Spring 2011 Project - Plant Suggestions

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

I was thinking that we might want to do 2 rounds of voting since there are so many.

Round 1 would be initial elimination round where each person could choose say 5 or so that are their favorites. We could take the top 5 (or 6, 7 etc... if there are ties) and then do Round 2 of voting on the one's that come in at the top.

Never having done this before, I'm sure the moderators have had to deal with this before. Just thought I'd throw my thought out there though.

I believe that's what we did last time around. Worked out nicely.


You can call me Bob

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Guys, I'd suggest steering away from Habenarias for now. Especially Habenaria medusa (Habenaria myriotricha). Imo, they're too frustrating to deal with for a project like this.

Habenarias form "root tubers". "Root tubers" tend to get damaged and/or rot pretty easily.

Try Grobya amherstiae instead.

Everything else looks fine.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by flhiker

I searched Andy's, Orchids by Hausermann, and Oak Hill for Ramons suggestion and found the following

Phalaenopsis braceana @ AO for 30.00

Habenaria medusa @ AO for 125.00 but did have Habenaria ericmichaelii (rhodocheila pink) for 22.00

Dryadella edwallii@ AO for 20.00

Dendrobium capituliflorum @ AO for 24.00 and 28.00

No named species for Chiloschista species (yellow and green) @ AO for 18.00

Thanks Dave, I've updated with your info.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

and I checked in Botanica Ltd, Carolina Orchids and Santa Barbara Orchids:

Bifrenaria harrisoniae - BO 22$
Dryadella edwallii - Santa Barbaba 17.5$
Dendrobium capituliflorum - CO 25$
Chiloschista viridiflava - BO 25$
Broughtonia sanguinea - CO 25-35$ / Sta Barbara 25$
Baptistonia echinata - Sta. Barbara 25$
Encyclia bractescens - Sta. Barbara 17.5$

Thanks Ramón, I've updated with this info. Unfortunately several of these look to expensive in the USA

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by camille1585

Rosie, I went over most of the ones in the need more research section.

Thanks Camille, I've updated with this info.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Guys, I'd suggest steering away from Habenarias for now. Especially Habenaria medusa (Habenaria myriotricha). Imo, they're too frustrating to deal with for a project like this.

Habenarias form "root tubers". "Root tubers" tend to get damaged and/or rot pretty easily.

Try Grobya amherstiae instead.

Everything else looks fine.

Thanks for the advice Philip.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I didn't see the Chiloschista suggestions.

I wanted to let all the people who are participating in this project know, before they take a vote and make a final decision, that growing Chiloschistas takes quite a bit of skill and dedication.

Despite being touted as being the easier genus of leafless orchids to grow, they're still quite challenging.

If a large majority can find enjoyment in the challenges and dedication it takes to successfully grow Chiloschistas for this project, then by all means go for it.

I dunno, if it were me, I'd do Chiloschistas on my own rather than put it up for a project like this.

I'm thinking of the fun factor of this project, where everyone can be involved, have fun, and participate. Personally, while I love Chiloschistas, it's not something that comes to mind for this kind of an event.

My recommendations for possible "leafless" orchids to do for this project would be:

Phal braceana
Phal lowii
Phal taenialis
Phal wilsonii

The above mentioned Phals would be challenging enough, while still be forgiving enough to allow people to stay in the project.

Just my

[RosieC]

Thanks for the advice Philip. I was uncertain about the Chiloschistas when I saw it was leafless, and if it's considered difficult I think we should stay away from it. Thanks for letting us know

[RosieC]

I've updated the thread at the top will all the latest info... even if it's not as neatly presented as I would like (I'll keep working on it )

We have quite a lot which currently have not been found in the USA or are two expensive in the USA, as well as a few with similar problems in Europe. I've been doing some searching and found more information on some and I will carry on doing that, but if anyone else comes up with a good (and cheap enough) supplier for any of them then please post it.

Thanks everyone with the help so far.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Originally Posted by help

i dont think howeara lava burst is a species... but ill try to do some research later. but i cant ATM

Originally Posted by camille1585

No not a species, but it's so common that it's easy to find on both sides of the pond. The reason we avoid hybrids is that usually they're hard to find in both places.

Originally Posted by help

so we are making an exception for this? brilliant!

Originally Posted by RosieC

Good point. What do people think?... As Camille said the reason for species has primarily been that hybrids often aren't available both in the USA and in Europe (we get different ones).

I don't mind allowing it in, but if most people think we should stick to species we can do that. I'm happy to be lead by the majority opinion on this.

However I do know some folks like to only buy species, I don't want anyone to feel excluded if we allow this one.

These look similar to the Howeara Lava Burst and they're less than 12" tall:

Cochlioda sanguinea

Rodriguezia lanceolata