Miss Orchid Girl

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

Only yesterday, I saw an aussie gardening show on tv with that one!!!!! Fantastic plant.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sD47cdC2FlY

At time 2:03 (2 mins, 3 seconds) into the video.

Thank you. That is a famous collection, known to a lot of cactus enthusiasts. He has lot of Ferocactus outside, as well.

In what part of Australia do you live? There are almost certainly cacti you can grow outside in your garden.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Thank you. That is a famous collection, known to a lot of cactus enthusiasts. He has lot of Ferocactus outside, as well.

In what part of Australia do you live? There are almost certainly cacti you can grow outside in your garden.

Thanks ES, for mentioning that the collection is well known! I had only recently started to watch the runs/re-runs of the episodes on free-to-air tv ------ of that tv show (Gardening Australia), and thought the segment on the cactus collection was really great.

There is another one that they showed recently too ----- at this link here: Click Here - also quite excellent.

ES ----- I live in North East Queensland. I haven't got any prickly or spiky cactus plants. I think I might give prickly pear or one of those round ball cactus a try!!! I'll do my best anyway haha.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by SouthPark

I live in North East Queensland. I haven't got any prickly or spiky cactus plants. I think I might give prickly pear or one of those round ball cactus a try!!! I'll do my best anyway haha.

No prickly pears! You know what they did to your country!

Your climate is very similar to the parts of Brazil with Pilosocereus, Coleocephalocereus and Discocactus (not Disocactus, which are Central American epiphytes.) The first two genera grow on exposed black rock domes, in full sun all day, in tiny pockets of gravel and organic matter. I asked locals about summer weather; they told me it is often 130 F / 55C in the shade during the day. It rains every day in summer, and is dry the rest of the year. Discocactus grow in deep quartzite sand. Most are shaded by grass in the wet summer, but exposed to sun in the dry winter.

But you should be able to grow most other cacti outside, except perhaps high-altitude Andean cacti.

The various epiphytic cacti that tolerate warmer temperatures would also do well for you, but I would worry about birds spreading the seeds and the plants becoming invasive. They don't experience a long dry spell in habitat like you get, so seedlings might not be able to establish.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by estación seca

No prickly pears! You know what they did to your country!

Totally agree with you ES. I'll skip the prickly pear to avoid those issues associated with prickly pear getting out of control.

I think I'll go for one of those discocactus ones. Thanks for mentioning that issue with prickly pear again! I better not go for that one hahaha.

[Leo H.]

I used to watch many of her videos because I find them entertaining and like to see other people's approaches on problems. I also found some useful tips on growing in low-humidity environments. BUT I always keep in mind that her climate is very different from what I am used to. Especially in winter, my air is much drier and the temperature is much lower than at her place so the balance between watering and temperature is completely different. Since most of her viewers come from the US and many of the residents there live in regions with humid and warm to hot summers, doing 1:1 what she does is most likely not going to work for them (to be fair, she says this herself all the time)
Now, I have discovered the smaller orchid channels for myself which imo are more personel, so I watch her videos less frequently (mostly updates on projects)

What I love to watch are her Orchids in bloom videos. I like the idea of letting the viewers chose their favourite orchids and making it a contest. Also, who doesn't like to see videos full of orchid blooms

[stripey-novice]

I enjoy watching her videos. She has a lovely collection and has a nice way of presenting them.
I’m someone who was gifted an orchid as new homeowner 11 years ago. Kept my little plant all that time without much thought until earlier this year when something wasn’t right. Her videos really helped me to identify the root problems my orchid had, and although I didn’t follow her advice to the letter, it certainly gave me some confidence to treat them. Then when I felt I needed some specific feedback on my plant, I joined here and was given more good solid advice. The plant is now doing reasonably well and I’ve somehow acquired two more.....

[katsucats]

I'm not a huge fan of most orchid videos since they tend to ramble on about historical factoids and climates and personal experiences that I just don't care about. With Miss Orchid Girl, out of her 15 minute videos, there is probably at most 1 minute of information I'm looking for. But I have used her videos, in particular when she talks about fragrances of specific plants or certain media (e.g. Seramis). However, I cringe when I see her put virused plants side by side with healthy plants, especially with the way she handles the plants so promiscuously, randomly rubbing on flowers and leaves of multiple plants without washing hands in between.

[Davey]

Looks like a fun YouTube channel to watch and get in the mood to do orchid activities. Pretty cool that she knows the folks at rePotme. There’s another girl with a cool orchid channel (Bumblees or something like that). Her videos are more on the chill side.

[Roberta]

Originally Posted by Davey

Looks like a fun YouTube channel to watch and get in the mood to do orchid activities. Pretty cool that she knows the folks at rePotme. There’s another girl with a cool orchid channel (Bumblees or something like that). Her videos are more on the chill side.

Just be sure to evaluate any advice from YouTube videos or other single-source information on the 'net with regard to your own conditions. And verify based on the experience of other growers before you cut anything or apply any treatment... there's lots of good information here on the Orchid Board, and you gain the benefit of a wide range of experience from multiple people.
(As far as Miss Orchid Girl knowing the folks at rePotme... she had an arrangement with them to put her videos on their website... for a price certainly. I haven't seen those links lately, so likely the deal is off. It's all about $$$, not any particular expertise. )

[Davey]

Originally Posted by Roberta

Just be sure to evaluate any advice from YouTube videos or other single-source information on the 'net with regard to your own conditions. And verify based on the experience of other growers before you cut anything or apply any treatment... there's lots of good information here on the Orchid Board, and you gain the benefit of a wide range of experience from multiple people.
(As far as Miss Orchid Girl knowing the folks at rePotme... she had an arrangement with them to put her videos on their website... for a price certainly. I haven't seen those links lately, so likely the deal is off. It's all about $$$, not any particular expertise. )

Oh absolutely! I had seen so much good advice on this thread that I did not mention what I do for cultivation advice that Zoren had asked about. I went straight to talking about videos.
I agree with some of the other commenters here that some of the U tube videos seem to be more entertaining and for fun (rather than expert advice). I love to watch bonsai repotting videos. They’re fun to watch and I do see those guys using some pretty cool tools and techniques that I’ve never heard of before.

I love your photos of your orchids on your website Roberta, and I have found many of your answers here very clear and helpful.

I actually still go to my AOS “Orchid Pests and Diseases” books first whenever I come across a problem. Lol. Then I come here when I need more specific advice from experienced growers.