A change of perspective

[Wathepleela]

It was a busy Saturday afternoon at my local market on the outskirts of Bangkok, this being a hot sunny day after a long spell of storms. However, my orchid seller’s stall was very quiet, the poor guy – poor as a church, or in this case, wat mouse – had nothing to sell. Nothing was in bloom, that is. Before continuing on I noticed a little den, hanging forlornly in mid air with no others to keep it company, this little guy however had a blooming spike. The flowers caught my eyes; I took a quick snapshot before I left.

Later on while having my “starbucks” at a coffee shop downstairs, I went through my phone’s photo album and looked closely at the last shot: wow, the flowers are nice, with kinda cattleya-ish lips, very interesting. I mulled over for a good half hour trying to make up my mind whether to take this little guy home.
waimin1b.jpg
I was still undecided when I returned to the flower stall, it was way past 5 already. Maybe I’d get it anyway, if only to give some business to the seller, who looked so dejected. Anyway, I swivelled twice on my heels but couldn’t find the den anymore. Maybe someone had bought it already! Finally I whipped out the phone and showed him the pic. He laughed and pointed right past my nose. It was still hanging where I first found it, but because the sun was going down and the plant was so small, I was literally looking straight through it. The flower’s main body was about the size of a wasp. So that settled for me the dilemma to buy or not to buy, I couldn’t even see the thing!

For additional info he told me that it blooms only once a year, and is of a variety that another customer of his, whom I know in a rivalry kind of way, is very fond of… Well, she can have it.

[PaphMadMan]

That is a Cymbidium, not a Dendrobium, possibly Cymbidium finlaysonianum. You should buy it and show your rival you can grow it better than she can.

[Optimist]

It certainly is unusual for me, because I am not in Bangkok, and we do not have the great old orchid seller down town in an open air booth. I feel that just one such trip would give me enough motivation to write a book! The roots on that plant are amazing! How is planting in your city! Now I want a tour of your home, your grow area, your town and all the rest!

It does look more like a Chinese Cymbidium than a Dendrobium. Like Kanran or Ensifolium. Supposedly they smell wonderful, and they like total shade so they are good indoors.

[Wathepleela]

Originally Posted by Optimist

It certainly is unusual for me, because I am not in Bangkok, and we do not have the great old orchid seller down town in an open air booth. I feel that just one such trip would give me enough motivation to write a book! The roots on that plant are amazing! How is planting in your city! Now I want a tour of your home, your grow area, your town and all the rest!

It does look more like a Chinese Cymbidium than a Dendrobium. Like Kanran or Ensifolium. Supposedly they smell wonderful, and they like total shade so they are good indoors.

To answer Optimist's questions I had to take a sobering look at my growing method (or madness rather) and admit to myself first and foremost the fact that I don’t (meaning I can’t) really grow anything. Life under my care is mere bootcamp for the fittest! The main culprit is that my studio apartment’s balcony (a 7ftx4ft affair) does double duty as a laundry drying area and an orchid-“arium”: as a result nothing could be left in one spot for long; on top of that the rainy seasons (we have 3 seasons: long hot-wet, short cool-dry and then short cool-wet which is where we are right now) wreaks daily havoc on the order of things as you can imagine. (Before you can yell: dryers! sorry they are as common as hen’s teeth in this part of the world – read the tropics.) On the other hand whenever we have a good long string of broiling hot days whereas humans suffer my orchids tend to thrive providing they could find a place to hide (among the drying clothes) from me first!

myorchidarium.jpg

So I’ve given up the pretense of cultivation and simply regard my orchid collection as a kind of backdrop change. (I remember one seller somewhere on this board once mentioned that he’s got a kind of customers that keep buying the same thing over and over, meaning their poor plant keeps dying on them…. I guess I belong to that category!) In deed, I go through my orchids as if they are cut flowers: I’ll buy anything that already sports a spike or two (it’s worse when the seller texts me pics of his new arrivals.) Then much too soon once the bloom is gone and there’s no room to possibly squeeze anything in anymore I would take the “used” orchid to the cook who works at the campus canteen across the street where I eat my lunch and (beg to) consign it to her.

