)

Trithor said:


> I will go get another glass, all are welcome to my little party!



They don't need a glass, just tip a little to the Earth.


----------



## Rick (Aug 3, 2013)

Exul (already mentioned), philipinense ,and hirsutisimum/esquirolii are big easy clumpers. I've seem some big druryi and venustum too.

I have a big clump of malipoense but it never has produced more than 3 spikes in a season. My delenatii are heading towards specimen.

I agree that emersonii and hangianum have great potential for clumping into big plants. My emersonii is up to 5 growths in the last 2 years after "trading new for old" for years (without ever blooming).

I've also seen huge specimen roths and kolopakingii in collections. Wilhelminea clumps readily.


----------



## Rick (Aug 3, 2013)

Actually I'm hard pressed to come up with a majority of species that have problems turning into big specimens.

Maybe we are down to those south pacific barbata types as hold outs.


----------



## SlipperFan (Aug 3, 2013)

And haynaldianum album. At least not mine.


----------



## reivilos (Aug 3, 2013)

The insigne guy:
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jvinoz/7379701466/


----------



## Trithor (Aug 3, 2013)

SlipperFan said:


> And haynaldianum album. At least not mine.



Exactly!


----------



## Stone (Aug 3, 2013)

reivilos said:


> How about:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I have actually seen that insigne in person. The grower brought it in to our club meeting last year. He grows it sitting in water all summer (as I do now)
And feeds it now and then with a little pelletized chicken manure and dolomite thrown on twice per year.
The volonteanum is fantastic! It gives me hope! Who is the grower and what are his conditions?


----------



## Ozpaph (Aug 3, 2013)

those photos are amazing. Mike, where is the insigne guy living (ie what climate)?


----------



## Stone (Aug 4, 2013)

Ozpaph said:


> those photos are amazing. Mike, where is the insigne guy living (ie what climate)?



Melbourne Victoria Australia


----------



## Paul (Aug 4, 2013)

Hi,
Even delenatii can grow to big clumps after some years... I hope to show you next winter/spring in one or two of my plants. 
Some species make very big clumps very fast, other take much more time to clump and others almost never do ...


----------



## NYEric (Aug 4, 2013)

canhii! :evil:

Just kidding.  hirsuit is the clumping champion.


----------



## Rick (Aug 4, 2013)

NYEric said:


> Just kidding.  hirsuit is the clumping champion.



Yes. Not always the blooming champion (in the GH), but if you can't get hirsuit to clump, then you have a problem:wink:


----------



## Brabantia (Aug 4, 2013)

reivilos said:


> The insigne guy:
> http://www.flickriver.com/photos/jvinoz/7379701466/


Interesting: have you read the fertilyser composition? not poor in K!


----------



## quietaustralian (Aug 4, 2013)

*Paph. insigne, 40 blooms*

Grand Champion.Paph. insigne, 40 blooms. Grown by Les & Yvonne Burgemeister

This plant was exhibited at Gawler Districts Orchid Club, Winter Show, last week.
This is a true specimen (not a number of plants potted together)that we have seen exhibited each year for the last 12 years. There were 42 buds but 0ne blasted and one was damaged during cleaning. This plant is always in pristine condition with no blemishes or cut leaves. It's a credit to the owner who is elderly and legally blind. Grown with the owners Cymbidiums and fertilised regularly with a 15:5:24 fertiliser.


----------



## Ozpaph (Aug 4, 2013)

how good is that!


----------



## Rick (Aug 6, 2013)

Brabantia said:


> Interesting: have you read the fertilyser composition? not poor in K!



It doesn't make much difference what the K concentration is if you keep it in continuous water 11 of 12 months of the year, and feed a "little" once every month and a half during the growing season.oke: Is that maybe 4 fert applications for the whole year?

Compare that to the "weakly weekly" regime that we've been indoctrinated with, with the definition of "weak" as 100ppm N. And that's for everything including our single growth seedlings.

Now if he feeds a 100 growth plant 4 times a year with a weak solution of 100ppm N and K, then that's a miniscule exposure compared to what we aspiring specimen growers are generally putting on our own plants. Seems like another lesson in "less is more".


----------



## Stone (Aug 6, 2013)

Rick said:


> It doesn't make much difference what the K concentration is if you keep it in continuous water 11 of 12 months of the year, and feed a "little" once every month and a half during the growing season.oke: Is that maybe 4 fert applications for the whole year?
> 
> Compare that to the "weakly weekly" regime that we've been indoctrinated with, with the definition of "weak" as 100ppm N. And that's for everything including our single growth seedlings.
> 
> Now if he feeds a 100 growth plant 4 times a year with a weak solution of 100ppm N and K, then that's a miniscule exposure compared to what we aspiring specimen growers are generally putting on our own plants. Seems like another lesson in "less is more".



