I was curious about the x outcross, so I looked it up. It seems that instead of producing seeds by selfing, the hybridizer uses genetically different parents, so there is no decline through inbreeding.

Sounds good Elaine! I can visualize some nice little mounted Orchids on that.

I will have a pleasant task today - my order from Ecuagenera ( picked out in their greenhouses in Ecuador) arrived yesterday afternoon, just as promised. The orchids were well packed and looked very nice. I unwrapped everything and gave it a spray of rainwater and now I need to get some new pots/baskets, since most are bare root! So far so good and I am excited about this!

Can't wait to see them, Ursula. Please show us how you pot or mount them?

I have five new babies coming from C & H this week, and need input on what to do with them going forward. They send nice plants, but usually they are in unvented plastic pots.

Will do, Elaine!
I still have a bag of Orchiata bark around, I think I will do a mix of that with loosened Coconut fiber for most. I will fashion a basket from wire grid for a Gongora.

I'm just back from the orchid club meeting where I picked up a nice sized, healthy looking Maxillaria rufescens. We heard a presentation from Dr. Martin Motes on Vandas, and there were several Vandas for sale, but Apopka prices have put me off on paying big money for little plants.

Looking forward to seeing these new plants you speak of.

Jim

Surely it was a good presentation!

Here is the Ecuagenera list ( I had picked out a bunch more, but they were probably not available. Next time.....

Blc Victoria 'Bluebird'
Blc Keowee 'Mendenhall'
Cattleya forbesii
Cattleya luteola x Sophronitis coccinea 'Yellow'
Epidendrum macrum
Gongora gratulabunda
Laelia harpophylla x Soph coccinea
Laelia purpurata uba tuba
Laelia purpurata vinicolor
Macroclinium manabinum
Odontoglossum wyattianum
Restrepia atennifera 'Lynniana'
Sigmatostalix graminea
Trichocentrum albococcineum
Zootrophion alvaroi
Zootrophion dayanum xanthinum

I hit a snag pulling out my bag containing the Orchiata bark. Some Slugs had invaded the bag. Besides a couple of life critters it probably contains slug eggs too? Luckily I noticed it before it touched any plant. The bag is now a discard, unless there is a way to clean it up without salt.

So plan B - using Coconut fiber ( loosened up and soaked) and Dyna Rok 2 in varying proportions. This is what I normally would have done, but I wanted to pot these a little more traditionally. I bent a basket of sort for the Gongora ( which unfortunately had 2 new leads turning to mush during transport, but the plant has such nice roots and pbulbs/leaves, that I am confident I will see more good growth.) I was happy to see everything potted up now and it was good to see lots of new leads on the Laelias and Catts! A few small mounted plants went right over the fish tanks, so they are not visible in my picture.

They are all now nicely tucked into the greenhouse.

Ursula, a mild solution of ammonia will clean up the slug eggs and also kill the slugs in the bag, I believe. http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf95...

I'd just fill the bag with the solution, let it sit for a little while, then dump it out, and rinse the medium off with plain water.

Thanks for the tip, Elaine. Sounds a bit scary though, hopefully it won't harm the Orchids?

Apparently not. Ammonia is pretty pure stuff, NH3, right? You're the chemist. The articles I read says that it can leave some Nitrogen behind in the soil or medium, but doesn't harm the plant at all.

If you only use it on the Orchiata medium, then rinse the stuff after, I'd imagine there would be little if any residual.

Good point!

My order from Carter & Holmes arrived already. The cool and rain made for nice weather for shipping plants. The plants are beautifully packed, and all look healthy, but of course they are smaller than I expected. That being said, they are all small types to begin with, I suppose.

Their site says for most of these plants 'this plant will bloom within the next 12 months, in season' or something like that. I'm sure they're counting on their customers forgetting when they bought a plant so they are not called out on that. I'll be surprised to see any flowers within a year. Here's what I got:
Neofinetia falcata 'Mendenhall' X Neofinetia falcata 'Amami Island' one 3in. fan plus a couple of tiny new ones less than an inch. They really are pushing the envelope calling this 'blooming size'.
Sedirea japonica
Renanthera 'Tom Thumb'
Renanthera 'Bill Crocker' X Vanda cristata
Slc. Barefoot Mailman 'Lahaina' - has a little sheath starting . . we shall see.
plus a bonus plant Lc. Carl Bornshine 'Mendenhall' X Lc. Leora Hewlett 'Summit' looks like it has been named Lc. Debra Calvet.

Elane, unless a plant is in sheath or bud, it is impossible to predict with any certainly when an orchid will bloom for the first time. Some species/varieties grow extremely slow, blooming in 4-6 years. Some grow faster and I have had them bloom in year two. Oddly enough, the Gramm. Scriptum var. 'Kiilani' bloomed before it even put on leaves. The blooms came from the base a bulb-like cane. After blooming, these plants began to grow leaves and roots. When you grow them like I do, from flask and plug, you learn to be patient. The nice thing is that one only pays 1/4 ("baby") or 1/2 (NBS) of what a BS/age plant costs for the same variety.

So true, Ken. So true. As Jim says, the great values we get on our Apopka trips really have spoiled us.

A couple of years ago I bought a whole bunch of small plants from a local grower who was going out of business, and many of them are still growing and have not bloomed yet. I paid between $3 and $5 for them, and many were larger than these plants I just received. That's my basis for comparison and part of the reason for my impatience. But then, as you say different species can take longer to bloom than others, and even hybrids can bloom sooner than their parent plants given good conditions.

I still think that little Neo should have had at least 3 mature fans of leaves to be called Blooming Size. Let's hope it proves me wrong.

I think C & H is a good company but they could never sell plants as cheaply as someone liquidating their entire stock and going out of business. You should never compare a viable company, with ongoing overhead, with one that is closing down. That's just my opinion. You should have checked my website - LOL. I am sending you a Tree-Mail, Elaine.

So many nice, new plants, Ursula and Elaine. I may be falling behind here.

Jim

Ken, you're so right, I know. Their prices are not out of line, generally.

Jim, did you get the link about the Lycaste that C&H have on sale this week? This one's in a 3in. pot, so won't be too tiny a plant. Also a 'warmth tolerant hybrid' so they say. (green flowers are not my fave, or I would have ordered it)

http://www.carterandholmes.com...

Beware, though. They charge a flat rate $15 for shipping, so unless you want to put together an order of more than a few, it's a bit pricey. I've been waiting all summer with my list for the weather to moderate.

Looking good Elaine! I have bought a few small Neo x from C&H and I was never disappointed.

Jim, I think you are doing just fine! Surely the next Apopka trip is already on the horizon...
I need to watch my purchases, I can't just expand my collection, there is a limit somewhere as I really truly run out of room.

Ursula, I am potting up my new 'chids today, and wonder if the Sedirea japonica will do well mounted on cork, or should it have a pot?

I have seen it both ways - on a mount and in a pot. Not too helpful, I know.... but that is the truth.

"Fascination of Orchids" had some new stuff this year I picked up Masd. veitchiana from Lico Orchids, Blc.' Picotee Passion' from Sunset Valley Orchids, Oerstedella schweinfurthiana, and Epi. parkensonianum from Andy's Orchids.