Ruminations of an Expatriate

Orchid Growth Photos

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

I promised to post photos of the new growth of the orchid plants I have wired to a young Encino Oak tree. So here you are.

This plant, which produces really sweet smelling flowers, has emitted four new shoots from various pseudobulbs. You may see at the bottom left of the photo a couple of flower buds.

Here you may see a couple of healthy roots developing on the plant which Cecilia’s mother rent from a lush plant growing on a tree on her property and presented to me.

And here you may see a couple of healthy roots sent out from one of the Cattleya orchids. You will probably remember the Cattleya as the type of orchid you or your date wore to your senior prom. The plants seem to appreciate their luffa wraps.

Here are little leaf shoots emanating from the pseudobulbs of various colored Cattleyas I mounted together. Should you look carefully you will find four shoots.

And here you may see a little, bright green leaf shoot, right about at the middle of the photo, sent out from a pseudobulb of an orchid of which type I don’t know.

All of the epiphytic orchid plants shown in the photos send forth new leaves and roots from pseudobulbs. Flowers later emerge from the new leaf shoots. The new leaves emerge singly or in bunches of two or three, at least amongst the plants I have.

All-in-all, the plants are flourishing upon their new Ecino tree habitat, with watering every couple of days. And after I had thought that my attempts at orchid culture had pretty much failed, so I am quite satisfied.

Estoy muy contento.

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While On The Subject Of Orchids

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

OrchidSeeds

I thought I should show you what orchid seeds look like.

I extracted the perhaps hundreds of thousands of seeds from the ripe seed pod I discussed yesterday and have placed them on pieces of what I think is peat.

The seeds are very, very small, to the point that they and the fuzz, with which the seeds are dispersed by the wind, appear as dust.

The remnants of the seed pod, with the dried flower still attached, may be seen at the bottom of the photo above.

I have cut old roots from a number of my orchid plants and pureed them in a bit of water in my blender, as I’ve read that early orchid propagators found that orchid roots contain the fungus which provides the nutrients necessary for the seeds to germinate. I will inoculate the seeds with the pureed roots, place them in a plastic covered container to conserve moisture, and hope for the best.

OrchidSeeds2 Again, from all I’ve read on the subject of orchid propagation, the chances that the seeds will germinate are very slim. Though I do have the advantage that this particular orchid variety is quite prolific and endemic in this area.

These days orchid propagators germinate seeds in sterile flasks upon a sterile agar based nutrient mix. But if orchid seeds are able to germinate in the non-sterile wilds here abouts, I don’t see why I shouldn’t be able to have at least some seeds germinate.

I have read that very early orchid propagators found that placing the seeds at the base of the mother plant achieved acceptable germination results, so I have placed a piece of the seed covered peat up side down at the base of the mother plant, as shown in the photo above.

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Orchid Report

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The daily thundershowers, some with heavy rain and spectacular thunder claps, during the last week, have I think over watered some of my epiphytic orchid plants. I have learned that too much water causes the roots to turn a dull green color, rather than white with vibrant green tips.

This photo shows healthy roots.

OrchidHealthyRoot

And a couple of photos of the roots of plants that have received too much water. Today is sunny and the waterlogged roots are returning to their healthy state.

OrchidUnhealthyRoot

OrchidUnhealthyRoot1

It turns out that my idea of scoring the cedar board upon which I mounted the orchid in the photo below was a good idea, as the new roots have apparently determined the grooves are appropriate habitat.

OrchidRootsInBoard

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Orchid Report

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

One of the seed pods of my Encyclia vitellina, of which I previously reported has matured. Notice that the center seed pod shown in the photo has turned orange and if you look closely you can see that the lowest portion of the ridge on the seed pod has opened to release its seeds.

SwollenOvary (2)

I have cut the pod from the plant so as to conserve the seeds. I will now cut some old roots from the mother plant with which to try to inoculate the seeds with the Rhizoctonia fungus the nutrient the seeds need to germinate, as the almost microscopic seeds do not contain any nutrients necessary for germination.

It is likely, from all I’ve read, my efforts at germinating the seeds will fail, though I do have the advantage that the Encyclia vitellina is endemic here abouts.