Usually she’s an easy bait by simply showing her pics of the bloom that once was; but the worrisome thing is that she has begun to gripe about running out of place to keep them. The mango tree in her front yard is now heavily laden with my castaways already. I told her she could leave the last thing I handed her - a double bush of cattleyas reassigned in a huge clay pot too heavy to hang - on the ground. She said that her Siberian husky would shred it to pulp in an instant if she leaves anything with roots earthbound. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to the New Year when there will be heaps of rhys (with spikes!) coming down from the North – an excellent opportunity to practice one’s flower-arrangement skills. They literally lie in heaps on the ground, you take your picks and pot them at home to your heart’s content.

Btw, thank you all for the correction that the orchid in question is not a den, but a cym indeed – which happily doesn’t belong in my “jurisdiction.”

[estación seca]

Please, We look forward to photos of these heaps of orchids! And the orchid-laden mango tree! And anything you buy! Actually, I think most of us would like to see any photos of Bangkok, especially with an orchid theme.

If you balcony gets any rain, try something native locally, hung out as far as you can get it so it doesn't get in the way of the laundry.

I remember growing orchids in my tiny, east-facing dorm room while at university in dark and foggy San Francisco. I had a 10-gallon terrarium plus the window. I couldn't attach anything to the walls. I used folded cloth at the ends of boards to wedge them into the window frame. No heavy plants!

The terrarium took up the entire surface of my desk, which my roommate allowed me to put in front of the window. He wasn't a gardener, but greatly appreciated plants, so he let me get away with it. Plus, he was allowed to use my rice cooker. I managed to sprout a mango seed in these cold, dark environs.

There was no room on the desk for studying, so I did that in the school library, which was always open. By the way, I still use that rice cooker all the time, and it is 37+ years old.

[gngrhill]

I think we would all love to see a picture of the orchid laden Mango tree

[Optimist]

I was in Taiwan for awhile and remember all those small balcony apartments with their laundry hanging.

I am in a place that has icy snow, two rainy seasons, and a very prolonged hot dry season. I have more land than a balcony though.

Indoors gardening is why I became enthusiastic about terrariums and mini orchids though. I have about 30 full sized orchids and now nearly as many 'minis" that I can grow in fish tanks or exo terras. In the future, I am thinking of a large terrarium with little frogs in it.

[Wathepleela]

Originally Posted by estación seca

The terrarium took up the entire surface of my desk, which my roommate allowed me to put in front of the window. He wasn't a gardener, but greatly appreciated plants, so he let me get away with it. Plus, he was allowed to use my rice cooker. I managed to sprout a mango seed in these cold, dark environs.

There was no room on the desk for studying, so I did that in the school library, which was always open. By the way, I still use that rice cooker all the time, and it is 37+ years old.

Your rice cooker reminds me of mine, of Hitachi brand (is it still in the market?), that I had to leave behind when I took off for the East. Forever hobbling on one missing foot, it nevertheless carried out its job with the same passion and ardor as it did when it came to me a few decades ago as a wedding gift. (It also stayed with me much longer than the wife )

It is wonderful to hear from members sharing their own perspective on life with orchids, from “icy snow” to “steamy weather.” I wish every one who checks out this thread will contribute a paragraph or two… Now, by popular request, a local (this is as local as it gets) scene in Bangkok:

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Canal Saen Seap is one last remaining “commuter” canal in Bangkok. The city itself used to be called the “Venice of the East” although chronical noblesse will oblige Venice to be “the Bangkok of the West.” The canal runs along the backside of the main thoroughfare of my district, giving the locals the choice to take either surface streets or “go to the pier.“ If you stay on the walkway on the left side of the pic then turn left at the greenish-blue tarp roof junction you will find yourself in Soi (Alley) no 29 which leads to the big road at the front.

The boat is a commuter boat, just think of it as a city bus that goes on water. From here to downtown takes half an hour regardless of street traffic condition, naturally. This waterway is a lifesaver given how notorious Bangkok road traffic is, but needless to say during rush hour you will be jammed like sardines (or shall I say “pickled” like herrings) in the steamy weather; with enough survival skills you should be able to wiggle yourself an extra square inch or two so you can stand on BOTH feet, and occasionally getting your face/hair sprayed with stinky canal water is part of the price you have to pay (that’s why you see the blue tarp being drawn up around the boat). Just make sure you bring along a pair of earplugs in case you are packed against the boat engine compartment.

