Phrag. besseae 'Carlisle'

[tomkalina]

Not sure if I posted this earlier this summer, but noticed a dearth of Phrag. postings lately so I thought I'd liven things up a bit. Originally from OZ, this is IMHO one of the best examples we've seen of this beautiful species.

 

[tomkalina]

Forgot to mention; this clone has a leaf span of 27 inches and the leaves at the widest point are 4 inches wide. I'm growing it in a 10" x 20" tray that's 3 " deep.

 

[e-spice]

A real beauty. I notice the leaves are pretty huge for what a besseae typically has.

 

[tomkalina]

Coming from OZ, it could be 4N although I haven’t had a count done. I think it’s also the tray culture, where the root mass gets very large compared to our potted clones thereby allowing a greater absorption of nutrients.

 

[richgarrison]

that plant is pretty amazing looking... (and of course the flower)... is it a named clone from OZ? or just one you acquired and grew on?

 

[abax]

Gorgeous Tom. I don't think I've seen one
quite so perfect. The color is a firecracker!
And thank you for the photo. I look forward
to Phrag. pictures.

 

[Silverwhisp]

Forgot to mention; this clone has a leaf span of 27 inches and the leaves at the widest point are 4 inches wide. I'm growing it in a 10" x 20" tray that's 3 " deep.

Tom, a couple of questions regarding your tray culture.

Do you do this only for species besseae?

Is your tray culture mix identical to pot mix?

 

[NYEric]

Yay besseae!

 

[Dandrobium]

A very vibrant red on this besseae! Great work Tom! Carlisle seems to be quite a performer, I've had mine in bloom since March. I agree with your growing method, mine is growing in a bonsai pot and roots just scramble everywhere. Its a challenge to pot it like this, but the plant seems to thrive. I don't know what the ploidy is, but it breeds well.

 

[tomkalina]

We only grow our Phrag. besseae stud plants this way. If I grew all of the Phrag. besseae adults in trays, I'd need a much bigger greenhouse! We do use our standard Phrag. mix for tray culture as well as pot culture; The only difference is we water the trays more often because of their shallow depth. The OZ designation (Z6777) was on the original tag. There are more of the Z6777's around, but of course there's no guarantee they'll turn out as well.

 

[Guarceñosis]

Not sure if I posted this earlier this summer, but noticed a dearth of Phrag. postings lately so I thought I'd liven things up a bit. Originally from OZ, this is IMHO one of the best examples we've seen of this beautiful species.

Tomkalina potting style in a clay tray. P besseae doing very well with 2 blooms coming.

 

[Silverwhisp]

We only grow our Phrag. besseae stud plants this way. If I grew all of the Phrag. besseae adults in trays, I'd need a much bigger greenhouse! We do use our standard Phrag. mix for tray culture as well as pot culture; The only difference is we water the trays more often because of their shallow depth. The OZ designation (Z6777) was on the original tag. There are more of the Z6777's around, but of course there's no guarantee they'll turn out as well.

Thanks. That makes sense.

 

[tomkalina]

No question if you can afford the growing space, tray culture for this species will always produce larger more robust plants with amazing root systems. We first saw this method of culture in the Gualaceo, Ecuador greenhouses of Ecuagenera, where they grow a number of Phrag. besseae plants in beds. The plants were very large compared to the plants grown in pots.

 

[Silverwhisp]

No question if you can afford the growing space, tray culture for this species will always produce larger more robust plants with amazing root systems. We first saw this method of culture in the Gualaceo, Ecuador greenhouses of Ecuagenera, where they grow a number of Phrag. besseae plants in beds. The plants were very large compared to the plants grown in pots.

Have you ever seen a tray of besseae entered in a show?

 

[tomkalina]

Nope. But if a tray looks like it's transportable without damaging the plant, we may try to bring one to the Orchid Guild show in Madison, WI next January. Assuming the plant is in bloom......

 

[Silverwhisp]

Will look forward to the show!

 

[BrucherT]

This is amazing! I need more details on this tray culture method! Wow.

 

[TrueNorth]

Very nice! What are the dimensions of the flower?

 

[tomkalina]

With tray culture, the average HNS has been between 8.3-8.5 cm and the average PW has been 2.5-2.7 cm.

 

[Ozpaph]

superb in every way