Orchidacea. Speaker for September 13, 2004 Roy Tokunaga of H & R Nurseries, Hawaii

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1 Speaker for September 13, 2004 Roy Tokunaga of H & R Nurseries, Hawaii I graduated from the University of Hawaii in 1973 with a bachelors in education, high school Biology, but never got a chance to teach. I was recruited by Ernest Iwanaga to start an Orchid Lab. I left to start another Orchid Lab in Waimanolo with Harry Akagi. Harry was growing bromeliads at that time. I didn't like the name H & R bromeliads, so H & R Nurseries was born. Roy is now an accredited AOS and HOS Judge. He has been hybridizing for about 27 years with several thousand hybrids delivered. Most of his work has been in the Dendrobium and Cattleya Alliance. The program he will be presenting to you will be on Latouria Dendrobiums of New Guinea and the Nigrohirsutae Dendrobiums of Thailand. It will include the species like atroviolaceum, spectabile, formosum and cruentum. Roy will also do a second program on the splash petaled Cattleyas made with C. intermedia var. aquinii. Dendrobium secundum Grown by Jack Webster Newsletter of the Triangle Orchid Society Associated with Sarah P. Duke Gardens Inside this issue: This Month s Speaker 1 Minutes of the Last Meeting, Treasurer s Report, Jack Webster Show table Awards Greenhouse Grown Jack Webster Show table Awards Non- Greenhouse Grown Growers Day at Durham Tech Growing Tips Announcements and Calendar Map and Directions to Sarah P Duke Gardens The Triangle Orchid Society meets at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC The Second Monday of the Month at 7:30 PM OrchidSociety.org

2 Page 2 TOS Officers and Board Members President Nicholas Plummer nickplummer@nc.rr.com (919) Vice President Michael Cory (919) April -March 2004 mcory@nc.rr.com Secretary George Bizub GBizub@bellsouth.net Cell (919) Treasurer Michael Levy mlevy@nc.rr.com (919) Board of Trustees: 2003 Past President Nolan Newton nolan.newton@ncmail.net Board of Trustees: 2004 Amy Marshall (919) amy_marshall@urscorp.com Kenneth Sugioka (919) KennethSugioka@aol.com At Large Trustees 2005 Terry Moorhead transichun@aol.com Thom Reincke (919) reinckefamily@msn.com At Large Trustees 2006 Jack Webster (910) JWebster@pinehurst.net Judith Goldstein (919) OrangeGr@aol.com Minutes of the Last Meeting The August 2004 meeting of the Triangle Orchid Society was held on Monday, August 9th at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, NC. The meeting was called to order at by President Nick Plummer at 7:37PM. The minutes for the July 2004 meeting and treasurer's report were accepted. Announcements by President Nick Plummer were: - Welcome new-comers and visitors. - Grower's Day will be August 21, Durham Tech - The deadline is 8/9/2004. Volunteers to support this event were requested. - Cater & Holmes open house is Sept Timber press books are available at 35% off. Contact Jack Webster. - Please return checked out Orchid Library Books. - The Fall Orchid Auction is scheduled for October - a Sunday. There were a small number of plants for the show table which the speaker reviewed and provided some general comments. After the refreshment break, Nick Plummer introduced the speaker Todd Miller. Todd's business originally started in Dallas, TX and then moved to Miami, FL. Miller's Tropicals has their own lab. Some helpful hints were provided on deflasking, such as a fungicide treatment is not neces- sary, the seedlings can be grown without potting mix and in direct contact with Nutricote fertilizer. Some brands of time release fertilizer can burn plant roots and should be avoided. A hand out "Easy Growing Orchid Species" was provided. The handout was broken down into three growing categories and was the basis for his presentation. Some Phal's like to grow on their side and training to grow erect can be a loosing cause. Also Phal's can send root outside of the pot. These roots should not be trimmed or the plant repotted just to put the roots in the pot. Vandas can handle hot conditions and they like a lot of water. Vandas should be watered until the roots turn green. If vanda leaves have ridges it needs more water. The best time to divide a plant is when new roots are just starting. The Jack Webster Awards to plants were as follows: - Non Greenhouse Category: 1st place went to Allison Finch for Neofinetia Lou Sneary 2nd place went to Angraecum Scottianum to Jaimie Graff 3rd place went to Terry Moorhead for Dendrobium Alexandria x C forbesii - Greenhouse Category: 1st place went to Dendrobium lasianthera x sib grown y Paul Feaver 2nd place went to Brassia Eva Loo grown by Bruce Petesch 3rd place went to Rhynchostylis coelestis grown by Alan Miller There were three raffle plants. The meeting was adjourned at 9:20pm.

