New haul from ECOS show (picture heavy)

[Mira-Claude]

So I was a volunteer at the Orchid Show and happily got to be around the first people to pick and chose my orchids!
I got quite the haul to!

Epidedrum radicans (in a 6'' square pot and 2' high!)
Haraella retrocalla
Mtdm. Pupukea Sunset x Mtdm. Cleos Pride 'Hama'
Neofinetia falcata 'Beni-suzume'
Neofinetia falcata 'Suikaden'
Paph. Lucky Bells
Phal. corningiana
Phal. cornu-cervi 'red' (the red is darker in real life)

Phal. equestris 'orange'
Phal. gigantea
Phal. Kenneth Schrubert (the blue is darker in real life)

Phal. lobbii
Phal. luedemaniana
Phal. mannii var. flava
Phal. micholitzi
Phal. pantherina
Phal. parishii (8 adult plant on the same mount)
Phal. pulchra
Phal. Schilleriana
Phal. speciosa C#1

Phal. tetraspis

Phal. venosa (very small blooms, I love it)

Restrepia trichoglossa
Sedirea japonica 'minmaru'

this is a group picture with everything but the mounts (no space for them on the washing machine) and the pulchra (it has scales and mealy bugs)


This is a group picture after the first day (first haul)


I was really lucky because my work as a volunteer was to translate french to english and back for 2 growers, one taught me how to repot neofinetias with long strands of moss in the traditional style and gave me neofinetia pots for my next potting in spring and the other gave my 1kg of honey (he is the producer) which was delicious and good advice for my new paph!

Only bad thing is, there was bugs, I got scared and sprayed everyone as a precaution with a 0.5% bleach solution, it did kill all the bugs (more like dried them until they dropped) but it also dried and killed the flowers and buds... the plants on the other hand did not mind the treatment!

[RosieC]

Wow, great haul! Sorry about the bugs, and flower loss. Hope the plants are doing well now.

[Paula Frayne]

That is an awesome haul! Enjoy your new plants (By the way, I love cornu-cervi! )

Very nice haul!
I would like to see a closer picture of gigantea and mount with all the parishiis if possible please.

[Mira-Claude]

Thanks Rosie! The orchids in themselves are doing well, but the bud blast, to me, in much better than a bug infestation!!! That really would have made me cry!

thank you Paula! I also love the cornu-cervi! it has such a deep red color!

here you go Orchideya!
the gigantea is about 3 years from blooming, the parishii are all blooming size and the lobbii was mounted 2 days ago.

[ezil]

You'll be a busy lady for quite a while! Coming to the Montreal show is still on my to-do-in the near future list. There's not a single plant on your list that I don't have, or wouldn't want to have. I have never used bleach before on plants. Is it better than an alcohol/soap/water mix? Do you use tap water, and do you flush the medium as well? Are you isolating all the plants together and for how long? Let us know. (just an aside: what vendor would bring in plants with bugs, and how did people react to that?)

[Mira-Claude]

Thank you! But if you want to come to a show in Montreal pick the one in march. It's a bit bigger, more variety are in flower and there are usually more sellers. (Our botanical garden display is usually impressive in march)
The bleach is what I used to use with other plants before, it's the first time for orchids so I was a bit worried but they are taking it like champs!
For mealy bugs it's always been very effective, it suffocates and dries them to prune until they drop and die. Those with only those should say isolated for 2 weeks just to make sure I got them all.
On scales, while effective on the eggs and small ones you still have to remove the big ones by hand, This one will stay in the bathroom alone for at least a month just to be sure. I really don't want these to get into my collection!
While the bleach in 0.5% concentration is non-toxic in small quantities for human consumption I would be afraid to use it on medium repetitively for fear of buildup. And anyway for mealy bugs usually one good spray until the whole plant is wet and left to dry is enough. Even with the african violet or my mom's dahlia I preferred medium less plants, one good spray head to toe, left to dry and then planted with fresh media.

Crystal Star always have something in their plants, this time a slug and two mealy bugs, which are very easy to get rid of, nobody complained. The scales came from a plant off the member's table, they noticed the next day and took all of the lady's plant of the sale table. (I think my complain was loud and clear.)

Hope this helps!

[ezil]

Thanks Mira-Claude, that was crystal clear. I will try the bleach solution next time I have mealy bugs. I have a lot of plants in a relatively small area, so I'm extremely vigilant. C.R. Orchids have come to our show last year for the 1st time, so I don't have much experience with them. I always isolate all the plants I buy, just in case. Slugs and bush snails seem to be the worst to get in a terrarium, so your warning is much appreciated.

[silken]

Originally Posted by ezil

Thanks Mira-Claude, that was crystal clear. I will try the bleach solution next time I have mealy bugs. I have a lot of plants in a relatively small area, so I'm extremely vigilant. C.R. Orchids have come to our show last year for the 1st time, so I don't have much experience with them. I always isolate all the plants I buy, just in case. Slugs and bush snails seem to be the worst to get in a terrarium, so your warning is much appreciated.

Crystal Star Orchids and C R Orchids are two different orchid companies. I just mentioned that in case you were thinking of C R Orchids when it was Crystal Star with some bugs.

Mira-Claude, that is an awesome haul!

[Mira-Claude]

I think isolating the first few days/weeks to see if something appear is the key to solve many problems!