Yes when I asked him what he was giving it, the first thing he said was ''not very much'' It's strange but I'm STILL catching myself holding a seedling in my hand and thinking ''You must be hungry, I wouldn't want you to go without, so here have some of this''. Even after all these years it is still hard to resist!!! And with the very large plants in big pots, they almost seem to feed themselves. I'm sure I read a paper about orchid size and growth efficiency somewhere? I will look for it.


----------



## Stone (Aug 6, 2013)

Well I found the paper. Did not read all of it (I dare anyone to!) but found some very interesting concepts. It seems photosynthetic capacity increases substantially as the plant grows. Smaller plants are much more exposed to water deficits due to larger surface area to volume ratios but similar tranpiration rates. Leaf N contents are higher in larger plants of the same species. PC was up to 500% higher in larger plants than small of some species studied!

In other words, (very generally) the plant needs to reach full size before its real growing and multiplying potental is achieved. That explains why seedlings start off seeming increadibly slow ( and there is not much we can do about it but give near perfect conditions with 100% humidity, 15 hours of light etc. ) and the big specimens need hardly any attention.

Very heavy and yawn worthy reading.
http://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/volltexte/2002/200/pdf/schmidt.pdf


----------



## Rick (Aug 6, 2013)

Stone said:


> Yes when I asked him what he was giving it, the first thing he said was ''not very much'' It's strange but I'm STILL catching myself holding a seedling in my hand and thinking ''You must be hungry, I wouldn't want you to go without, so here have some of this''. Even after all these years it is still hard to resist!!! And with the very large plants in big pots, they almost seem to feed themselves. I'm sure I read a paper about orchid size and growth efficiency somewhere? I will look for it.



Is this the maternal side of your nature kicking in Mike:wink:


----------



## Rick (Aug 6, 2013)

Stone said:


> In other words, (very generally) the plant needs to reach full size before its real growing and multiplying potental is achieved. That explains why seedlings start off seeming increadibly slow ( and there is not much we can do about it but give near perfect conditions with 100% humidity, 15 hours of light etc. ) and the big specimens need hardly any attention.
> 
> Very heavy and yawn worthy reading.
> http://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/volltexte/2002/200/pdf/schmidt.pdf



This looks like a good one Mike.

Also to consider, that large vs small in this paper is for an individual growth. A specimen plant is a collection of growths (that may not be that big),so I don't think they are referring to clumps of growths as large plants. From a total water/CO2/nutrient uptake that would certainly be an additive effect, but not the effect presented of the single growth seedling compared to the single growth blooming size plant.


----------



## Stone (Aug 6, 2013)

True, but if say a paph has 3 growths all comming from 1 root system (which often is the case) , that could be seen as a unit and retain all the benifits of a single large growth with the same volume. I always wondered why it can take 6 years for the initial maturation from seed to flower and from then on 1 or maybe 2 years. So once you reach full size its much quicker to get to double and quadruple to specimen as there is always a mature growth behind to push it. I have had a couple of paphs that for one reason or another went from mature multi growth back to 1 single growth. (from root loss or whatever) Even though they may have roots, its like raising a seedling all over again.


----------



## Stone (Aug 7, 2013)

More specimens:
http://forum.theorchidsource.com/ubbthreads.php/posts/74042.html


----------



## reivilos (Aug 7, 2013)

Ouch


----------



## emydura (Aug 7, 2013)

I could never have imagined fairriieanum could ever get so many flowers. I'm not sure I have seen a better specimen. Simply amazing.


----------



## Rick (Aug 7, 2013)

Stone said:


> More specimens:
> http://forum.theorchidsource.com/ubbthreads.php/posts/74042.html



Plants pictured in the 1970's and 1980's too.


----------



## eggshells (Aug 15, 2013)

NYEric said:


> canhii! :evil:
> 
> Just kidding.  hirsuit is the clumping champion.



LoL! I wish... henryanum is a great clumper. Wilhelminae/gardinerii not so much for me.


----------



## The Orchid Boy (Aug 20, 2013)

Can't remember who it was, but someone posted a nice big armeniacum grown in a basket. They said it had been in and out of bloom fairly constant since 2010. I can only one day hope for a specimen plant, especially a parvi specimen.


----------



## atlantis (Aug 25, 2013)

Although they usually grow slow, I find _P. helenae_ very prone to clump too.


----------



## Paphman910 (Aug 25, 2013)

I find stonei clumps easily!


----------



## Justin (Aug 25, 2013)

Philippinense and its hybrids are great clumpers. Here are a couple on their way...

Philippinense 'Alford' AM/AOS. Majorly overgrown in a 6" pot. Last bloomed with 15 flowers on 3 spikes.



Uploaded with ImageShack.com



Uploaded with ImageShack.com

Paph Saint Swithin in a 1.5 gallon pot.



Uploaded with ImageShack.com


----------



## Trithor (Aug 27, 2013)

Impressive growing


----------

