Ju ly Meet ing Tuesday, Ju ly 2 , 2019

Our Annual Orchid Auction!

Preview - 6:30pm, Auction starts at 7pm!

JULY 2019

Orchid Society of Coral Gables

The Orchid Society of Coral Gables is a non-profit organization established for the purpose of showing the cultural and economic importance of the

orchid, as well as the intrinsic beauty, and biological and ecological importance of this group of plants. We promote the scientific research and study of

orchids including their classification, evolution, propagation, culture, care, and development. Additionally, we support the conservation of orchids in nature,

and disseminate educational information and knowledge about the orchid family to the general public.

www.oscg.club

Highl ights in th is I ssue

New Event!

Member’s Market!

Page

3

You don’t

want to miss our auction!

Many plants from various vendors and also

from some of our own members will be auctioned! This is one of our biggest fundraisers and all pro-

ceeds go toward keeping our doors open - rent, food, raffle plants, and Holiday Party!

Jim Davison and Melida Demorizi will be our auctioneers for the evening. Please bring boxes for your

purchases. We will not have a holding area at the back of the room for this auction. So you need a box

to keep your purchases in.

If you have cuttings or extra plants, you can still bring them to the auction on Tuesday, just get there

a little early so we can check them in!

We take cash, checks, or credit card, so please, be generous in your bidding! And, bring guests, fami-

ly, or any one else interested in getting a new orchid to grace their growing area!

Orchid Feet

An article

from a friend

in Hawaii

Page 5

July Tips

from Dr. Motes

Page 6-7

Pres ident ’s Message

“Friendship is

always a sweet

responsibility, never

an opportunity.”—

Khalil Gibran, poet.

PAGE 2

ORCHID SOCIETY OF CORAL GABLES

Dear members:

Now that Summer has kicked

in, please don’t forget to keep your

fungicide schedule up and run-

ning. Anytime there is a break in

the rain is a good time to inspect

and spray if you can!

Our meeting this month will be

our Annual Auction. As you all

know, this is one of 2 major fund-

raisers we have to benefit the so-

ciety. Hopefully everyone will at-

tend and be generous! We have

lots of great plants, and for those

not in bloom, we will have a pow-

erpoint presentation to show you

what the plant will look like. So not

only helpful for you to purchase,

but also educational!

Next month, we will be having

The Member’s Marketplace. This

is a new smaller fundraiser for us

that we hope will be a “Fun”raiser

too! The August meeting will be

dedicated to you, the members,

who have things you’d like to sell,

orchid related or not. You can pur-

chase a table and set up your

wares. We will also have an orchid

workshop going on so you will still

be learning about orchids that

evening. Please read more about

it on the next page. We think this

will be a fun and rewarding event

for all of us.

See you all soon!

Melana

Patriotic orchids!

PAGE 3

JULY 2019

Member’s

Market

Due to a growing desire of members for sharing limited space to sell their orchids, baskets

etc at our Silent Auction each month, & the need to raise funds for our Society, we will be

holding our First Inaugural OSCG Member’s Market at our August Meeting. It’s coming up

soon!

Any member may reserve a rectangular table for a $50 donation to the Society. There will

be a limited number of the larger round tables for $60. In addition to orchid plants & baskets

etc, members may want to use this opportunity to market jewelry, pottery, artwork, candles,

honey, or services they offer. The only cost to the member selling will be their reservation.

The Society will NOT receive a % of any sales or orders made during the MARKET.

Also, 2 or more people may desire to share a space, but only one member may make that

reservation & be the contact person for that shared space to avoid confusion.

We are now accepting fulll payment due by the July Meeting (the auction). As soon as we

receive your final payment with a description of what will be offered, OSCG will use that infor-

mation for advance Marketing on behalf of the member.

And there will also be an orchid class taught by Jim Davison throughout the evening.

There will be no Silent Auction, or raffle ticket sales held, or plant showing or judging that

evening to avoid detracting from the MEMBER’S MARKET Tables. However, if you would like to

offer your own incentives at your table, say a raffle or drawing, you can do that.

Jim Wheeler, our Treasurer will be available to accept reservation deposits at the auction, if

you prefer to make your reservation by Credit Card. Checks & cash will also be accepted. We

already have several people who will be getting tables, so miss out on

this opportunity to help both yourself and the society Chris Alger

will be the chairperson of the event and you can reach her at

chris278429@gmail.com or 305-235-2834 for questions. We look

forward to adding this event to our fundraising efforts, & hope our

members enjoy the evening browsing, shopping, making new friends

& supporting our Society.

