Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower. June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter

Transcription

1 Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter (please note that links in electronic copies are functional) July 6th Meeting No Speaker! No Show & Tell! Come to the annual SCVOS BBQ 6:30 PM American Legion Hall Willow Glen Huge Opportunity Table Win Bingo Last Names A-M Bring Side Dishes Last Names N-Z Bring Desserts SCVOS will provide Hamburgers,Hot Dogs & Condiments C. gaskelliana Blue Dragon AM/AOS Theocopus secunda grown by Ann Stuart 1

2 Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter (please note that links in electronic copies are functional) C. gaskelliana Blue Dragon AM/AOS Grammatophyllum Grown by Andy's Orchids Presidents Corner Valley Orchids is the grower of Fredclarkeara After Dark SVO Black Diamond the blackest orchid ever grown. Yes, if you produce a new orchid genus, you can name it after yourself. The other grower who which SCVOS members will be familiar was Andy from Andy s Orchids; a real pioneer in growing Central American orchids. The movie emphasized that Andy imports orchids leg tamely as opposed to the grower involved in the whole Phragmapetalum kovechii fiasco where someone actually went to jail. The last grower was from Florida and he began the mass production of orchids that you see today at Costco and Trader Joes. An entertaining movie and a good change from speakers and slide shows. Upcoming Events for 2011: July: SCVOS BBQ August Speaker: Marie Turkel September Speaker:T.J. Hartung Orchids of Mexico October:SCVOS Auction November: Ed Nazzal Local Wild Orchids December Fourth:SCVOS Holiday Party June Meeting On June First the scheduled speaker was unable to attend so we watched a movie entitled BlackOrchids provided by V.P. Peter Brown. It featured four different growers, two of which we have had as speakers at SCVOS! Fred Clarke of Sunset Membership Last month we had two new members, Joseph Kautz and Debbie Matsumura. We welcome them to our Society and hope they enjoy the activities as much as we all do. If you have not paid your 2011 dues, you will not be getting this newsletter. 2

3 Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society Established 1951 Helping You to Become a Better Grower June 2011 SCVOS Newsletter (please note that links in electronic copies are functional) SCVOS News I f you are not getting your newsletter via , please be sure to give your currently correct address to Ed Nazzal, paphman@gmail.com. A ll plants brought for sale by members must be properly labeled, disease free, and priced in even dollar amounts. Ten percent of the sale price goes to the club treasurer, Marvin Bell, C. gaskelliana Blue Dragon AM/AOS before you leave. We rely on the honor system. Thank you to those abiding by this rule. Refreshments Announcement: All members with last names starting S-U please bring in refreshments for August And, you get a free raffle ticket for the Opportunity Table! Show and Tell June Barry Zimmerman Curtis Mitchell 3

4 Show & Tell Table Tanya Lam Dave Smitt Remember, for much more information about orchids, links, our future schedule, care sheets, contact information, previous newsletters, and lots of pictures of plants and people, visit the website: santaclaravalleyorchidsociety.org/links.htm The SCVOS: Helping You to Become a Better Grower SCVOS Online S o much online check it out!! We have a Facebook page. Have a look at it on Facebook! Also see Matt Bond s Flickr page, and Eric Hunt s SCVOS Show page, and the Internet Orchid Species Encyclopedia, which the SCVOS helps fund. Member Susan Wiedman also has a new link at Ann Stuart 4