I will, of course, keep my ten readers informed.

I suppose I should also report that afternoon thunder showers returned to Xalapa about a week or so ago, after a drought extending from last December; thus I have not needed to water my orchids. The daily showers provide the perfect watering regime for the orchids.

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Xalapa Miscellany

Monday, August 17th, 2009

TreeOrizabaStreet1 I’ve been meaning for quite some time to photograph this magnificent tree, with its undulating root masses cascading down the slope at the West end of a small park abutting Avenida Orizaba here in Xalapa.

There is another of this variety of tree growing along Avenida Avila Camacho just West of Calle Clavijero in Centro. I have also seen the variety of tree in Havana.

TreeOrizabaStreet

AvilaCamachoSidewalk Speaking of Avenida Avila Camacho, City of Xalapa forces have demolished the sidewalks along each side of the street from a bit West of Clavijero to the intersection with Juarez. The crews have also demolished the concrete curbing around the planting beds between the sidewalk and street. Both the sidewalks and planting bed curbing had been severely heaved by the roots of the large trees growing along the street.

The new sidewalk, of brick red, stamped concrete, is quite attractive.

Below is a photo of the blossoms of my only blossoming orchid.

OrchidBlossoms

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Orchid Report

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Please keep in mind that the following comments relate to mounted epiphytic, pseudo bulb orchids grown in, more or less, their natural range. Also keep in mind that I know almost nothing relative to mounted epiphytic orchids than that which I have observed, as there is not information to be had through the internet relative to the cultural requirement of such. And keep in mind that I am the bull-headed type, who must generally stick his finger in the fan to learn.

Since my last report, almost of my epiphytic orchids are sprouting roots and many are sprouting new growth. I have pretty much determined how much water the plants need and concluded that if the pseudo bulbs are plump the pant is getting enough water. I have also determined that if the roots began to become brownish or grayish toward their tips, usually just behind the green root tip, the plant is getting too much water.

Here are a few photos of healthy epiphytic orchid roots.

Cattleya, the "Corsage Orchid", Roots

You may see in the photo below the roots of the plant clinging to the length of tree branch to which I’ve tied it.

Roots Clinging To Branch

The size of the roots varies with the size of the plants. I don’t know what type of orchid it is, but you may see in the center of the photo below a nice white, green tipped root emerging from a pseudo bulb and seeking attachment.

Roots4

Speaking of epiphytic orchids, the other day I was passing by the carport of which I previously reported here, (about half way down in the post) when the carport owner was at the gate. I stopped and asked her permission to please remark how beautiful her plants were. Soon the lady, and a bit later also the man of the house, was kindly answering my questions about the watering and light needs of the plants.

The folks of the house told me to stop by any time to look at their plants, to have dinner with them, and assured me that their house was mine.

So my interest in learning of orchid culture has resulted in me meeting new friends.

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Epiphyte And Orchid Update

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

I was strolling through Parque Bicentenario a recent morning and encountered this epiphyte laden branch blown from its mother tree by a storm the night before. I grabbed it and sought the park maintenance fellow, from whom I obtained permission to remove a downed branch a couple weeks ago. As soon as the fellow saw me approaching holding the branch, recognizing Gringo Loco, he began nodding his head so as to grant his permission for me to take the branch. I imagined him shaking his head and rolling his eyes as I went on my way, reactions I imagined also from passers by.

I have hung it from a pipe which runs through the four story light well just above the small patio abutting my apartment.

EpiphyteBranch

A couple of weeks ago I was reading about hand pollinating orchid blossoms and decided to give it a try. I used the tweezers from my Swiss Army knife. It is quite easy pollinating the large Cattleya blossoms but a bit more of a challenge with the smaller blossom varieties, such as the Encyclia radiata. As it turned out my efforts were successful relative to three blossoms, two Cattleya and one Encyclia radiata blossom.

The following photo shows the swelling ovary of the Encyclia radiata, and the following photos show the swelling of the two Cattleyas.

The swelling indicates pollination has occurred, though it does not indicate that the seeds will necessarily be vital.

