Cymbidium Garden

 In my backyard, I have a few plants in pots, as I have no ground to plant them in. So, to make the most of nature, I've put my cymbidiums close to the wall, beneath the shelter of the leaves of the palm and sat on bricks to keep them from flooding in the tropical storms. In the pic below you can see the cyms at the back, between the Bird-of-paradise plant and the palm.

 Here's a closer look at them on their bricks. I've made a mini-habitat, with the bigger cyms sheltering the baby cyms. There is also a maxilara and another terrestrial orchid which I'll put on another post.

 My dog, Mady, thought I was taking a photo of her!! Bless!!

 Here are the baby cyms. I have already posted pictures of them, but that was before I repotted them. Their roots were getting too big for their pots and weren't very stable. I suppose they are what it says on the packet?!! Not all is as expected here in Brazil. I'll have to wait until flowering to see if there are any surprises! :)

Another cym baby, this one has grown a lovely new pseubulb and on the other side of the older one, there's yet another shoot forming. This makes me wonder, as I don't know much about cymbidiums, whether these are the standard sized ones which are sold in supermarkets, or whether they are the minis. Any thoughts, anyone?

 This one is the slower in growth. It does have a tiny start of a growth right at the bottom, but hardly visible to photograph.

 This was the first baby cym I bought. I bought it last year. I didn't know what it was at first. The lady in the nursery couldn't tell me, either. But, it was only a fiver, so I decided to buy it anyway, and find out later what it is. Now I know. It's a cymbidium! Has healthy new growth, but also a slow grower in comparison with the other baby cyms.

 Now we get on to the big adult cyms. This one, below, I bought when the flowers were just about falling off. I bought it at a cheaper price in a supermarket, and since then it has grown a new pseubulb and seems very happy.

This next photo is of the poor cym which was left under the fruit shelves in the supermarket. No flowers, no water, just dry dust and dirty feet for company. Then I came along and picked it up. I though: "well, these orchids are usually 40 or 50 Reais when in bloom. This one is on offer at 7 reais, so, why not!?" I saved the poor thing's life. Now look at it!! It only had one sad looking pseubulb, and now its second pseubulb is growing well and strong. Let's hope it'll look as healthy as the other big cym before long.

Orchid trellis

There's not much space left on the trellis. I recently went to an orchid exhibition and bought four micro-orchids. An oncidium, of which I don't remember the full name, and I realised when I got home that it had no tag. The photo's below:
I would be glad of any help in identifying this oncidium.

I have only recently mounted it on the piece of wood, so it'll be a while until the new growth starts to attach itself onto the wood. I have tied it on with normal sewing thread. Just strong enough to hold it.
 
 Another of the four orchid I bought was a Bulbophyllum. This actually came with a small name tag. It's name is... I can't read it. It's something like Bulb. betten.... All I know is the flowers should be a nice bright yellow. As the plant was reasonably sized, I decided to devide it and mounted both parts on two seperate pieces of wood. Here they are below:

I've noticed that the spag. moss dries out quite quickly. I'll have to remember to water the mounted orchids everyday.

And there are two more orchids I bought. There's a Rodriguezia decora:

 

And another micro-orchid, but I don't remember the name the guy said and it didn't come with a name tag. I know the flowers should have small, purply pink coloured flowers on a longish stem. 

 

Oncidium Sherry Baby

I decided to keep this oncidium in its pot because of its size. There are two lovely new growths which I hope will give me some good flowers, too. This time I'm more aware of any slugs that might come and gobble up the flower stalks.

Oncidium "Chuva-de-ouro"

 My chuva-de-ouro I devided and put into two coconut fiber pots which I made. Both parts from the devision are doing well. They both have two new shoots on them. I hope this will bring some nice flowers.

Perfumed Cattleya

 This perfumed Cattleya which my nan bought for me last January, grew so well, that it was growing it's roots over and out the pot. So, I devided and repotted it. now It has yet another new shoot, as you can see in the photo below. I hope it will flower this summer.

 The other half of the devision I tied onto a piece of log from my parents' countryhouse. Here is a pic of the other part of the orchid on the log, which is hung under the transparent roofing in my backyard. No new growth so far, but I did only put it on recently.