3 Page 3 Jack Webster Awards Greenhouse Grown Get up to 5 Free Raffle Tickets Bring 5 flowering Orchids for the Show Table.. 6 Ribbons will be presented to the Jack Webster Show Table winners, 3 for those grown in greenhouses and 3 for windowsill or under lights. 1 st place went to Dendrobium lasianthera x sib grown by Paul Feaver 2nd place went to Brassia Eva Loo grown by Bruce Petesch 3rd place went to Rhynchostylis coelestis grown by Alan Miller

4 Page 4 Jack Webster Non Greenhouse Awards Third Place Ribbon to Terry Moorhead for Dendrobium Alexander x forbesii First Place Ribbon to Allison Finch for Neofinetia Lou Sneary Second Place Ribbon to Jaimie Graff for Angraecum Scottianum

5 Growers' Day was a Success. Triangle Orchid Society We had approximately 130 people attending the Durham Tech symposium to hear 6 expert orchid growers as speakers. Linda Thorn, Owner of Seagrove Orchids and an American Orchid Society Judge was on of the speakers and spoke about growing Phalaenopsis and how to grow the Phalaenopsis each attendee got to take home. 18 new members signed up to join the Triangle Orchid Society. Welcome New Members: Colleen Scarlett, Apex, Bob Meyer and Kathryn Privett, Cary, Erick and Bobbie Batchelor, and Donna K. Ball from Louisburg. Bill Caligari and Ames Christopher, Raleigh, Cynthia Payne, Raleigh, Suzanne S. Zeok, Raleigh, Gay Whitney, New Bern, Josh and Robin Gurlitz, Chapel Hill, Leo and Miriam Sagasti, Chapel Hill, Connie Neeley, Chapel Hill, Lydia and Shuliang Lee, Durham.

6 Growing Tips for September By Courtney T. Hackney O ne aspect of advising hobbyists has gotten easier the past year and that relates to fertilizer. When a question relating to fertilizer comes from someone with just a few plants my recommendation to them is to purchase a small bag of Nutricote from Carter & Holmes or the same product sold by Home Depot under the trade name Dynamite ( with minors). This product is timed to last six months, but in orchids, which are watered less frequently, it really lasts for a whole year. An application of Nutricote in late winter or early spring provides an even dose of fertilizer, including the minor elements. Most time-release fertilizers cannot make this claim. By the time the release rate declines, the growing season is over. Nutrients accumulate in the medium over this time, but do not seem to reach toxic levels if pots are being soaked properly each time you water. In winter, many orchids, such as Cattleyas, prefer to be drier and fertilizer is typically withheld until the plant begins a new growth cycle. Vandas and phalaenopsis grow continuously, although their growth is limited by lower temperature and less light. My experiments with these groups and Nutricote have not gone on long enough to advise on whether to use a second dose after six months. In my greenhouse, phalaenopsis and vandas are watered more frequently and hanging baskets every sunny day. The Nutricote may be exhausted after six months with frequent watering. Nutricote does not stay in baskets or in pots with very course media. It seemed that small pieces of fiberglass screen in baskets would keep the small gray pellets from washing out, but it did not. Embedding the fertilizer pellets in small clumps of osmunda fiber worked well and vanda roots quickly found their way into the mass of fiber and fertilizer. Despite direct contact with the Nutricote pellets there was no burn or damage to the roots. My latest trick was to place a teaspoon of the pellets in Polyester Fibers. (Fiberfill is the brand name I use.) Tie the stuff around the vanda stem immediately under the lower leaves. This allows the fertilizer to leach out during each morning s watering and flow down the stem and onto roots. The experiment was done on a nearly dead vanda and the results were amazing. It is growing better than ever. The only problem with the Polyester fiber is that it is white and ugly. Fortunately, within a month algae begin to grow all through the material. It is still ugly, but at least it is green. How much Nutricote should you use on orchids? Page 6 So far, I have not found a dosage that causes problems to roots. In fact, one plant purchased from a nursery that used the product contained at least one cup in a 6 pot. It was obviously spilled as most plants from the same nursery had a teaspoon or so. As soon as I realized how much was in the pot the plant was removed and the expectation was that all the roots were dead. They were not. In fact, the roots imbedded in and below the product were large and white. The plant was a Cattleya species with 7 pseudobulbs and was in the process of producing 6 new leads. As with all new products, begin with low doses. In my first year, I used ¼ teaspoon of Nutricote in each five or six pot. Last spring, I increased the dose to ½ teaspoon and noticed only positive effects on plants. After the end of the spring growing season both Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilums will have completed a whole year using Nutricote and the results reported in this column. If these genera bloom as well as they are growing, my expectation is that it will be recommended as well. Authors Note: No compensation or free products have been offered or supplied by the makers of Nutricote or Dynamite (shucks) for the endorsement of their product.

