Orchids in water culture

[Sun rm.N.E.]

Hi Juliet

Thanks for sharing the good news!

When I look at orchid growing as a creative experiment it becomes more like a game. I enjoy any success like you do and accept failure easier. Which brings me to Beallara Marfich 'Howards Dream'. This orchid was as difficult as Sharry Baby was easy and I gave up on it twice even though it produced water root. However, my first one showed signs of virus. I also saw a gorgeous mature specimen in the greenhouse of a local grower and it was twice as tall as my Sharry Baby "Short Sharry" so I will not try again.

I should note that the thousands of Oncidium alliance hybrids offered in the mass market differ greatly in their capacity to adapt to growing in the home in any media since they were mass-produced to bloom as quickly as possible and not to produce healthy plants that grow well for us. Let's not even think about the abuse they may have suffered during shipping, storage and at the supermarket. They are like the mass-produced chicken that were not allowed to walk and few would survive if we put them out in the yard. So I think it is a wonder that we can get so many of them to become healthy plants.

Have fun and enjoy watching you buds develop. I hope you know that Sharry baby spike takes a long time to mature.