Dear NGOS Members:
The Northeast Georgia Orchid Society is holding our annual planning meeting on Sunday, January 21, 2:00 pm in the Gardenside Room at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. In addition to the planning activities, there will be time to "show-and-tell" any plants that you may want to bring.
DOOR PRIZE ALERT! If you are interested in jewel orchids, I will have one jewel orchid, Ludisia discolor, to be given away as a door prize to a lucky winner at the end of the planning meeting.
NGOS is starting the new year with some new opportunities to get involved.
Propose Meeting Topics
Would you like to request meetings on specific topics this year? Would you like to know more about growing specific kinds of orchids, such as Phalaenopsis, Oncidiums, or Dendrobiums? Do you want to talk about specific growing practices, such as watering, fertilizer use, or growing on mounts? Come to the annual NGOS planning meeting on January 21, and help us build our calendar and program for 2018! We need eight more ideas for meetings during 2018. There are several ways you help out.
Come to the meeting and propose a topic. This can be a meeting that you would like to lead on a topic you find interesting, or a subject you would like discussed, but you prefer not to lead. The meeting does not need to be a formal presentation. It could be a discussion of a topic, a demonstration (such as how to mount a plant), or an activity (such as last year's activity, helping to re-pot and curate plants at UGA). Typical presentations are a half hour, or less.
Can't attend the planning meeting? No problem! Feel free to suggest a meeting topic by e-mail.
You don't have specific topics in mind, but would like to consider some choices? Consider these options, some of which were recently suggested to me:
Introduction to Orchids. What makes an orchid and orchid? What are the similarities and differences among the orchids we commonly grow? How are they different from orchids you might see in the wild? What are the "basics" of orchid care for orchids typically available to the public?
Follow up later in the year: focus meeting(s) on the Care of Specific Types of Orchids. Which types of orchids are of interest to you? Commonly available orchids include, Phalaenopsis, Oncidium alliance, Cymbidium, Cattleya alliance, Dendrobium, "slipper orchids", and Vanda, but NGOS welcomes discussion of other orchids too.
Water and Fertilizer. What are the characteristics of "good" water for orchids? How often should I water? What are the indicators of good water water management for orchids? When should I supply mineral nutrition (fertilizer) to my orchids, and how much?
Native Orchids. This topic was presented by NGOS a few years ago, focusing on wild orchids that might be encountered in Clarke County, Georgia. This topic could be expanded to include orchids that grow in other counties in our region.
Activity: De-flasking Orchid Seedlings. Virtually all commercially-produced orchids are raised from seed, but must be grown under sterile conditions, growing on agar-based growing medium. Following a short discussion of the process of sowing and growing seeds in-flask, the proposed activity would include transplanting small seedlings, removing them from a flask, and transferring them to community pots (compots). Since there is a cost involved in acquiring flasks, participants that plan to keep transplanted seedlings will need to agree on the flasks to buy, share the costs of the flasks, and order flasks ahead of time.
Activity: Swap, Buy, Sell, or Give. NGOS had an event similar to this last year. If you have healthy plants that you would like to trade to other members, or possibly sell, bring them to to this event, work out a deal! No plants to trade? No problem, come to the meeting and see if you can purchase something interesting. Or, if you have extras, consider bringing plants to give to others. We could do this more than once per year, too.
Orchids for Each Season - an Orchid Calendar. Do most of your plants want to bloom at the same time each year? Choosing the right plants could keep your house, patio or yard in bloom year-round.
Other ways to be Involved
The NGOS supports orchid growing as a fun hobby, and serves the community by providing educational opportunities to orchid hobbyists of all ages and experience levels. This requires some time to organize, and skills (some of which I lack!).
Are you good at social media? We could use someone to work with our Facebook page.
Are you a good organizer? Think you could be NGOS President? You are probably right! Volunteer to serve as 2018 president.
Do you like to take photographs? Be our NGOS photographer at meetings! The photos could be used in online posts of club activities (see details below).
Got other ideas for helping NGOS? Let us know your ideas.
NGOS now has it's own online forum page on Orchidboard.com
Although NGOS does not have it's own website, we now have our own sub-forum on
www.Orchidboard.com, which is one of the largest and most popular online forums serving the orchid-growing community. I have been a member of Orchidboard since 2012. The forum is free to join, and easy to use. Forum participants come from literally all over the world. Members of all skill levels are welcome.
This is a fantastic place for NGOS members to come and get information, offer advice, share photographs, and learn how to grow almost any kind of cultivated orchid. If people are growing an orchid anywhere, it has probably been written about on Orchidboard.
Our NGOS page is found at:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community/georgia-ngos/ Although you do not need to be a member to visit the page, you do need to register if you would like to make posts. NGOS will be using the forum page in the future for:
Posting information on upcoming meetings (we will also continue with the usual e-mails).
Posting news on recent meetings or other activities.
MEMBER INPUT!!! Talk about the meetings, post pictures, ask questions, etc. (Once you register (free!), you can post anywhere on Orchidboard.com)
If there is member interest, we can probably hold an NGOS meeting on how to register and use Orchidboard.
Don't forget, NGOS also has a Facebook page:
Northeast Georgia Orchid Society - Home | Facebook [as noted above, we need some help with the Facebook page!]
OK, I have rambled long enough. I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
Northeast Georgia Orchid Society: Meeting January 21, and an online forum page
Linear Mode
