naturalized cattleya in south Miami

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

having lived in South Fla for MANY years whist pursuing my orchid version of mental disease one of the very few things i miss is the sub tropical climate, a big yard with a couple of mango trees and other trees loaded with naturalized orchids. A dear and close friend has not been able to escape the south florida madness yet and I coach him directly on how to improve his orchid culture.
Bob is the name and he's a retired engineer whereas i am still slaving away.
He has been growing some truly outstanding orchids in his yard and he just sent me a couple of pics that need to seen and appreciated. This is a species cattleya mounted on a roebellini palm that has 12 open flowers and is just awesome to look at.

BTW, this roebellini palm is a two header and has a stunning pristine cattleya intermedia alba on the other trunk and at the base has an encyclia alata that has bloomed with up to 53 spikes, pictures of that should still be available here

[estación seca]

Wow!

[Keysguy]

It is fun until the next big hurricane and then you wish they hadn't been on trees so you could have saved them.

That being said, when I re-pot and get multiple divisions I will often stick one on a tree. I've convinced myself that's acceptable because when it happens (not "if", "when") I have the mother plant that hopefully will be relatively safe and I can do it all over again some day..

[Ben_in_North_FLA]

I have found established orchid mounted on trees with good root system have a very strong resistance to wind, of course if the tree part that is holding can be blown away or if it gets hit by debris than its gone. I had hurricane Wilma's eye come over my house in 2005, both edges and some of the orchids on trees had no problems, but my shade houses and pool enclosure had major damage. Also found over the years that mounted orchids on tree are provided additional temperature protection for cold nights

[Keysguy]

All I can say is that after Irma's 8 straight hours of almost 150 mph and a 6 foot storm surge I was really happy I still had all my trees even if it did take them a year to recover.

Wasn't an orchid root on a tree anywhere, even the ones that would have been on the lee side of the tree from the wind.

I've often wondered if a tight bungie cord or packing taped mesh covering would work but after what I witnessed, I seriously doubt it.

[My Green Pets]

The species looks to be luddemanniana? Really nice.

So, as someone not familiar with hurricane conditions, you guys are saying that the winds will actually blow the orchid off the tree? Even down to the roots? Just from wind and rain?

[Keysguy]

That's correct Pets.
I had never experienced a "big one" until Irma in 2017.

Our whole area looked like it had gone through a forest fire or been wiped out with agent orange. There wasn't a green leaf or in tact palm frond to be found anywhere. Trees were just bare sticks and many were badly broken if not completely up-rooted.

There are still wide areas of mangroves that have not and may never fully recover.

---------- Post added at 08:09 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 AM ----------

I didn't mean to hijack the thread but something else about orchids and hurricanes I just thought of.....

If any society is thinking about inviting Bob Fuchs to speak at a meeting, get him to give his talk on Hurricane Andrew. It's fascinating. His business and property was totally destroyed and if any of you have ever been there you'll really appreciate the magnitude of the destruction in his pictures.