ORCHID SOCIETY OF CORAL GABLES

PAGE 4

Hospita l i ty Corner

For the auction, please bring finger foods,

sandwiches, crackers, and cheese, things that

are easy for us to eat while bidding! The society

will supply drinks as always!

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JULY 2019

Orchid Stories Orchid Feet Q: Where does a person with one foot work? A:

IHOP

Did you know that orchids have feet? All or-

chids can be divided into two groups: • Mono-

podial orchids, from Greek mono (only) and

podi (foot), have only one foot. • Sympodial

orchids, from Greek sym (together) and podi

(foot), have many feet. Of course, orchids don’t

have real feet. “Foot” here refers to the base of

a growth that makes roots and anchors the plant.

But this distinction is an important one in know-

ing how to grow your orchids, and how to repot

them. A more practi-

cal way to put it is:

Monopodial orchids

grow upward. Sympo-

dial orchids grow

sideways. Sympodial

orchids have a rhi-

zome that grows side-

ways across the pot

(or that creeps along

the surface of the tree

that it’s growing on),

with new growths

(usually pseudobulbs)

at intervals. Each new

growth grows up, but

then stops growing.

Over time, the growth of the plant is sideways.

Most orchids are sympodial, including Cattle-

yas, Oncidiums, Dendrobiums, Paphiopedilums,

Bulbophyllums, and many others. Monopodial

orchids, on the other hand, do not have a rhi-

zome. They only have one “foot” where they

are anchored to the pot (or to the tree), and only

one growth, with the growing point at the end.

They keep making new leaves at the end of the

growth indefinitely. Over time, the growth of

the plant is upwards. Monopodial orchids in-

clude Phalaenopsis, Vandas, Angraecums, and

others. What difference does it make to the

grower? Quite a bit, especially when it comes

to potting.

When to repot. Since sympodial orchids grow

sideways, they will eventually grow out over

the edge of the pot if not repotted. Sympodial

orchids make new roots for each new growth.

Over time, old growths (pseudobulbs) and their

roots die off. The best time to repot is when a

new growth is just starting to make roots, so the

new roots will help re-establish the plant. For

monopodial orchids, there is no special time to

repot based on new growths, since there is only

one growth. Also, they will never grow over

the edge of the pot, since they grow up, not

sideways. Instead, the repotting schedule is

more flexible, depending more on when the pot-

ting medium is getting too broken-down. How

to repot. Since sympodial orchids grow side-

ways, the new growth is

generally on one side of

the plant and the old

pseudobulbs are on the

other side. You want to

leave as much room as

possible for new growth,

so you don’t center the

plant in the pot. Instead,

put the old pseudobulbs

against the edge of the

pot, to allow more room

for new growth. Some-

times the plant has made

multiple new growths,

with the old pseudo-

bulbs in the center. In

that case, you should center the plant in the pot.

Since monopodial orchids grow up, not side-

ways, you should always center them in the pot.

Whether to pot. Some sympodial orchids, like

Paphiopedilums, have very short rhizomes be-

tween growths, so the growths are right next to

each other and they are easily accommodated in

pots. Others, like some Bulbophyllums, make

long rhizomes between growths, sometimes

several inches long. (See photo). This means

that they may outgrow their pot in a single year.

Strategies to accommodate this include using

shallow, wide pots and encouraging the rhizome

to grow in a circle around the inside edge of the

pot. Or perhaps the best solution: mount them

on a tree where they can spread out as much as

they want.

Thank you to Larry Kuekes

Bulbophyllum vaginatum is a sympodial orchid. Note the rhizomes

connecting the widely-spaced pseudobulbs.

PAGE 6

ORCHID SOCIETY OF CORAL GABLES

Although it mostly passes unnoticed to millions locked in their air-conditioned bubbles, July in South Florida is quite different from June. While the pattern of afternoon show-ers built from the moisture of the morning’s sea breeze persists in July, the thunder-storms are sharper and shorter. The clouds linger less and the foliage dries more quickly. Less quantity of rain falls in July than in June and periods of several days typi-cally pass without a drop. This is good news for orchid growers. July (and August) allow orchidists to focus on the first essential of orchid grow-ing, drying the plant out.

