Orchid Myths

[lepanthes89]

I found it.! The orchid in question SUSPECTED of being insectivorous is Aracamunia liesneri, from Cerro Aracamuni.It is a small Spiranthoid with glandular structures from the leaf bases.It lives in nutrient poor soils.
See "Orchids" Nov.1998, p.1155.

[Tsuchibuta]

Maybe I should get one of these for my orchid house to keep out the creepy crawlies.

[kavanaru]

Originally Posted by lepanthes89

I found it.! The orchid in question SUSPECTED of being insectivorous is Aracamunia liesneri, from Cerro Aracamuni.It is a small Spiranthoid with glandular structures from the leaf bases.It lives in nutrient poor soils.
See "Orchids" Nov.1998, p.1155.

interesting... I had forgotten it... that plant was indeed collected by Prof. Francisco Delascio and Liesner (here the especies name). It was described a few years later by "I do not remember"... (to be honest, I do not even remember the plant, but remember the Genus which was one of the many new Genera/especies described)

[orchids3]

Des,
Tell your wife not to be too hard on you for farting in church. Son (a Pastor) tells of taking a break while the chior was singing. Forgot to turn off the walk around Mike. Passing of Wind and flushing of the urinal was very audible above the chiors anthem .....Seem to remember that it ws to the music of "Ode to Joy" ..... Oh yeah Budwiser doesnt seem to seem to make my sugar any higher - diabetic too. My spelling really gets bad if I post though.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by orchids3

Des,
Tell your wife not to be too hard on you for farting in church. Son (a Pastor) tells of taking a break while the chior was singing. Forgot to turn off the walk around Mike. Passing of Wind and flushing of the urinal was very audible above the chiors anthem .....Seem to remember that it ws to the music of "Ode to Joy" .....

At least it wasn't Peace Is Flowing Like A River.

[Des]

Originally Posted by Ray

Des, the brown color of struggling roots is from phenols produced by the plant to ward off attackers, or invasion by another plant into its growing area. Unfortunately, those phenols are toxic to the plant itself.

Let me ask you this: what makes you think the bacteria in a pot are ethylene producers? I don't know they aren't; just asklng.

Ray nothing scientific I'm afraid , I have noticed over the years when repotting Cymbids that the plants with healthy root systems , the media has a good earthy smell plants that have problems with their root systems have a sickly sweet smell which I thought to be ethylene. Now that I am using a disinfectant in my feed water I don,t get these sick plants anymore .So I assume that the lack of bacteria in the pots equals no breakdown of the media and no rotting of the roots .
I have just finished repotting 800 Cymbids and have not found even one pot with root problems .
I would very much like to have your thoughts on the matter.

[Ray]

My thoughts: "Repotted 800 cymbidiums! Are you nuts?"

Just kidding. That's a LOT of work. What disinfectant do you use and at what strength? (You might try to get some LECA and try S/H - repotting is a LOT easier.)

I know too little about pot-borne bacteria to know if they do produce it, although it is certainly possible.

[Neverend]

800 cymbidiums?! It should be over a few days right... it'll be crazy hard work to do that in one!

[Des]

Originally Posted by Ray

My thoughts: "Repotted 800 cymbidiums! Are you nuts?"

Just kidding. That's a LOT of work. What disinfectant do you use and at what strength? (You might try to get some LECA and try S/H - repotting is a LOT easier.)

I know too little about pot-borne bacteria to know if they do produce it, although it is certainly possible.

Ray , you have be organized when you repot , myself and my wife we work as a team ....................... she repots while I drink the beer ................. It's a hell of a job , but thats my life I do let her beat up on me every now and then though..................... you know like the Coaches do to their players just before a game ,makes her pot faster
Seriously though she repots while I make the media ,mix and wash the pots etc, no beer but plenty of cups of tea for her and coffee for me . Has taken about two weeks working part time to complete.
Our next job is the repotting of 700 seedlings !!
I use a product called spore-kill and hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the feed water . Spore-kill is similar to your Physan 20. I use at a rate of one mil to 50 liters
Leca is no longer available here,with an exchange rate of 10 rand to the dollar it got to price itself out of the market. Anyhow if I were to go for an inorganic media I would rather use 4 mm riverstone It does the job just as well as Leca.
I grow my plants standing in a saucer of water and have recently started including an internal reservoir to the pot .

[sucuz]

Was just completing the Orchid Wall display @ Fredrick Meijer Gardens. A beautiful, darkly exotic, impeccably dressed woman was admiring the display. She leaned over and quietly commented to me: "In my country of Jordan, they grind up the roots of orchids and mix them into sweet milky drinks, and even into ice cream. They have a viagra effect." I smiled and thanked her for sharing that information. A friend later asked me if it had the same effect on women. I admitted that I kind of went into brain-lock and neglected to get more detailed information, but would post it on OB on the Myth-thread to see if anyone could confirm or add to the story. So...anyone?