Tolumnia ??

Late August 2014.  This has suffered terribly in the heat of summer.  I think I made the mistake of removing the extra moss that I had put on because I was worried it was stifling the roots... I'm hoping against hope that it will still be able to survive now that I've moved it to a more sheltered location and added a bit more moss...

Aerides Flabellata

Late August 2014.

This has grown over the summer having moved it to a hanging basket.  However, it's not the healthiest looking specimen!

Angraecum? Dendrobium?

Late August 2014.  The growth on this has taken off but it seems to be forming many new plantlets although some of the shoots have grown in length as well.  The colour of the leaves has also become a much healthier dark green and the surface is shiny.  All in all it looks a lot healthier at the end of the summer heat and humidity.

Close up of the plant-lets

Mystery Dendrobium

Late August 2014.  The plants have been growing well but they were also, at some point, attacked by spider mites.  This can be seen by the silvery patches which are most prominent on the undersides of the leaves.  It appears that the infestation has gone but for good measure, I have sprayed the plants with neem oil which I recently managed to locate in Hong Kong.

Bulbophyllum sikkimense

End August 2014.  Well after separating them, I discovered that Bulbos like a lot of humidity and so the smaller divisions were drying out a bit too much so I have mounted them all back together but hopefully with room to grow... I think they look better this way too!

Miltoniopsis

June 2014.  Purchased. Culture information here.

 

So this was how the plant was originally purchased.  The pot did not have any holes in the bottom and the original bark medium had been packed further with sphagum moss.  The bottom of the pot/vase was also filled with more moss...

I realised that this was probably not going to work and so removed all the moss and repotted it with just the bark chippings...  Thankfully, it seemed to settle down well in this condition.

Close ups of the flowers.... the petals are very delicate and the colouring reminds me of watercolour painting - it's almost like the colour bleed into the yellow background!  Gorgeous!

Mother's Day present - Oncidium

May 2014.  A lovely mother's day gift from the boys - no idea what it is called - probably an Oncidium?

Very pleased to see it now is starting some new growth...

Myrmecophila (Schomburgkia) tibicinis

May 2014.  New shoots emerging at last!

Alicera "Evening Colours"

May 2014.  New shoots appearing at last - I was worried that the plant was not doing well as the older shoots were changing colour... I hope this will survive!

Coconut Containers

April 2014. 

Inspired by a candle container made from a coconut she'll,  I decided to try using the idea as a pot.

The first coconut I got was from the supermarket and it had the whole husk on still so stripping it all off was hard work!  However I did also then try to use the remaining husks after drying as potting mix for the orchids... Thus was not very successful, perhaps because I didn't chop it up small enough.

Drying out the coconut was also a long process.   I did this in the oven on a very low heat  because we don't get sufficient sun to do the process adequately on the balcony...

The result was a very "rough and ready" look with some of the husk still left on the side of the shell.

A bad photo of the original coconut shell pot from Oct 2013

Cutting the shell was a bit of a challenge though because I didn't have a strong enough saw.. But I managed to hack 2 holes,  top and bottom,  in it so that it would also drain well...

Later on,  I discovered a place which sold coconut drinks in shells which were already de-husked... Bingo!  That took away a lot of hard work.  And the shells have a much cleaner finish!   Adding to that,  I also finally got around to buying a decent saw so I was finally able to cut the shells more neatly.

The results are in the photo... I also recut the older shell so that the opening was larger as I realised that it the potting material did not dry out properly otherwise.  The top part of the shell is also used as a stand so that the shell doesn't roll on its side.

Potinara (Morning Call-Chianhao Beauty) "Little Princess"

March 2014.  Sadly the flower stalk did not develop further but ultimately dried up... perhaps due to a rather windy balcony!

March 2014 - Flower stalk emerging