On the flip side of the coin, you see the “ferry” - a rickety concoction built from scrap metals - waiting for the boat to pass so it can carry the pedestrians across. When you reach the other side, you will pay something the equivalent of an US nickel (if my math is correct) for the fare, to an old lady in muslim garb sitting in a booth. Across the way is her husband getting off a stationary bike of sort that by his own manpower had just roped in the ferry from a distance of some fifty yards of water. If you take the ride after sundown, bringing along a flashlight would help because the light bulb hung atop the pole from the spot of “embarkment” doesn’t always work, there being no light source from the carriage itself.

Even though there is no orchids in this pic, at various spans along the boat ride you would see them, the outdoorsy types meaning mostly dens and cyms, thriving unobstructedly along the embankments, basking in the hot sun and obviously deriving plenty of nutrition and moisture from the water vapors coming up from below. Moreover, not just orchids, but frangipanis, plumerias, flame trees, jungle-type bodhi trees, flowering banana trees and yes, mango trees with low hanging fruits and a myriad of other flora - plus certain “fauna” including humans - provide a riotously Technicolor spectacle for the whole length of the ride. One visiting friend commented it “feels like getting on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland!”

Often on weekend when the pace is unhurried and commuters few, I would swashbuckle my way down to the boat and just spread myself among the back benches, let the boat go where it may.

Here’s one last pic of the cym before it goes to its new home eventually.

waimin2b.jpg

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by Wathepleela

It is wonderful to hear from members sharing their own perspective on life with orchids, from “icy snow” to “steamy weather.” I wish every one who checks out this thread will contribute a paragraph or two…

I live in a spread-out American city that has only been here since the 1870s. But, it was built on the ruins of a previous civilization, abandoned in the 1300s, whence the name. Phoenix grew from around 40,000 residents in 1940 to become the sixth-largest US city, but it is still small by international standards, around 1.6 million inhabitants. Our metro area is around the 13th largest in the US, but that is because southern California is divided up into multiple metro areas, though it is really just one large population blob.

We have heat! much of the year! Our all-time high has been 122F / 50C. We hit 114F / 46C several times almost every summer, and we always have 100-120 days at 100F / 38C. Our winters are very moderate, with only occasional overnight frost. People from much colder parts of the US have spent winters in Phoenix from the beginning. Of course, our population growth could only occur after air conditioning became practical.

Orchids are a challenge because we're in a desert. Humidity is normally very low. Temperatures are too high for many months. Some orchids can go outdoors when the heat moderates, but they must be brought indoors when frost threatens.

So most orchidists here have greenhouses. Our problem is daytime cooling, even in the winter. Evaporative cooling doesn't work during the summer monsoon. Not much rain falls, but humidity rises enough that evaporative cooling doesn't work. Even intermediate-temperature orchids can struggle here unless brought into the house.

I don't have a greenhouse (yet?) so I grow indoors/outdoors. I grew orchids when a teenager in coastal southern California, but thought our low humidity would prevent me from succeeding here without a greenhouse. But as I moved more and more plants into one room, and measured the humidity, I realized I might succeed. I have! I began with seedlings of many different types, and most are growing well. I have more recently bought a few blooming size plants after deciding home orchid growing without a greenhouse is possible here. I hope to have flowers on some seedlings within a year.

We do see orchids frequently. People buy them for not much money at supermarkets and other stores, but most people treat them as bouquets - to be thrown out when they fade. Not I.

[gngrhill]

estacion seca, I applaud your efforts. I hope you have many success with all your seedlings. My challenges are not as severe as some of you, however, being a novice at orchid growing, I am still trying to work out culture for the plants I have. Living in a temperate zone, I have winter with severe temps going well below zero (-20F) and summers in the high 90s. I am basically a windowsill grower, although I did move into some t-5 lighting last winter. The problem I have with that system is the plants that want a cool but bright winter. Can't have both, as the t-5s produce a lot of heat, and the sun doesn't come into my growing space enough. So, I also do the best I can and hope some will adapt. Those who do not.......RIP. I'll keep trying until I find the ones that will not only grow in my conditions, but maybe will thrive .