disa flask

[disalover]

The only thing that I still would want to know is how to pollinate the disa tripetaloides flowers. There structure looks nothing like other orchids I have pollinated. And are the tripetaloodes usually so small.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

I've tried posting twice, and I keep forgetting to do the whole copy and paste thing just in case it crashes and erases my message(s) when I try to log-in after typing a long post, so I'll keep it brief.

Here's a link to a pic with labels for the flower parts.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/73...69f0e0b31e.jpg

I will no longer attempt to describe the plant to you. That you will see on your own when you get the plant.

Here's something I will offer you…

Be careful when handling the roots, they're brittle. No amount of wetting will make them pliable.

They are lithophytes in the wild. That's a clue as to what you can try out for a potting media.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

[disalover]

Thanks

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Btw, this is one of those orchids that has been sown repeatedly without flasking.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by disalover

The only thing that I still would want to know is how to pollinate the disa tripetaloides flowers. There structure looks nothing like other orchids I have pollinated. And are the tripetaloodes usually so small.

If these are seedlings, I'd advise against letting them flower in the first year and I definitely wouldn't be setting seed. IME, Disa sect. Disa are pretty quick to flower and they will often flower before they're strong enough to both hold the flower and produce a replacement tuber. Setting seed takes an additional toll on the plant and it's very easy to kill a small plant by letting it set seed. Personally, I wouldn't let a plant flower until it's at least 2 years out of flask. I also don't pollinate flowers unless (a) the plant has grown from a big tuber and (b) I have enough divisions of it so that it doesn't matter if I lose it.

[disalover]

Thanks, anyone know what colour the Trikew is. Can't find any good photos.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by disalover

Thanks, anyone know what colour the Trikew is. Can't find any good photos.

Pink, orange, yellow... depends on the uniflora. The flowers are going to be on the smallish side due to the tripetaloides but you should also get good number of flowers per spike.

If you want some good info on Disa without breaking the bank, buy a copy of Cywes, Harley and Linder's eBook
"A Disa Companion: The Art And Science Of Disa Cultivation". It's a great little book (~120 pages) covering the biology, cultivation and hybridisation of the genus and is an absolute steal for the price.

[naoki]

Originally Posted by Andrew

If these are seedlings, I'd advise against letting them flower in the first year and I definitely wouldn't be setting seed. IME, Disa sect. Disa are pretty quick to flower and they will often flower before they're strong enough to both hold the flower and produce a replacement tuber. Setting seed takes an additional toll on the plant and it's very easy to kill a small plant by letting it set seed. Personally, I wouldn't let a plant flower until it's at least 2 years out of flask. I also don't pollinate flowers unless (a) the plant has grown from a big tuber and (b) I have enough divisions of it so that it doesn't matter if I lose it.

Andrew, is there a way to prevent flowering? Last year, my D. uniflora flowered, but it didn't make a new tuber. From reading a bit, higher fertilization rate could cause this suicidal flowering. So I reduced fertilization quite a bit this year. How do you fertilize yours? I started to do 30ppm N once a month, but I think the growth may be slower. So I'm considering 5-10ppmN every day.

[disalover]

Unfortunetly they were all sold out of disa plants! Can you believe it! So I went home with a disa uniflora flask just to see how it goes and a grow disas book.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Well…that's kinda not difficult to believe.

I knew they'd go fast, but I didn't realize it'd be that fast!