Orchid Man in the United Kingdom

  I had a few minutes of selfish brilliance when my 8 months long project slash research slash experiment had brought unexpected and exciting results. Therefore I think it’s fair I called it Rob’s Closed Curtain Cymbidium Growing and Glowering method. Yes, it is a mouthful, and a lot of people are going to rise their brows up or think – What is he going on about this time.   Well if you don’t like cymbidium orchids, or already have a greenhouse or just have your own way of growing them and flowering successfully then congratulations to you – you are welcome to skip this read. For the purpose of my project slash experiment I have divided a super cheap cymbidium NoID hybrid that I never saw in flower and was a rescue from HomeBase. This plant was super neglected and sat in the garden patio for a whole year before – and within that time it didn’t grow a single new leaf. So after dividing them, they went into self-watering pots and into sphagnum moss – now remember you...

Grammatocymbidiums are an exciting novelty that’s only very slowly found its way into Europe, and it’s still hard to find them anywhere unless you know where to look. They are a hybrid between grammatophyllums and cymbidiums. Making them basically heat tolerant cymbidiums that can flower whenever, without the need of dramatic temperature changes, cold nights, and keeping it outside all year round until first frosts just to have that hopeful flower spike. Oh no! These plants can grow comfortably on your windowsill all year round, and will flower with beautiful cymbidium flowers. Most of them are fragrant too! As I said earlier I love cymbidiums, and I could never grow them properly and flower and now with my own plant – I just got it today! Im going to try to help these beautiful hybrids to get a foothold. Just look below!

I love cymbidiums, I truly do. The foliage is fantastic, reminding me of little palm trees – or not so little in some cases where the plant is the size of a small palm tree. The big fat vigorous bulbs and their power to grow fast and survive so many types of environments and lastly the flowers. Cymbidium flowers are among the most bellowed of all orchids to me and I never can get enough of them. But, there is a problem here. I am really bad at growing them. Actually absurdly bad. Actually probably as bad as with growing cattleyas. The common Chinese cymbidiums that are sold in our UK garden centers are unfortunately cold growing plants that require you to either have a greenhouse or a cold porch or keep them outside and then bring in. So I can’t really do that. In fact I can’t do that at all. I have a patio. If I leave orchids outside they will become the lair of slugs, spiders, ants, catepillars and anything that crawls outside. And that’s the big NOPE for me. In fact last...

April has brought us some unusual events, full lockdown, life threating pandemic, and oddly enough on top of that nice sunny weather. Its nature’s tongue-in-the-cheek i think.  In the growth space there is a few interesting things happening, the biggest one is that neofinetias woke up and are growing rots like mad. Because the living room plant stand where they are, doesn’t get sun till after 3PM, I’m having the LED lights on through most of the morning. However, i have completely unplugged the heat mats as they were drying out the sphagnum moss way too fast and I was really worried it may be more damaging to the plants than actually doing any good. Neofinetia, at the end of the day are intermediate to cool growers I don’t want to push my luck. And there is so much to see, the three (now four) no ID neofinetias are growing like mad. One was growing so vigorously it split itself in half as the new roots were pushing the other fans away, which is interesting and I never saw...

The Slc. Jewel Box ‘Dark Waters’ is a hybrid cross of the   Cattlianthe orchid nothogenus, registered in 1962. The parents of the cross are Guarianthe aurantiaca and Cattleya anzac. Hands down one of my top 10 favorite orchids and my favorite cattleya hybrid.  Unfortunately, I find it incredibly difficult to get anywhere close to an accurate photo capture with a digital camera as reds and purples seem to be the troublesome colors.   Ctt. Jewel Box is a classic compact growing red cattleya hybrid. Bifoliate pseudobulbs that are about 4" tall grow along a horizontal rhizome. A terminal inflorescence is produced from a sheath at the tip of newly matured pseudobulbs. Ctt. Jewel Box averages 4.8 flowers per inflorescence and 9.2 cm (3.6 inches) natural spread. Flowers are slightly cupped, and vary from magenta to deep red, depending on growth conditions (light/temp) during bud development. LIGHT As with most cattleya hybrids you will need a lot of good su...

The Blc. White Diamond is one the nicest white mericlone cattleya hybrids available. Although it’s quite rare to find right now. This hybrid has bright, pristine white flowers with a great shape and it holds itself upright when in bloom.  The flowers inherited a beautiful waterfall lip leading to a nice golden centre.The flowers are pleasantly fragrant and last longer than most cattleyas. This orchid is a compact grower and a fragrant bloomer. It consistently blooms off on each new growth, flowers are at about 5 inches in diameter. LIGHT As with most cattleya hybrids you will need a lot of good sun exposure for them to grow well and flourish. A north exposure window that gets sunshine throughout the day will be best. However, ensure to give it diffused light during the hottest summer days as the foliage may get burned. Remember if the foliage gets a red tan, it means that your light is more than enough. TEMPERATURE Plants can tolerate a wide ran...

