I love working nights, and I love working 12 hr. shifts. It's easiest for me to do three 12's in a row, but that means I don't get to see my plants for 3-4 days, as it's pretty much work, shower, sleep, and nothing else. I miss looking at my plants, and enjoying a cup of coffee out on the deck with them when I wake up. It is nice to see what's been going on now that I've got a few days off again.
Drosera sp. South Africa is going to be blooming for the 1st time, yay! Growing these from seed has been totally worth it. Drosera species typically only take about a year to grow to maturity, this species took more like 2 years, (that may have been my fault though.) At least now I can be 100% positive it is this is D. sp. "South Africa" , I always am a bit nervous about mix-ups as seed all looks the same. This species has the unique characteristic of the flower stalk splitting in two and one of the ends only having one flower, the flowers also have six petals instead of the usual five, can't wait to see. They aren't looking too dewy at the moment, it's been a little too dry and windy lately to have kept them out on the deck.
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| Drosera sp. South Africa |
The Oncidium my husband got me for my birthday 2 years ago, is in spike again. I was under the impression that you had to stake Oncidium spikes to get them to stay upright so the flowers would open well. I didn't stake this spike, not that I ever stake spikes because in the immortal words of Sweet Brown,
"Ain't nobody got time for that." I usually don't even notice them until it's a little late to start anyway. Maybe it's this particular hybrid that grows straight up without one, or maybe it's because it's potted a little off center and had tipped over. Can't repot it now, I'll just have to suffer the embarrassment of you all judging my bad potting job on this one.
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| Onc. Space Race 'Coco' |
I did get lucky and had the right day off to go to the
St. Augustine Orchid Society meeting this month. Dr. Ruben P. Sauleda, of Ruben In Orchids, was there to talk about breeding and flasking orchids, which was massively more interesting than I thought it would be. I also got to add to my Myrmecophila collection, which I was thrilled about as I cannot figure out why they are not more popular and why there are very few nurseries that have them available. I mean, I know they get large and have ridiculously long spikes, but come on, those flowers! I cannot be the only one who loves them.
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| Myrmecophila christinae |
Now, if only I could figure out if my other two Myrmecophila are both M. tibicinis, or one or both is a albopurpurea. They look different, even as seedlings to me, but that's a whole other post.
Drosera sp. South Africa is truly a lovely plant, and it seems to do grow very vigorously in your conditions. Just a sad thing that the ones I grew from seeds died soon after germination. :( Could you please tell me how do you grow it and in what kind of conditions? I want to get my hands on this plant again as soon as possible. :)
ReplyDeleteI sowed the seeds on top of the typical peat/sand/perlite mix, just in a cheap plastic grow pot and put that in my 10 gallon seedling tank under artificial lighting (T8, 8,000 K if I remember right.) Maybe only a few inches below the light. I used the tray method to water them probably about 9 out of 10 times, with the occasional top watering to flush things downward.
DeleteThey did well then, but also seem to be a bit more robust and get better color after being moved outdoors to partial sun. I think they just weren't thrilled with the temperatures in there.They get more of a day/night fluctuation now, which I think they like better than consistent temps, in my experience at least. Or they could be picking up because they're more mature now, and that could be 100% coincidence that they're doing even better outdoors.
They're pretty hardy too, I've accidentally let them dry out more than once over the course of their lifetime and they bounce back quickly with no issues. For sure try them again, I got them as sort of an extra and now I like them better than the dews I actually paid for with that order.
Thank you very much for your reply. Definitely will try this plant again and try my best following your advice. :)
DeleteThe Myrmecophilas precious plants. Its flowers are spectacular.
ReplyDeleteBest regards
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