Orchids 2023

[Justin]

My plants are gearing up for a great blooming season. I am going to try to keep this thread updated over the next few months. Roths willl start opening mid-February into early summer.

Here is a preview:

Paph. gratrixianum. This was originally a division from Tenman. I have a couple pots of this, and they both put out multiple spikes every year.


Paph. Salty 'Val' (left) and Jack Tonkin 'Val's Choice'. Very vigorous plants that bloom every year. They should turn white in another week.


Paph. victoria regina


Paph. sanderianum. Grown from a seedling about 15 years ago. Have been waiting a VERY long time for this one!


haynaldianum. Also grown from flask. Have been blooming a ton of these over the past few years. I gave away/sold off many but still have 8 big plants. Several are on second blooming this year. Two plants in spike so far with more to come.


lowii. This is an absolute monster plant. It is constantly putting out multiple new growths which mature in under 6 months and spike. The plant is almost continuously in spike or bloom throughout the year. It is in a tall 7" pot with almost no medium, basically nothing but roots. It has two long spikes getting ready to open soon.


lowii (half album). Another vigorous plant, with really nice pastel flowers.


I also have a tray of lowii seedlings grown many years from flask. The first one bloomed last year and now some of its sibs are following.


And now for a few roth divisions getting ready. I expect to bloom at least a dozen roths this year, including some first time flowers as well as seedlings originally grown from flask and now on their third or fourth blooming. I was a little lazy with feeding last year, so we will see how flower counts are.

rothschildianum 'Borneo'


roth 'Canadian Club'


roth 'Charles E.'. I have 3 divisions and hope they will all bloom. This plant is a very good grower but definitely reluctant to bloom. It hasn't flowered for me since I bought the plant in spike back in 2012!


roth 'Mont Millais'. This plant is getting pretty big (it is in a 7" tall pot for reference). It is easily my most vigorous roth and flowers every year. Just look at the walls of the pot about to bust from roots. No buds showing just yet, but I am hoping for two spikes this year.


How about a happy little bessae?


That's all for now. I will check back in a few weeks when I can hopefully share some sanderianum flowers!

 

[tnyr5]

Canadian Club...that wasn't cheap lol.

 

[Duck Slipper]

Excellent!
Looking forward to the Roth"s!

 

[Justin]

Canadian Club...that wasn't cheap lol.

No sir it was not.

I have had this plant for many years, but it took quite a while to re-establish from being divided. It tried to bloom once early on, but I overwatered and it blasted.

Buying freshly divided roths is definitely a risky proposition. That is why I say never buy a single growth roth division. Cutting a roth's rhizome is often a death sentence. Thankfully this one had a couple growths and made it. I have had others where I was not so lucky.

These days there are so many nice roths, if you are in the market for something top tier it is best to just buy a selected whole plant.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

What a fiesta of buds!! Looking forward to seeing them in full bloom! Nice work on them.

Re roths: I struggle with them with establishing divisions. I have ‘New Horizon’ FCC/AOS and it almost died… now it looks like a single growth medium seedling lol.

 

[Ozpaph]

oh, wow.

 

[Justin]

What a fiesta of buds!! Looking forward to seeing them in full bloom! Nice work on them.

Re roths: I struggle with them with establishing divisions. I have ‘New Horizon’ FCC/AOS and it almost died… now it looks like a single growth medium seedling lol.

Sounds like it has turned the corner though! NH is a really nice roth. Congrats on owning a piece.

Have you ever tried using any kelp products? I don't use kelp too often these days, but have found it to be effective in stimulating root growth when applied regularly. Might give your plant a little boost.

 

[papheteer]

Those are some very very healthy plants!

May I ask what lights you use? And how you feed and water your plants?

 

[Justin]

Those are some very very healthy plants!

May I ask what lights you use? And how you feed and water your plants?

Thanks!
I grow them under LEDs on a 12-hour cycle. Big plants are under HLG-60 LEDs. Seedlings are under 30-40 watt 4' LEDs. some from Lowes, some from The Orchid Hobbyist on facebook.

Most plants are in slotted trays nested in closed-bottom trays. It is easy to pop out the slotted tray and water through. I water in the kitchen or on the porch. I use tapwater, and Miracle Gro orchid food 30-10-10, 1/4 tsp/gallon every few waterings.

Growing indoors is fun, but it is a lot of work, and with the sub-optimal humidity and temperature it takes much longer to grow plants and bloom them to their potential vs. a greenhouse. It takes a minimum of 10 years for me to bloom a roth from flask. Greenhouse growers with their conditions dialed in can do it in a few years and get much bigger flowers.

I'll post some whole-room pics at some point once things start blooming.

 

[annica.jarvela]

Good luck with your flowers, looks really good!

 

[NYEric]

Saved the best for last.
Good growing. Keep us posted and be careful.

 

[DrLeslieEe]

Sounds like it has turned the corner though! NH is a really nice roth. Congrats on owning a piece.

Have you ever tried using any kelp products? I don't use kelp too often these days, but have found it to be effective in stimulating root growth when applied regularly. Might give your plant a little boost.

Yes I use Kelp and other auxins regularly. It’s just me they don’t like esp roths and MFs lol.

 

[BrucherT]

My plants are gearing up for a great blooming season. I am going to try to keep this thread updated over the next few months. Roths willl start opening mid-February into early summer.

