Snow day pictures from inside my greenhouse

Al — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:44:30 +0000

It is really snowing out there right now.

DPE1353 Phal. violacea var. coerulea ‘Nancy’s Gift’

Al — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:46:35 +0000

The parents are (‘Sapphire Doll’ AM/AOS x ‘Harvey’)

Water or mite damage on Kohleria leaves?

Al — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:21:49 +0000

I don’t know yet. I had been working under the assumption that this was water damage and had taken great pains to make sure I did not get any water on the leaves while watering my plants. Yet the damage continued to appear on new leaves and seemed to be spreading to other plants.

A friend was visiting on Saturday and asked me if I would recognize Cyclamen Mite damage and I said I would if I saw it on African violets and then proceeded to describe the obvious crinkled and brittle distorted growth pattern of mite infested african violet leaves and he brought me over to the Kohleria bench and pointed at these leaves and told me this was cyclamen mite damage.

I actively spray for mites in my greenhouse primarily to protect my Phalaenopsis but I have been avoiding the gesneriads because they are new to me and I don’t know what chemicals produce a phytotoxic response in them. So they have been growing unprotected. I have spent the better part of an hour combing over these leaves with a 10x loupe but I can’t see any mites. This does not rule them out however. Cyclamen mites and broad mites are among the smallest mite pests and my eyes are getting old, so I might not be able to see them even with my trusty loupe. Therefore I am including my gesneriads in my mite spraying program and will see if this damage abates as the summer wears on. If it is mite damage, it can be easily controlled. It is just a matter of recognizing it and taking action.

In a few months I will revisit this post and update it to let you know if the mite control regimen has alleviated this damage on future growth.

DPE1309 Phal. braceana ‘Dusky Rose’

Al — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:16:05 +0000

Kind of different from my other braceana in color and shape. Still, it is labeled as a braceana and since it doesn’t fit clearly into any of the other possibilities AND since I have only seen about half a dozen P braceana up close and personal, I don’t feel qualified to say if is correctly identified. Here’s what I will say: It keys out to be P braceana it just manages to look different while doing it.

DPE1200 Phal. braceana ‘Brown Dwarf’

Al — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:12:53 +0000

A very dark flower on a miniature plant. The flower has a “meaty” fragrance that reminds me of a meat peptide used in orchid flasking media. Yummm.

DPE0937 Phal. Distant Star ‘A’

Al — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:52:32 +0000

The parents are (Be Glad ‘Powder Puff’ x venosa ‘Summer Time’). This plant blooms all the time. It also has one of those traits that people who see it love and judges do not like. It’s color fades as the flowers age which creates the effect of different colored flowers on the same inflorescence.

DPE0224 Rnthps. Penang Miami

Al — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:55:02 +0000

The parents are (Ren Kalsom 4n x Phal. equestris) I got this plant from Peter Lin at Big Leaf Orchids almost a decade ago. Alas, it did not survive the fire.

DPE0204 Phal. Fantasy Musick ‘Lemon Lip’

Al — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:17:29 +0000

The parents are (Micro Nova x equestris var. alba). All the other offspring in this grex that I saw bloom had anthocyanin pigments in the lip that masked the yellow. Not only is ‘Lemon Lip’ missing these pigments it is partially peloric; the yellow from the lip shows up in the petals.

DPE0220 Phal. equestris var. aurea ‘Big Yellow’

Al — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:09:02 +0000

DPE0623 Phal. cochlearis ‘Leesburg’

Al — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:09:09 +0000