SwollenOvary

With future blossoms I will mix the pollen amongst the pink, yellow, and red Cattleyas I have; try to germinate whatever seeds may result from such cross pollinations; and hopefully end up, after a few years, with something different.

When the seed pods become mature I will remove the seeds, place the seeds on sterilized peat, and inoculate the seeds with an emulsion of ground roots I will remove from the plants in an effort to introduce the fungus necessary to provide nutrients for germinating orchid seeds, which, unlike most other plant seeds, contain no nutrients to sustain the germination process.

I will, of course, keep my eight readers informed.

SwollenOvary1

SwollenOvary2

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Orchid Report

Sunday, June 21st, 2009

Please keep in mind that I’ve been seriously looking into orchid growing only for about that last couple of weeks since orchid vendors showed up on the streets and I decided to give it a try. Basically I don’t know squat of the subject. However, I am seeing new root and shoot growth on the plants I have mounted on pieces of tree branches, so figure my method of simulating the plants’ natural habitat, the best I can, works. Though I am reserving final judgment until I see a mass of new roots roots clinging to the mounts and new shoots, blossoms, and pseudobulbs emerging.

My initial report may be found here.

Also keep in mind that I live, more or less, within the native range of the orchid plants I have purchased and mounted; and that my remarks pertain to epiphytic orchids, and most particularly “pseudobulb” epiphytic orchids.

Epiphytes, for those who may not know, are benign parasitic plants, the roots of which attach to trees or rocks, thus their roots do not contact soil. The moisture storing pseudobulbs and succulent roots see the orchids through times of little moisture. There has been periodic rain showers here for the last few days, after a couple of dry weeks, and the epiphytes growing on the trees along the avenues here have quite noticeably perked up.

Orchids1
Initially I had mounted a number of orchids on a branch I salvaged, with permission, from a pile in a nearby park which I had placed in my little patio at the bottom of a four story light well. I decided there was insufficient light to the patio for orchids and that it afforded no protection from rain, so moved the orchids to the security grills on the outside of my bathroom and bedroom windows where there is bright light but no direct sunlight and a roof three stories up provides a bit of protection from excessive rain.

Almost all of the orchid growing information web sites I have visited focus on growing orchids outside of their native ranges so provide instructions for growing orchids in pots filled with growing medium, such as ground up tree bark. The sites all caution of over watering orchids.

I have learned, however, that it is difficult to over water mounted orchids. I have been spraying my plants thoroughly, two or three times each day during dry weather while they are becoming established on there wood mounts. I have purchased the plants from street vendors and the roots have been very dry and pseudobulbs shriveled, so figure lots of water is appropriate while the plants acclimate to their new habitat. I have learned also that when buying an orchid plant it is best to buy one with at least three pseudobulbs.

ShootSeedPod
You can see in the photo above, of what I believe is a Encyclia vitellina, that one of the blossoms has produced a seed pod, which means that the appropriate critter happened by and wandered through the blossoms. The photo also shows a fresh shoot of what I believe is a Cattlelya.

Cattalya
I have been reading a bit about pollinating and hybridizing orchids. It seems that the Cattlelya, informally known as the “corsage orchid”, is a favorite for hybridizing. The Cattlelyas have large, showy flowers with easily accessible pollen; and, thus, there are lots of different Cattlelyas. One shown in the photo below.

I have also been reading about growing orchids from seeds, in anticipation of the maturity of the seed pod shown above.

Orchid seeds are almost microscopic, and develop within the pods amidst a fuzzy material which facilitates the spreading of the seed by the wind. The seeds contain no feed stores; and, thus, in their flight to a suitable nursery are reliant upon serendipitous contact with Rhizoctonia fungus which provides nutrients to the barren seeds. A German scientist discovered in the early 1900s that inoculating orchid seeds, placed upon sterilized peat, with ground up roots of adult plants greatly increased germination rates.

Now days orchid seeds are generally germinated in laboratories upon sterilized agar based medium. I’ll be trying the ground root inoculation method.

Gratuitous Editorial: I have been appalled, in researching orchids through the internet, at the number of web sites identifying México as being a part of either Central or South America, and at the number of sites which indicated that epiphytes aren’t parasites, as they don’t harm their hosts.

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