Here is a preview:

Paph. gratrixianum. This was originally a division from Tenman. I have a couple pots of this, and they both put out multiple spikes every year.


Paph. Salty 'Val' (left) and Jack Tonkin 'Val's Choice'. Very vigorous plants that bloom every year. They should turn white in another week.


Paph. victoria regina


Paph. sanderianum. Grown from a seedling about 15 years ago. Have been waiting a VERY long time for this one!


haynaldianum. Also grown from flask. Have been blooming a ton of these over the past few years. I gave away/sold off many but still have 8 big plants. Several are on second blooming this year. Two plants in spike so far with more to come.


lowii. This is an absolute monster plant. It is constantly putting out multiple new growths which mature in under 6 months and spike. The plant is almost continuously in spike or bloom throughout the year. It is in a tall 7" pot with almost no medium, basically nothing but roots. It has two long spikes getting ready to open soon.


lowii (half album). Another vigorous plant, with really nice pastel flowers.


I also have a tray of lowii seedlings grown many years from flask. The first one bloomed last year and now some of its sibs are following.


And now for a few roth divisions getting ready. I expect to bloom at least a dozen roths this year, including some first time flowers as well as seedlings originally grown from flask and now on their third or fourth blooming. I was a little lazy with feeding last year, so we will see how flower counts are.

rothschildianum 'Borneo'


roth 'Canadian Club'


roth 'Charles E.'. I have 3 divisions and hope they will all bloom. This plant is a very good grower but definitely reluctant to bloom. It hasn't flowered for me since I bought the plant in spike back in 2012!


roth 'Mont Millais'. This plant is getting pretty big (it is in a 7" tall pot for reference). It is easily my most vigorous roth and flowers every year. Just look at the walls of the pot about to bust from roots. No buds showing just yet, but I am hoping for two spikes this year.


How about a happy little bessae?


That's all for now. I will check back in a few weeks when I can hopefully share some sanderianum flowers!

Hey your plants are spectacular and I am am envious. You seem to be a window grower like me so I’m offering this with regard to the roths: it looks from these photos like they need more light. If you know this already, just brush me off but from others who grow roths in windows and struggle, I think the leaves need to be what to my eye is an UNhealthy-looking chartreuse-yellowy-green. Yours look to be about halfway up 2/3 of what I think would kick them over. My main Roth sits with its leaf tips millimeters from the window glass in a due-South window (with some “shading,” but not much, from failed double panes). Also wondering if you supplement with Cal-Mag or some form of calcium? I used to use Cal-Mag exclusively but now with the plants I know like extra calcium I dress with powdered oyster shell about once a month. It mostly washes through but over time I can feel the plants getting something out of it. I still use Cal-Mag during active vegetative growth and cut it as soon as I notice a bud. Again, your plants are spectacular and it always makes me happy to see window-grown plants.

 

[Justin]

Hey your plants are spectacular and I am am envious. You seem to be a window grower like me so I’m offering this with regard to the roths: it looks from these photos like they need more light. If you know this already, just brush me off but from others who grow roths in windows and struggle, I think the leaves need to be what to my eye is an UNhealthy-looking chartreuse-yellowy-green. Yours look to be about halfway up 2/3 of what I think would kick them over. My main Roth sits with its leaf tips millimeters from the window glass in a due-South window (with some “shading,” but not much, from failed double panes). Also wondering if you supplement with Cal-Mag or some form of calcium? I used to use Cal-Mag exclusively but now with the plants I know like extra calcium I dress with powdered oyster shell about once a month. It mostly washes through but over time I can feel the plants getting something out of it. I still use Cal-Mag during active vegetative growth and cut it as soon as I notice a bud. Again, your plants are spectacular and it always makes me happy to see window-grown plants.

Good tip on the Cal Mag. I do use Epsom salts occassionally. Our tapwater also has a good deal of Ca in it. I am pretty lazy about nutrition and feed the plants pretty lightly overall so always room for improvement.

I also agree on growing mature roths in very high light so that the leaves are chartreuse yellow-green. All the plants are actually under strong LEDs and I would grow them pretty yellow for many years. I only recently cut the lights from 14 to 12 hours to test out growing them a little more towards the green end.

 

[annica.jarvela]

'Cause you have a lot of products, that aren't aloud to use in Europe. This might be, I don't know, but what is kelp products Are they some kind of growth hormone preparations

 

[Justin]

'Cause you have a lot of products, that aren't aloud to use in Europe. This might be, I don't know, but what is kelp products Are they some kind of growth hormone preparations

Seaweed (kelp) extract is very high in plant hormones and is proven to stimulate root growth. I find it very effective for Paphiopedilum.

For example:
https://firstrays.com/product/kelpak/

 

[Ray]

Annica, Kelpak is produced in South Africa and is certainly available in Europe.

Do not be tempted to get another kelp extract, as they are very dissimilar in the efficacy. Kelpak has been used globally for over 40 years on food-, and fruit crops, nuts, grains, turf and landscaping plants. I “discovered” it a bit over a decade ago and brought it to the orchid world.

 

[annica.jarvela]

Ahaa! Now I understand. I was just curious, but maybe I'll try to find it and use it.
Thank you so much Justin and Ray for this information and telling me what it is

 

[Justin]

some lowii teens...

 

[abax]

Gorgeous besseae!