Bllra Diana Dunn 'Newberry' bloom in water culture

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Bllra Diana Dunn 'Newberry' division has been growing in water culture for 2 years and will be transferred to S/H after flowering

[stefpix]

great looking. why do you want to transfer it to SH?

[Zoi2]

Magnificent!!!
Joann

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Thanks for the compliment Joann and Stefpix.

Originally Posted by stefpix

great looking. why do you want to transfer it to SH?

I transfer most of my plants to passive hydro in leca because it requires less attention once the plant is established. You can set it up to tolerate a week or 2 without further attention which is great if you travel a lot. However, some large plants that adapt to water culture very well, like Onc Sharry Baby, require much smaller root mass to grow huge healthy pbs and flowers in water culture, ca be happy growing in a vase until they need division. I could no longer do the S/H juggle with a large heavy pot of leca that my Sharry Baby would require.

I use leca very similar to S/H except that there are many holes on the bottom of the pot and this pot is sitting in 1-2 inches of solution in an outer container. I simply find it easier to flush thoroughly, soak the bottom only with disinfectant, etc. I also have difficulty maneuvering the 2 hole pots without having the algae-filled water squirt all over my bathroom. Since I lose most new roots to salt buildup on top of the leca, thorough flushing is very important.

[stefpix]

Yeah been thinking the 2 pot solution could be cleaner -
I have a small anagraecum in hydroton in a little 2" plastic net pot stuck in a little glass jar - just bottom half inch or less in water.
I can pull up the net pot without moving the hydroton.

[greenbean]

That's odd. I thought I had posted a comment here. Maybe I got distracted looking at all your fantastic pictures! (Actually I probably did! )

I love the electric markings and the fantastic color combos on this one! Another one of your winners!

[RosieC]

I agree with Evan about the electric markings and colour. It's just gorgeous!

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Thanks Rosie and Evan.

Evan

This is one of the tough Odontoglossum hybrids that grows well in the house for me. It only get medium light. The other one, Dgmra. Winter Wonderland is a weed. I give divisions away on a regular basis. I lost about a dozen fancy Odont hybrids. By the way, a lot of them disappear from circulation in 5-10 years so maybe they are just for the greenhouse or cloud forest. Of course, a lot of the box sore ones are virused as well.

[greenbean]

Maria

I've read that Odontoglossums do really well in my neck of the woods, with our relatively cool temperatures and high RH (although there was a freak heat wave that shot up to 105 degrees F here this last summer. Glad we have AC!).

And yet my Dgmra. Flying High 'Stars N Bars' is the first orchid with any Odont parentage in my collection. BTW, it's growing, but I didn't do a good job repotting it when I first got it. The roots are too high and aren't penetrating the media well (lava rocks and pumice, but too fine) so I'm going to repot it and change the media when the temperatures are warm enough. I still plan to send you a division when I can! I haven't had it long enough to bloom yet, so I can't tell if it has a virus like the last one you had. It didn't come from a box store, so hopefully not!

I also haven't had any blooms yet in water culture, except for the Neoregelia, but I'm still tweaking things. I have a feeling being moved across the state several times a year are setting the plants back, but I can't leave them with my parents. To high maintenance for them!