Orchid cuttings development

 This is the cutting of either a cattleya or a laelia, i'm not sure. If anyone would like to let me know what they think it is, please do.

This was the last of my cuttings from my friend to do something. It has finally grown a new shoot. I'm a bit concerned about the leaves of the older psubulbs, though. They have bubbled leaves, as you can see in the photo (left). But the new psubulb seems to be growing well. It has one new root stretching out from under the base.

Below is a close-up of the new growth.

 These two orchids are hung on bits of wood, which are hung under some transparant roofing in my backyard. I have six bits of wood with orchids on them in total under the roofing.

This is the latest photo of the other Laelia (?) cutting. It's new psubulb is growing wonderfully strong. This one I didn't think would do anything. You can see the numerous healthy growing new roots on the base of the new psubulb.

Orchids on the line

7th November 2012

The orchids on the line have dwindled. I now only have two, but their doing very well. They get the rain, wind and sun. Here's a pic of them.

 My oncidium.

 And my other ochid, which I think is also oncidium, but I'm not sure.

Baby Phaleanopsis

7th November 2012

My baby's doing well, exept that I accidently damaged the new leaf. I saw an ant on the pot, so I tried to flick it off, missed the ant and split the leaf. My poor baby phal! I hope it doesn't affect the growth too much.
Here's a pic. You can see the damaged leaf. The roots are growing nice and strong. I hope I get the treatment right.

   

Epidendrums

7th November 2012
The epidendrums are now in a ceramic pot in the garage. The slugs and snails have found their way onto the plants, but haven't caused too much damage.

Here's a pic of the epi's in their new home.

They look a lot happier now. Let's hope they flower sometime soon!  

Cattleya

7th November 2012

I had put this cattleya on the trellice in the garage, but it kept falling out the basket of coconut fiber I made. So, I decided it would be better to cut it in half and put the two halves in seperate pots, so that's what I did, and now they are both a lot happier. New growth on both!!
I'll post some pics of them in their new pots soon.

Dendrobium Cutting

7th November 2012

New photos of dendrobium cutting. It's looking healthy and happy, growing nicely.
Here is a pic taken recently.

  More photos to come at another time.

Phalaenopsis from post "What a stunner!"

7th November 2012

This beauty of a Phalaenopsis is this flowering, and more buds keep growing.

I have polinated three of the flowers, one with polen from the same plant, and two with polen from two other phals. The seed pods are growing nicely. This will be a new experience and experiment, to see if I can actually grow  some orchids from seed. I know it is a big challenge, with results way ahead in the future, if I get any results at all, but it's worth the fun of trying. I don't plan to grow the seeds in vitro, because I don't have the necessary equipment, so I'll try the old fashioned way, cutting a root from the mother plant and sitting the seeds in small terracotta pots around the cut-up root. 

I'll add a pic or two of the developments of this phal soon.

New Orchid Supports

 Here is the trellis I made with the help of my brother in July.

There are more orchids on it now than there are in the picture, but it looks fantastic!!

By the side of the trellis, on the floor is a stand I bought from a garden centre. It holds 9 plants. They are all orchids exept for the plant on the top. There I put a plant called "Little Fish" (peixinho) and the other has beautiful pendant flowers which the hummingbirds like.

Now I just have to put the epidendrums in a nicer pot. As they are semi-terrestre, I plan to put them together in one long terracota pot.


More photos soon.

Orchid prop

 This is the temperary residence of the majority of my orchids, along with other plants. I hope to rearrange them and put some on a pot stand and others on a trelice on the wall of the garage. When I've made the change, I'll update with photos.

What a stunner!!

 

This is my stunningly beautiful phaleanopsis which I bought at the supermarket at half the original price!! Another bargain!! It is so full of buds, and now they are opening up, everyday there's one more!!

2 July 2012. This orchid is in full bloom now. All the flowers have opened. No sign of them withering yet.

More updates soon! 

   

Dendrobium Cutting

 This is a photo of a cutting I was given by a friend of a Dendrobium. She called it "olho-de-boneca", which means Doll's Eyes. Here is a photo of when I got it home and put it in a pot.