7 Page 7 BIG Thanks to all the speakers and helpers who gave of their talents and helping hands to put on the growers day symposium: Pres Nick Plummer, Jack Webster, Linda Thorn, Stewart Miller, John Stanton, Mike Joehrendt, Alan Miller, Judith Goldstein and her food helpers, N. E. Zeleniak, Bonnie Pope, Judith Shapiro, Amy Marshall, Mike Wagner, Constance Day, Fay Whitlley, Judy Sacks, Kenneth Sugioka, Jinne Davis, Pepper Fluke, Mildred & Mack Howell and other members who brought plants for the show tale. Peggy and Jeff Bloodworth who catered the lunch. Bring your Timber Press Book Order forms and a check made out to Jack Webster (35% discount). Or mail it to him at 220 S Valley RD Southern Pines, NC Bring your flowering orchids for the Show Table - 6 chances to win a Show Ribbon 3 for green house grown and 3 for windowsill or under lights -and up to 5 free raffle tickets for 5 orchids you bring. TOS Fall Auction will be held in October on a Sunday afternoon. Repot your divisions now to bring to the raffle. The raffles are our only fund raising activity. Triangle Orchid Society Meeting Agenda: Calendar 2004 Speaker Topic 7: 7:30 Set Up Show Table and Chairs 7:30-7:45 Business Meeting, Announcements September 13th Roy Tokunaga H & R Nurseries Hawaii Dendrobiums New Crosses from Hawaii 7:45-8:10 Show Table Review October Courtney Famous 8:10-8:30 Refreshment Break 11th Hackney Cattleyas 8:30-9:20 Program November Dennis Orchids of 9:20-9:30 Show Table Awards, Raffle and Door Prizes 9:30 P.M. Meeting Ends 11th d'alessandro Glen Cove Orchids. PA Borneo Welcome Table Refreshments September Barbara & Stan Martinkosky Claudia & Rey Aponte

8 Page 8 The Triangle Orchid Society meets at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham, NC The Second Monday of the Month at 7:30 PM Exit 14 Society.org Exit 13 Sept 13, Speaker Roy Tokunaga H & R Nurseries,Hawaii New Dendrobium Crosses from Hawaii From the East. Exit 13 on the Durham Freeway(#147) South on Chapel Hill Rd. right on Anderson St. Gardens on left. From the West. Exit 14 on the Durham Freeway (147) South on Swift Ave right on Campus Drive, right on Anderson St. Gardens on left. Associated with Sarah P Duke Gardens Alan J. Miller, Editor 5703 Orange Grove Rd. Hillsborough, NC (Fax (253) Phone (919) Triangle Orchid Society Dues are $18 per year single, or $24 per year for two persons living at the same address. Mail to : Michael Levy, Treasurer, 2132 Beneventum Court Raleigh, NC Visitors are Welcome!