ANNOUNCEMENTS. SEPT 26 th MINUTES PAGE 2 SASKATCHEWAN ORCHID SOCIETY

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1 OCTOBER, 2010 VOLUME 28, ISSUE #2 NEWSLETTER SOS Executive President: Sherida Gregoire Vice-President: Cal Carter Past President: Faithe Prodanuk Secretary: Jennifer Burgess Treasurer: Cheryl Grummett Social: Shirley Keith Lori Pozniak Plant Orders: Heather Anderson Cheryl Adamson Resources: Yvette Lyster Pat Randall Librarians: Tracey Thue Don Keith Newsletter: Bob Lucas Dave Robinson Editor s Note: This issue represents a departure from the template used over the past nine years. While the previous template was attractive, it had serious limitations with respect to layout. Your editor, for one, will appreciate this more flexible template. The newsletter will be distributed electronically to all members for whom we have an address. If you wish to switch from paper to electronic delivery, please notify me at robert.lucas@usask.ca. COC/AOS Rep: Al Hartridge Speakers: Eugene Kucey Webmaster: Jennifer Burgess Mail Address: SOS, Box 411 Saskatoon, SK S7K 3L3 Web Address: October Meeting The October general meeting of the Society will be held on October 31st at John Dolan School, commencing at 1:30 p. m. The guest speaker is Kyle Lucyk. PAGE 1

2 ANNOUNCEMENTS Society memberships for are due and will be on sale at the October Meeting. The fee is $25.00 for a single membership and $30.00 for a family membership. A new form (available from Heather) must be completed before purchase. A failure to renew by the October meeting will result in the suspension of membership privileges until membership is renewed. The Foothills Orchid Society Annual Show in Calgary will be held on Oct. 23rd-24th at the Triwood Community Centre, 2244 Chicoutimi Dr N. W. The SOS will be entering a display this year. We need your blooming plants for the display. Be sure your plants are clean and properly staked, and the pots have your identification tag on the bottom or otherwise out of sight. Display plants may be dropped off on Thursday, October 21st between 4-6 p. m. at 3254 Calder Terrace. If this time is not possible for you, call Heather at to arrange another dropoff time. We are still thinking of placing an order for OrchidWiz. Since there is a substantial discount for volume orders, we are contacting other societies before we place the order. If you are interested in ordering, please give your name to Sherida. Information on OrchidWiz can be found on page 4. The October meeting will feature a presentation by Kyle Lucyk of Winnipeg. He will speak on the knowledge gained about Ecuador orchids by working with Ecuagenera. Although he will be bringing a limited number of plants for sale, there will be a member plant sale at the meeting. Orchid Fair, the Orchid Society of Alberta's Annual Show and Sale, will take place Friday to Sunday, February 25 to 27, 2011 at Grant MacEwan College South Campus, Avenue, Edmonton. The show will feature spectacular orchid displays, orchid vendors from Canada, the United States and Asia, and free seminars on orchid growing and related topics. This year, the OSA is hosting the Canadian Orchid Congress Annual Meeting in conjuction with its show. For more information, info@orchidsalberta.com, or check the OSA website, The SOS Executive has decided to use the coffee fund donations to support the Nature Conservancy of Saskatchewan in place of CPWS, the previous recipient. Sherida will explain the rationale for this decision at the October meeting. Phal Brother Fancy Brother SEPT 26 th MINUTES Sherida opened the meeting with greetings. Announcements The Calgary show is October 22-24/10. The SOS will be doing a display. Members blooming plants for the show can be brought to Heather s house 3254 Calder Terrace on the Thursday between 4-6 pm, and picked up on the Monday, 4-6 pm. Cheryl and Heather talked about clay pots for mounting, made by Charlotte in Calgary. Anyone interested in purchasing a pot can put their name on an order list various sizes are available, starting at $5. The October meeting has been changed to Oct. 31st in order to accommodate those wishing to attend the Calgary show. Plant orders for Forestview and Ecuagenera are due for October 13th and 6th respectively please notify Cheryl or Heather There is a signup sheet for ordering T5 light bulbs on the Resource table they will be brought back along with our Forestview orders. Orders are due today. A reminder that membership renewals for 2010/2011 are being accepted. Paramount Orchids will not be coming in November as previously announced, so we will not preorder from them. Kyle Lucyk from Winnipeg will come for our October meeting, and will bring plants for sale. A new orchid grower in Peachland, BC (CROrchids) is up and runnin. Sherida visited them this summer. The SOS may place PAGE 2