Frequently, neophyte growers ask “What if I go away for several weeks in the summer and there is no one to water the plants?” The re-

sponse is “That’s wonderful”. Expe-rienced growers use the break in the rainfall during July and August to dry their plants “hard”. Depriving orchids of water for several days until they and the media or baskets they grow in are bone dry is essen-tial to good orchid culture. By drying the plants hard, one deals a severe blow to orchids natural enemy, fun-gus. Orchids have evolved to with-stand drought because fungus can not. During severe drought fungus’ only defense is to cease all growth and retreat into a spore stage. Hopefully (and with good cultural management) these pathogens will not be aroused from this slumber until the first drizzle of September sets in, allowing our plants two months to mature and harden their growth making them less vulnerable to the September conditions which give some advantage again to the fungi.

Careful watering and judi-cious drying will do more than any other practice to ensure healthy plants. Drought is the orchid plants armor against disease. Be sure that your plants dry as completely as the weather of July permits. Nonethe-less, as our plants are in full growth they need adequate water in July therefor after a hard drying, orchid plants need a thorough re-hydration. If the next rain fall is in-

sufficient to saturate pot, roots and me-dia, the grower should add to the natu-ral moisture until he is sure both roots and media are saturated, using two or three applications of water spaced a few minutes apart. When the plants stop dripping is the time to apply the next dose of water. Don’t stop watering until the “heft” of the pot tells you that it is holding as much water as it can. More typically in July, orchidists should use these opportunities when more mois-ture is required to substitute fertilizer for water and saturate the roots and the media in the same thorough manner. In July typically think of fertilizing rather than watering. Weekly application of a commonly available balanced fertilizer (20-20-20 or 18-18-18) at two teaspoons per gal. will supply the nutrients that our plants require in this period of lush growth. This balanced formula should be

Orchid Tasks for July - by Dr. Martin Motes

• Dry plants hard once or twice. • Apply liquid fertilizer instead of water during dry patches. • Watch for thrips when rain has been sparse for a few days. • Finish top cutting and planting of vandaceous genera.

July in Your Orchid Collection - by Dr. Martin Motes

J u l y C l i m a t e D a t a

• Average high: 90.9

• Average low: 76.5

• Average mean: 83.7

• Average rainfall: 5.79"

• Excerpted from Florida Orchid Growing: Month by Month by Martin Motes. All rights reserved.

PAGE 7

JULY 2019

alternated every other week with potassium nitrate and Epsom salts (one tablespoon each) to supply the extra magnesium and potassium we now know are plants need on a regular basis. Even better (although not so readily available) lower phosphorus fertilizers containing extra magnesium and calcium with a formula like Peter’s Excel (15-5-15) have been shown to be the precise ferti-lizer our plants need. This formula is recommended year round. Hopefully such orchid specific fertilizers will be-come more widely available. Lowering the phosphorus intake of our plants is particularly important in South Florida because of our alkaline water. Always apply ferti-lizer in the same way as water, in two to three doses spaced a few minutes apart. Apply the fertilizer to the point of “run off” IE.when the solution starts to fall off the plants; stop and move on to the next plant. Repeat the application a few minutes later when the plants stop dripping. In July more than ever, never, never follow the frequently heard and disastrously bad advice of water-ing before fertilizing. Always substitute fertilizer for wa-ter: now and at every season. Roots saturated with wa-ter cannot absorb fertilizer but the prolonged wetness can rot your plants. Don’t give fungus the upper hand by wetting the plant’s foliage and roots more often or long-er than necessary. Careful watering is especially im-portant throughout the rainy season.

The wise orchidist will have long since finished all of his potting of sympodials and the top working of his vandas but for the rest of us this is the eleventh hour. Autumn is closer than we think and vandas will need at least three months to settle in to their new baskets or pots before the first chill of October tickles their root tips. Unless you can protect them thoroughly from cold, Vandatop cuttings and keikies should not be made after the end of July. If you do take cuttings remember the “3 root rule”. Count down from the crown and make the cutting beneath the third or fourth root. Keep as many leaves as possible on the stump and you will be rewarded with a greater abundance of offshoots. Always slip the sterile knife or shears down between the stem and the leaves and then cut transversely to save as many leaves as possible. Be sure to anchor the cutting firmly in its new lodging. Tie them up and tie them down! There is no time for mistakes in July.

Thrips are much less of a problem in July as the rain tends to wash them away and doubtless there is

an abundance of other lush fodder for them else-where in our yards. They can reappear in a pro-longed patch of dryness, so if you need to think of watering in July it may be dry enough to worry about thrips. A prophylactic spraying for thrips in July will also put a damper on scale crawlers. If a second spraying with soap follows the first by seven to 10 days, the population of mites will be scotched as well.

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