And here is a photo of the Dendrobium today, 7th June 2012. It is showing signs of growth and that it's settling into it's new home.

2 July 2012. There is news on the growth of this Dendrobium. There is a tiny little buldge on the base of the pseudobulb with leaves, which looks like will be a new pseudobulb. It's a sign that it's settling in to it's new home.

New updates soon.

Cattleya

I bought this from an orchidary. I believe it is a Cattleya, but I'm not absolutely sure.

It has some good growth coming on both sides. We'll just have to wait to see what comes!

2 July 2012. This is definately a Cattleya, as I found out with the help of Cynthia who left a comment. It now has new growth and is doing well in the garage.

Updates to come soon.

Unknown Orchids - Epidendrum

I bought these orchids from a garden nursery. They were going cheap, so I took them on to see what would happen. The problem is, I don't know what orchids they are. Are they orchids which go in the ground? Do they want full sun, half-shade? Do they like lots of water or little water? What substrata do they like?

I repotted them, because they looked like they were a bit potbound. Plus, my dog decided to investigate them, and ended up taking one out of its pot, so she did half the job for me!!

If anyone could help me with the name and type of orchid, if it is an orchid at all, I would really appreciate it!!

More info when I see any improvement.

Hi! Today is 2nd July. I went to the local orchid nursery and took this orchid for them to identify for me. It is an Epidendrum. It had some treatment from the nursery, cut off the dead bits and sprinkled cinamon powder over the cut places and at the base of the plant. Now they are in the garage drying out, because they were too wet. That's why the leaves were going black and rotting.

It did have a couple of new shoots, but one a slug ate and the other had a bit of black rot and was cut back. Now we have to wait to see what the results of the treatment are like.

Updates soon!! 

Baby Phaleanopsis

This is my baby phal. Its name is Phaleanopsis Salmão. The flowers will be a pinky, orangey salmon colour.

This also came in a substrata of polystyrene. I repotted it in the proper substrata for orchids, and now it's roots are aired, but protected. It's looking happy, with good root growth and the leaves are getting bigger.

2 July 2012. This little phal has a new leaf growing happily.

More updates soon.

 

Baby Cymbidiums

 These are my new baby Cymbidiums. I bought each one for R$5,00. I recently repotted them, as they came with substrata of polystyrene balls and were drying out too quickly. They are now in substrata consisting of pine bark, coconut fibre and charcoal.

This one's called Cymbidium Laranja. The flowers will be orangey, yellow with red spots in the middle.

This one is called Cymbidium Ouro. The flowers will be a light goldy yellow with red spots in the middle.

This one is called Cymbidium Roxo. The flowers will be a lovely moavey purple with a creamy centre.

2 July 2012. I realized that Cimbidiums are terrestrial orchids and like a bit of normal soil. So, I moved them into the backyard and put a bit of compost in around the orquid substrata. It looked like they were getting too hot in the garage. They tend to like shadier, cooler environments.

More updates soon.

Orchids on the line

This is a photo of my orchids which I tied onto bits of wood and hung on my washing line at the back of my house.

 This one was originally in the garage, but it got attacked by some ugly slugs, which only left one leaf. So, once I had done away with the slugs, I took the orchid out of its pot and washed it thoroughly and tied it onto a piece of wood and waited to see what would happen.

A few months later, with it being watered naturally by the rain, look at the new growth that has appeared!

I hope it grows well and rewards me with new leaves, and eventually, flowers. There is another shoot on the other side of the orchid. Looking good!

Other orchids on the wood are:

 

 A cymbidium, of which I don't know the colour. These photos were taken a couple of months ago.

The photo taken today, 7th June 2012, shows new growth.

 I also have an oncidium, locally called "chuva-de-ouro", which is coming on well, too.

 New photos will come when I have chance to get a good shot. Today it's raining!

This is another oncidium which I won as a freebe at an orchid exhibition. It is also showing new growth. I will update with new photos as soon as possible.

2 July 2012. The cymbidium was doing ok, but its roots were drying out too much, so I took it off the wood and put it in a pot with a mixture of soil and orquid substrata. It seems to be better now.

More updates soon.