5 Board Meeting T he August board meeting will occur on the 17th of August at 7:30 PM at place CA. If you d like to make an announcement, please contact Kristina by phone at (408) or by at kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net. Participating on the board is a very rewarding and infinitely educational experience highly recommended! Please come out and support your society! Your 2011 Board SCVOS Board T he Santa Clara Valley Orchid Society is a non-profit organization that meets the first Wednesday of each month at the American Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Avenue, in the Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, California. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM. The skill session starts at about 7:00 PM. Officers for 2011 Kristina Bell, President (408) kbellwolf1@sbcglobal.net Peter Brown, Vice President (510) pjb@presol.com Sandi Fox (408) sfox@greybeard.com Marvin Bell, Treasurer (408) marvskis@sbcglobal.net Directors for 2011 Ed Nazzal (408) paphman@gmail.com Eanghak Quach (408) epigarden@yahoo.com Ann Stuart (408) annystuart@yahoo.com Marie Lofton (408) smlofton@pacbell.net Dave Smitt (408) davejsmitt@gmail.com 2011 Auction Chair Ed Nazzal (408) paphman@gmail.com Membership Peter Brown (510) pjb@presol.com Sandi Fox (408) sfox@greybeard.com Member Database Ed Nazzal (408) paphman@gmail.com! Newsletter Dave Smitt, Editor (408 ) davejsmitt@gmail.com Dave and Ofelia Woodfill, Mailing (408) ofiew@comcast.net Publicity Susan Wiedmann (408) Hmgbird@pacbell.net Library Marie Lofton (408) smlofton@pacbell.net Plant Opportunity Tickets Dave and Ofelia Woodfill (408) ofiew@comcast.com Kitchen Crew Conrad Kumata ckk1boater@aol.com Liz Gehrig (408) eagehrig@aol.com 2011 Greenhouse Tour Doug Pulley (408) dpulley1@comcast.net 2011 Show and Sale Tim Culbertson, Co-Chair, Secretary (301) timc@harker.org Eanghak Quach, Co-Chair, Judging (408) epigarden@yahoo.com Peter Brown, Co-Chair, Sales (510) pjb@presol.com2011 Holiday Party Kristina Bell (408)

6 Upcoming Shows July, 2011 SCVOS BBQ 6 th 6:30 PM American Legion Hall 1504 Minnesota Ave. San Jose A-M bring Side Dishes M-Z bring desserts 8 th 10 th Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Earl Warren Fairgrounds Santa Barbara, CA Epidendrums from Cal-Orchids Cal-Orchids display San Jose Japantown Orchid Exposition Angraccium didieri Reed-stem Epidendrums Andy s Brother from Andy s Orchids Sobrailias from Oz Gardens 6

7 !"#$%&'()*!&+%&). Orchid Facts I am finally here again. Summer vacation has begun and I, for the most part, am free of my major responsibility, which is my teaching job, for two months. Time to repot my orchids, take care of my garden, have some rest and relaxation and, of course, write this article. This month s genus is Grammatophyllum. Tom Perlite from Golden Gate Orchids, right and Oz Gardens Sobralia grower Golden Gate Orchids display Gold Country Orchids Grammatophyllum (Gram) is a small genus of eleven epiphytic species. The name comes from two Greek words, gramma (letter) and phyllon (leaf). These two terms refer to the flowers letter-like markings. The genus is native to the dense rainforests of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Philippines and the Southwest Pacific. Seven species of this genus can be found in the Philippines. Two of which can be found on the island of Palawan, where Peter and I bought some property. The plants in this genus are medium to large epiphytes. Members of the genus have either of two distinct growth patterns. One is plants having canes with many leaves. Gram. speciosum (type species) has this type of growth. This species is considered the largest orchid in the world with canes measuring up to more than 8 feet. It forms huge clusters of canes that can weigh as much as a ton! The other is plants having pseudobulbs with leaves arising from the apex. All members of this genus have long arching inflorescences with large showy flowers, which maybe yellow, brown, or olive green. The flowers of this genus have equally showy petals 7

8 and sepals with a smaller lip. Flowers may have scent from both ends of the odor spectrum. According to Wikipedia, Gram. multiflorum is one of the longest blooming orchids, reportedly nine months. out process worked here. Anyway, growing conditions vary from place to place. It is up to the hobbyist to modify one s growing practices in the light of the one s growing context. Jay Pfahl cautions hobbyists who are space-challenged to give it some thought before growing these plants. They grow big if the conditions are right. They do not want to be dry, but they do not want to be soggy, too. Fertilizing at half strength is recommended by several sources while in growth. Roots are particularly sensitive to salt build-up. It would be beneficial for the plants to have clear waterings in between fertilizings. One online orchid care source has the following temperature ranges: F (24-3O Celsius) during the day and 55-6O F (13-16 Celsius) at night. It also added that they will tolerate temperatures to 45 F (10 Celsius) and up to 100 F ( 38 Celsius) for short periods. Air circulation and humidity must be increased at higher temperatures to prevent damage to the plants. I have heard of drying them out for two or three weeks in spring to encourage blooming. I have never tried this out. But, while visiting my mother in the Philippines once, I saw several of these plants sending out roots and spikes at the same time. My mother bought the plants, obviously hacked from a tree, from a vendor some three weeks before with hardly any root at all. Obviously, the drying Gram. speciosum is the type species. same species. They occur at higher elevations in humid rainforests, from Southeast Asia to New Guinea and as far north as southern Taiwan.Acknowledgedcenters of diversity are Borneo and the Philippines. 8