Neofinetia falcata Shutennou and the Korean bean-leaf Wonhyo
 

I bring this one into the house every night and put it on a coffee table so it can spread that wonderful scent throughout our great room.
http://scidmore.com/images/Shutennou%202.jpg
-Keith

---------- Post added at 04:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:53 AM ----------

The neofinetia below is the bean leaf variety Wonhyo, ( n Japan - Gangyō. Wonhyo is a really wonderful Korean creation. It's incredibly vigorous, likes to branch, starts a lot of new roots, and flowers freely. It is even more vigorous than two other strong fast growing and better known bean leaf varieties I also grow Yodo no Matsu and Tamakongō.

The leaves seem very resistant to spotting and it doesn't drop its bottom leaves until it gets very tall. It's always a nice dark green, slightly glossy, and it looks very healthy. In my opinion, it is a perfect beginners neofinetia. It isn't terribly common, but Orchids limited often has it for sale.

The flower presentation reminds me of fireworks, but more so in person.

http://scidmore.com/images/Neofineti...a%20Wonhyo.jpg

Second plant is very nice but is not Shutennou. What is it?

Oops. Thanks for the heads up.
-Keith

Glad I asked. Correction appreciated.

I purchased Wonhyo impulsively based on the description. At the time I only collected Japanese neos and was disappointed when I discovered it was Korean. There are just so many good Japanese mameba beaners out there, so why go to a second place source. I've since discovered that there are some very impressive Korean neos and I've became a fan.

Taiga, which is available from Diamond Orchids, is another that I really like. As best as I can tell with limited information sources, it is very similar to Hokage. I wish I could find out more about it.This picture shows an exceptionally well-grown Hokage (I think). I wish I could read the languages.
http://pungnan.org/bbs/makeimg.php?p...f_C8ADBFB5.jpg

-Keith

A really pretty looking plant even without blooms.

Taiga is a sibling to Hokage. Both are Korean varieties. The difference is strictly size and leaf posture.




I've long noticed that there is that idea among some western growers that there's something intrinsically different between "Korean" vs "Japanese" Neos, and that Japanese ones are somehow inherently better.

In reality, there is no difference between them other than the nationality of the originating breeder/nursery/discoverer.

All "Korean" neo cultivars, registered or not, are descended from plants collected in Japan.

This is because in early propagation trials, Korean native populations of Neos were found to be more finicky and mostly unsuited for creating new varieties. As a result, Korean breeders and nurseries settled on using Japanese plants, favoring those that come from the Amami Islands. Since then, Korean breeders and nurseries have created countless new varieties, many of which having comparable reputation to any of the most storied of Japanese varieties.

Perhaps as evidence of all of this, the varieties have intermingled to the extent that there are many many popular varieties that some growers just assume are Japanese, but are in reality, originally discovered by Korean nurseries.

Some of these include:

Hokage
Manjushage
Ryokusaiho
Momoyamanishiki
Daishogun
Raikomaru
Mangekyo
Himeseikai
Jukai
Kokyu
etc. etc. etc.

http://www.orchidboard.com/community...1&d=1652126917http://www.orchidboard.com/community...1&d=1652126808http://www.orchidboard.com/community...1&d=1652126528



Some of those listed are my favorites, pictured above. The same number were garbaged whose names I will not mention here. Perhaps problems with my culture and/or just could not relate to them.

Clockwise from top left, Neof. Manjushage, Neof. Mangekyo, and Neof. Raikoumaru.

Interesting about the differences between populations. Do the Korean populations have different cold tolerance?

Maybe a bit more but probably not much more than the majority of the wild population in Japan

On the main Korean peninsula, Neos are only native to the very southernmost coastline, well within the latitudes that they grow wild in Japan. And even there, they're only found close to sea level.

There are only a handful of people who have native Korean neos though, so there's not much info about the specifics of growing them.

Optimal light/fertilizer
 

I have been looking for a comprehensive a list of neos and the growing conditions that result in optimum variegation and other physical characterizations. I use red labels for yellow tigers and others that look best with bright light, green labels for those that look best with shade, and an additional white label for the ones that show best when fertilizer is withheld. Some, such as Misukage I've been told are best grown both ways - strong light and low light.

Is there a good source for tailoring growing environments? I've probably done hundreds of searches (on and off OB) but found nothing but mention here and there.

-Keith

There is nothing comprehensive like that available even in Japanese or Korean.

You'll see individual recommendations here and there for certain varieties, and there is a list giving recommended light levels for a bunch of varieties, but none of that is meant to be read as dogma. It's expected that each grower will have to experiment and figure things out for themselves.

Playing their cards close to the vest, apparently. Me? I'm all for sharing knowledge.

I put my neofinetia into 6 groups:

• Bright
• Bright & withhold fertilizer
• Moderate light
• Moderate light withhold fertilizer.
• Shade
• Shade & withhold fertilizer

It's simpler than it sounds. One end of my bench gets a lot of light while the other gets more shade.

However...this spring I had them all in the first or second group because I was lazy about putting up my shade cloth. Benimuso (died), Misukage, Taiga, Hokage, Hisui (dropped leaves) Byakko, Karanishiki, Kishu Sekko, Kokugaku, and OKina Nishiki (died), either didn't grow new/good variegation, or sulked. I should mention that there were other variables and it is very hard to know everything that was at play

Most others grew well in the cool spring and bright light, but especially Amami, Gangyou, Kingyokubotan, Kinkabuto, Kinkojaku, Kogane Nishiki, and Raikōmaru. These either developed brighter variegation of grew like mad.

What prompted my question was the very faint green lines on Misukage. Both my Misukage have nice shima stripes except you have to look close to make them out. Is there some magic to growing this variety so the stripes show up nicely?

-Keith

It's honestly less that, and more that it's a lot more complicated than it's possible to easily put it down into writing.

Each and every variety could pretty much have a full book dedicated to how best to grow it when you take into account all of the sheer number of variables that are involved.

It's really a lot more complicated than just saying this one takes high light, this one low, or more or less fertilizer, etc. Each parameter can be dependent on other parameters, and there isn't always a single best way to grow a variety. Of course, each grower has their own ways to get the best characteristics out of each variety, but that information may or may not apply to another grower and their growing conditions.

When you go looking for that information with other Japanese or Korean growers, sure you'll find some people who are evasive and try to keep their secrets, but you'll find many more who will do everything they can to help.

It's just that to provide good advice, the advisor needs to know what the advisee is working with in fine detail. It's not possible to give another grower advice without knowing those things, and it's not something that a book or anything in writing can easily do.


All that said, there are general guidelines that are widely reiterated that can be followed as a starting point. There just hasn't been enough people to translate them into English, but I've been doing my best to relay them whenever anyone asks the questions.