The Schwerter haul

[The Mutant]

It deserved a thread of its own I felt, considering it being 14 plants after all!




So, the package arrived yesterday and I had planned to post this thread yesterday too, but the checking the plants, trimming the roots and leaves, spraying them with pesticide, and the re-potting took much longer than I had anticipated. I wasn't done until late in the night (or early in the morning if you prefer that) and I'm NEVER re-potting so many on the same day ever again! It ended with me having migraine and feeling dizzy from lack of sleep - not to be recommended. Kids, don't do as I did in other words.


Now to what matters; the order!

First of all, the speedy delivery surprised me, they posted it on Monday and I had it three days later! Before noon! The other German vendors posted my orders on Monday as well, and they are still stuck in Germany...

Oh well, back to this order! The plants were VERY well packed, I don't think I've ever seen so much bubble-wrap in my life. The plants conditions ranged from good to excellent. Some of them have some spots and discolourations that I don't like, so I'm keeping an extra vary eye on those. I don't think there's anything wrong with them, but it's best to be cautious I think.

Anyway, here they are!

Prillan and Pelle are checking out the new box, filled with treasures:


The entire order, which should have been 13 plants since two of them had died (P. stuartiana and P. equestris var. coerulea), so I was very surprised when the "dead" P. equestris var. coerulea was included in it. I'm not surprised they did note is as dead because it's not in good shape:


Here are four of my babies, from left to right (the upper row) ; Phal. philipinensis (this guy actually came in bloom despite being so small - evil me cut it since it needs its energy elsewhere) and Phal. stuartiana var. nobilis, the lower row, from left to right; Phal. lindenii and Phal. celebensis:


Here are three thirds of the Phal. equestris crew, from left to right; Phal. equestris 'Apari' pink which doesn't have that many roots unfortunately, and Phal. equestris 'Apari' which is in much better shape than its colleague. The smallest one is the Phal. equestris var. coerulea which might make it, or it might die - it's hard to tell:


Here is my MONSTER! It's HUGE! It's a Phal. equestris aurea, and I somehow feel the great orchid god decided that I deserved some compensation for the aurea I lost a couple of months ago, and made sure this specimen (if one can't use the term "specimen" to describe this monstrosity, I don't know how big the plants must be before one can) made its way into my home:


Here are my two Phal. Ambotris where the one to the left has a P. amboinensis white as one of the parents, while the other has a regular amboinensis. It's going to be interesting to see if there will be any difference between the flowers (if I get them to bloom that is):


And the two odd ones; Phal. Equalacea (Phal. violacea var. Indigo x Phal. equestris var. alba) and my tiny Phal. pulchra, I hope this little guy will survive the shipping:


And finally; Dtps. Liu's Berry and Dtps. Purple Gem 'blue', both in excellent condition:


All in all, I'm VERY satisfied with my order and, hopefully, they'll all make it through the shock of being shipped and abused (by me that is) and start growing.

[NatalieS]

Wow! That Phal. equestris aurea is some plant! Just wow!

I've been considering ordering from Schwerter, but the postage is very pricey for me. It's good to know that it's so fast though! It would make it worth it not to have the plants in transit for over a week.

Maybe it's just your lovely pics, but all your plants look healthy to me - what's wrong with the equestris var. coerulea?

[Neferet]

Nice looking plants! Schwerter is my personal favorite German vendor also. They are really speedy in shipment and the packaging is excellent i have to agree with that!
Where else have you ordered from? I'm having troubles finding some of the species i need in Schwerter and i'm looking around to find the ones i need elsewhere in Europe.
I don't want to buy plants from a Vendor that does not take really good care in packaging and in growing the plants in general. I had some bad experience this year with German vendors since one of them send me really young plants and the other one send me 1 dead plant and the other one in a very bad situation and i'm still trying to recover it.
Best of luck with your plants and happy growing

Wow! it is amazing how wonderful and healthy they all look. You are so lucky to have such a great selection there!
Good luck blooming them all and we will wait for the flower pictures.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

WOWOWOW!!!!!!! Haha, you have beat my largest single order by one plant!!! What a nice haul, and I know they'll do great!

[RosieC]

Wow great haul!

[bballr4567]

Good stuff. All of them actually look very healthy.

Why did you cut the spike on the Phal. philipinensis? I've read its a smaller sized species so kind of wondering on that.

[The Mutant]

Thanks guys! There are spots and discolourations on some of them, but for them to show properly, I need to take better pictures in better light. I think it's probably nothing, but I'll keep my eye on them, just to be on the safe side.

Originally Posted by NatalieS

Wow! That Phal. equestris aurea is some plant! Just wow!

I've been considering ordering from Schwerter, but the postage is very pricey for me. It's good to know that it's so fast though! It would make it worth it not to have the plants in transit for over a week.

Maybe it's just your lovely pics, but all your plants look healthy to me - what's wrong with the equestris var. coerulea?

I know! It enormous! It has 20 leaves (some of them belongs to its basal keiki which is coming along fine), and I had to cut the pot it was planted in open to get it out. It was planted in sphagnum and I think just trying to get rid of the moss and dead roots took almost an hour. Despite the heavy root-trimming it went through, it still had, I don't know how many, but plenty left, plus it has a whole bunch of new roots growing. I LOVE my monster.

It's worth the extra money spent on shipping considering how speedy the shipment was. The fact that they have so many gorgeous orchids to chose from, doesn't make it any less great.

The P. equestris var. coerulea only has one or maybe two roots, and the colour on two of its leaves is strange. The leaves are firm, but I don't know what it might indicate. The newest leaf has a healthy colour though, and it looks like it has another leaf growing. I hope it'll pull through.

Originally Posted by Neferet

Nice looking plants! Schwerter is my personal favorite German vendor also. They are really speedy in shipment and the packaging is excellent i have to agree with that!
Where else have you ordered from? I'm having troubles finding some of the species i need in Schwerter and i'm looking around to find the ones i need elsewhere in Europe.
I don't want to buy plants from a Vendor that does not take really good care in packaging and in growing the plants in general. I had some bad experience this year with German vendors since one of them send me really young plants and the other one send me 1 dead plant and the other one in a very bad situation and i'm still trying to recover it.
Best of luck with your plants and happy growing

I'm very new so I've just started to order from different vendors. I've gotten my orders from Orchideen Lucke (great looking plants and well packaged too), and Schwerter. Tomorrow my orders from Popow, Elsner and Asendorfer Orchid should arrive. Oh, and the one from Orchids by Peter White, and another one from a Swedish vendor.

Originally Posted by TheBlazingAugust

WOWOWOW!!!!!!! Haha, you have beat my largest single order by one plant!!! What a nice haul, and I know they'll do great!

Woot! I beat Cody with one plant! *punches the air*

Thanks, I really hope so. I've gotten some sort of pests on my P. schill but hopefully I discovered it in time so I won't get a full infestation.

Originally Posted by bballr4567

Good stuff. All of them actually look very healthy.

Why did you cut the spike on the Phal. philipinensis? I've read its a smaller sized species so kind of wondering on that.

Because the blooms were wilting and it didn't have that much roots. I want it to survive the shipment as well as possible, so I figured it needed the energy to deal with the stress. The reason why I didn't cut the Dtps. Liu's Berry's spike was because it had a big and good looking root system so I believe it can deal with the stress better.

[Val]

I'm green with envy. I could almost photosynthesise

I guess you'll have to order from Schwerter very soon: Phal. Brother Pico Bahama - Orchideen der Schwerter Orchideenzucht

[silken]

A wonderful haul Mutant! they all look healthy and well potted. You will be the expert on potting up orchids after all your other orders arrive.