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...

Proctavola Golden Peacock is a intergeneric hybrid of Brassocattleya Richard Mueller X Prosthechea vitelline and it’s one of the most vigorous and prolific growing orchids you can find. This plant grows well in most settings and unless severely stressed it will produce a beautiful spike of many bright orange flowers. These are unfortunately without fragrance, but it doesn’t take any of it’s beauty. The maximum flowers each spike can bare is between 8 and 10. And they are long lasting, and can stay in flower up to 8 weeks. Furthermore, because the plant grows fast it will flower for you even 3 times a year. Now that’s a treat. From personal experience, the Golden Peacock does well both in standard bark, and in semi hydroponics. It also clumps fast so the plant will have to be maintained every 2 years. Provide it with ample daylight, however not a Vanda light. It will grow OK in phalaeonopsis set up with only 2500 – 3000 footcandles of light but will tolerate...

Ascofinetia Hsinying Starlight is a neofinetia back-cross hybrid resulting in a large variety of colours from powder pink/white, through ink to yellow and deep orange and something between a dirty orange and red tones.  It’s parents are Ascofinetia Lion Star x Neofinetia falcata 'Amami Island'. Because these plants are seed grown there will be a variety between each individual plant in terms of size, foliage, and flower size and colour making it very exciting for a grower. The Hsinying Starlight can be grown in a typical neofinetia Japanese moss set up, and will thrive. However it can also be grown in bark or hanging baskets. These plants will enjoy intermediate temperatures and not letting it dry for too long. If in doubt, treat it like a neofinetia.

Brassavolas are one of the very old, showy orchids, with a almost Victorian charm to them. Bearing a single star shaped flower, which has a heavy late evening perfume to it. This beautiful species was originally classified and named in 1813 by Robert Brown, who was a Scottish botanist, and he dedicated the species name to the famous Italian physician and scientist Antonio Musa Brassavola. That's that about history, let's get back to the matter at hand, Brassavola David Sander hybrid is a child of Brassavola cuculata and Brassavola digbyana. It combines the beauty of both. It hold the wide star spread petals of b.cuculata, and the delicate feathery fringe from digbyana. The hybrid has the typical and lovely brassavola foliage that reminds me of pine needles, or how growers call them "pencils". And they are lovely this way. Something peculiar about their beauty and elegant shape, why? Cattleyas have a tendency to be very ugly plants when not in flower. The foli...

You may say to me I'm obsessed about this type of phalaenopsis and the truth is I am. I fell in love with the colourful waxy hybrids of the Happy Eagle type. I describe them this way because they really remind me of the precursor in the way the bloom. Something a bit like phalaenopsis Bellina, but the colours are different, the fragrance is more fruity and heady. They are also so much more vigorous, happy and resistant to damage, pests and disease. Especially the phalaenopsis Dragon Tree Eagle, actually it was a mistake when I ordered it. I wanted the Happy Eagle and I choose this one. I don’t know why. Probably because there is so much Eagles around it’s hard to get confused. So I did. This one is a hybrid between Phalaenopsis Penang Girl x Phalaenopsis Black Eagle, and it can come in a variety of different colour coordinations. And now it’s in flower and I absolutely love it. The plant so far is quite small meaning it’s young enough but it looks like I...

Phaleonopsis KS Happy Eagle X Princess Kailuani is not a new hybrid to start. Firstly because it has been around since the KS Happy Eagle has been introduced in 2009 and taking the spotlight with a storm. But it is new in terms of novelty especially in Europe, mostly because it took a few years to get the first hybrids done and then to continue the work. But the hybrid didn't get a permanent name like so many others did. Why? Because genetics can be very tricky in terms of non clonned phalaeonopsis and the variability of the flowers meant there would be naming problems. But in the world of the orchid grower variability is a blessing.  I absolutely love this hybrid because of its variety, vigour and fragrance. Having two plants from a different batch I can say there is many differences in their size, leaf shape and so on. But each one of the sisters (heck because they are Princesses) is so different and the colours are so saturated they are quite difficult to capture by...

When you start growing your orchids and your collection is pretty small its always best to keep to the safe and tried out method. Bark and stuff, you also have sphagnum moss people and full water culture. Everyone grows their plants differently. I am no different and I am sure, my dear reader, you are also. After 8 years of mixed bark medium I couldn't have been happier with the results, till I got a plague of fungus gnats. I mean a plague, nothing worked, you got these buggers everywhere including wardrobes. So I pursued my love for pebbles. Seriously. Semi hydroponics has been a blessing. Let me explain quickly what is semi-hydro: As mentioned on Wikipedia: Semi hydroponics also known as passive hydroponics is a method of growing plants without soil, peat moss, or bark. Instead an inert porous medium transports water and fertiliser to the roots by capillary action. Water and fertiliser are held in a reservoir and conducted to the roots as necessary, reducing...

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