The Blc. Mahina Yahiro Ullii AM/AOS was WOW, WOW and WOW when it was first released. It has not only garnered two AOS flower awards, but is also a recipient of a First Class Certificate at the 4th Asia Pacific Orchid Show in addition to garnering Best Cattleya accolades at the 1999 New Otani International Show. The Blc. Mahina Yahiro is a cross between a cotton candy pink Cattleya and a large pink lavender Cattleya.  This wonderfully fragrant hybrid is quite small for a cattleya, producing upright growths on a compact footprint rather than being widely spread or “walking” as is the case with many Cattleyas. The B. digbyana in its background really shines through in this hybrid with its large prominent lip, intense fragrance, and robust, compact growth habit. Blc. Mahina Yahiro is a great improvement over both parents—it’s one of our best-selling pink Cattleyas with a Brasso-lip, its flowers reaching 15cm in size with up to two flowers per inflorescence. It blooms twice a ...

The Blc. Chia Lin 'New City' AM/AOS is a good and large hybrid of the Brassovola, Laelia & Cattleya species. This particular hybrid is known for its deep burgundy colour, and beautiful coloration of the lip with a waterfall pattern going into a yellow/orange heart. It will stand out immediately because of the size of the flowers and their deep colours and powerful fragrance they produce. However, it’s not the easiest plant to grow and in some cases it can take up to 7 years from seedling for it to finally produce a flower sheath. This plant as beautiful it is will require some trial and error before it finally rewards you with those magnificent flowers, but it’s well worth it. LIGHT As with most cattleya hybrids you will need a lot of good sun exposure for them to grow well and flourish. A north exposure window that gets sunshine throughout the day will be best. However, ensure to give it diffused light during the hottest summer days as the foliage may...

The Blc. Alma Kee 'Tipmalee' AM/AOS is a well-known hybrid of the Brassovola, Laelia & Cattleya. Cattleya dowiana parent is the largest part of the genetic make-up of the hybrid. This hybrid is known to be very easy to maintain. It stands out immediately because of the beautiful bright colours in the flowers which are yellow with a gorgeous red lip. On top of that the flowers have a lovely fragrance. Alma Kee 'Tipmalee' AM/AOS is perfect for anyone who wants to have an good starter easy Cattleya. It's a real must-have and looks a lot like the Cattleya dowiana, with the difference that this one is easier to keep and re-flower! LIGHT As with most cattleya hybrids you will need a lot of good sun exposure for them to grow well and flourish. A north exposure window that gets sunshine throughout the day will be best. However, ensure to give it diffused light during the hottest summer days as the foliage may get burned. Remember if the foliage gets ...

Neofinetia orchids are a genus of the orchid family, related to vanda family. This genus in total combines of 3 species, three found in China, two in Korea and one in Japan. It is arguably the first orchid ever to be grown with intention as a house plant from the early 1600s in Japan. Furan, the Japanese name for “Neofinetia falcata,” started to be replaced by ‘Fuuki-ran’ meaning ‘the rich and noble orchid’ as the plant quickly became loved by rich and noble people. Many years ago, Fuukiran’s were covered by a gold or silver net in order to protect them and people had to cover their mouth with Kaishi (a thin paper usually used for calligraphy) in order not to breathe on the plants while they appreciated them. This, by the way, is the same way the Japanese appreciate a great sword. This was an important time for Fuukiran as they became established into the Japanese culture. Neofinetia falcata ‘Gojo Fukurin’ is a very common and traditional mutation of Neofinetia. Some will eve...

Neofinetia orchids are a genus of the orchid family, related to vanda family. This genus in total combines of 3 species, three found in China, two in Korea and one in Japan. It is arguably the first orchid ever to be grown with intention as a house plant from the early 1600s in Japan. Furan, the Japanese name for “Neofinetia falcata,” started to be replaced by ‘Fuuki-ran’ meaning ‘the rich and noble orchid’ as the plant quickly became loved by rich and noble people. Many years ago, Fuukiran’s were covered by a gold or silver net in order to protect them and people had to cover their mouth with Kaishi (a thin paper usually used for calligraphy) in order not to breathe on the plants while they appreciated them. This, by the way, is the same way the Japanese appreciate a great sword. This was an important time for Fuukiran as they became established into the Japanese culture. Neofinetia falcate ‘Shutennou’ is one of the most sought after of all the Neofinetia varieties. A very...