3 an order in April, and it is possible that the owner, Dino Baisi, will agree to visit and talk the SOS at that time. Their website is not yet complete. An OrchidWiz signup sheet is available at the resources table for those who wish to purchase the program and license. A deposit of $ will be taken. Sherida has contacted the Calgary, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg societies to give their members an opportunity to join the SOS order, and thereby all will receive a better group discount price. Problem corner A cattleya had new growths in the spring, but they have since turned black. Suggestions- This might be a black bacterial rot, affected by temp-erature and humidity try the AOS website which has information on how to treat it. You could also try treating the plant with Physan. A large, healthy phalaenopsis with many leaves has not bloomed for 2 years. Suggestion - Try cooling the plant at night in the fall by placeing it by a cool window, or even outdoors as long as there is no risk of frost. You could also repot and remove a few bottom leaves. Show and Tell Plants were shown by Heather Anderson, Cal Carter, Laurel Duzcek, Pat Randall, Gwen Erickson, Eugene Kucey, Cheryl Adamson, Sherida Gregoire, Presentation: Debugging orchids by Cal, Tracey and Sherida. The presentation began with an over-view of orchid pests including mealybugs,scale, spider mites and aphids was given. Photos and descriptions of each pest were given, along with solutions to get rid of them. Methods include diluted rubbing alcohol (sprayed or on a Q-tip or toothbrush), Neem oil, and pesticides. Consideration was given to the toxicity and safe use of effective pesticides. Plant Raffle: There was a variety of over 40 blooming phalaenopsis donated by Safeway for the raffle.there were too many raffle winners to list each individually. Plant sale There were cattleyas, phalaenopsis and many others available, including live Spanish moss. All were sold. Adjournment: Approximately 3:30 p.m. WEB PAGE OF THE MONTH Each month we will feature a web page. If you have a favorite, send it to the editor. This month s feature site, courtesy of Ron Kaufman, is This site, hosted by Delfina de Araujo, is dedicated to orchids of Brazil. General information, orchid care and a brief history of orchid culture are some of the features of the site. Another is the Gallery, featured on the right, that contains beautiful examples of orchid-related art. Also check out the Flowering Periods page for a guide to when your orchids will bloom. Perhaps most informative is the Genera section which contains extensive information about Brazilian species of cattleya, oncidium, vani!a and pseudolaelia. PAGE 3

4 ! What is OrchidWiz Encyclopedia and Journal? OrchidWiz is an easy-to-use software application for orchid research, discovery and to help growers keep track of their orchids. The program contains extensive information on approximately 138,000 hybrids and 29,000 species. It was designed with three primary goals in mind: (1) Ease-of-use; (2) Accuracy; and (3) Completeness. OrchidWiz users do not need to know how a database works. The program is so intuitive that anyone who knows how to use a computer mouse can benefit from it. Currently there are thousands of OrchidWiz aficionados in six continents and 45 countries. Many world-class institutions use OrchidWiz for their basic research needs, including Selby Gardens, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Smithsonian Greenhouse and the Singapore Botanic Gardens. More than 200 orchid nurseries and 330 American Orchid Society judges have licensed OrchidWiz, another testimony to its breadth and accuracy. OrchidWiz relies on public sources of data such as hybrid registrations and award listings. In addition, over 100 volunteers contribute to OrchidWiz by providing photos and various types of information on orchids such as published photo references; pronunciation tips; etc. To date, volunteers have contributed about 45,000 digital photos. Founded a little over two years ago, OrchidWiz is already in its 6th version. A new version comes out every year and volunteers have a big say over what features go in. The program has become the primary reference work for all orchid aficionados, from orchid experts to hobbyists. PAGE 4

5 SOME GROWING TIPS FOR PHRAGMIPEDIUMS Editor s Note: Reprinted with permission from the COCnews, May Having observed a few different Phragmipedium species in situ in Ecuador, we have developed the following approach to growing these plants. In our growing conditions, and with our watering habits, we find most, both species and hybrids, seem to prefer nearly constantly damp conditions. The exception is Phrag. caudatum and some of its hybrid offspring eg: Phrag. Grande, which like it less wet and sometimes even resent (the roots rot!) damp conditions. To accommodate this, we use a semi-hydroponic approach to potting them. This means saving assorted better quality plastic containers that are higher than wide. These can be saved from the deli or bulk food store purchases, empty instant coffee containers (lid and label removed), etc. Be sure to clean thoroughly first. Two holes are drilled or cut about 2.5cm(1") above the base and about 2.5cm (1") apart. (Do NOT burn holes into plastic - poisonous gases are produced.) It is advisable to put the holes on the same side of the pot so that later, water drainage will be a bit more predictable! There are two medium options that both have similar long term results for us. In both cases, fill the bottom of the container up to the holes with medium-sized expanded clay beads (such as hydro leca, available at hydroponic stores). The easier option is then to position your plant in the container and gently fill with more of the beads. This seems much more successful for us when the plant is nearly mature or bigger. Seedlings were less so. Alternatively we have also used our regular potting mix for Paph s and Phrag s. In this method, first cover the initial layer of clay beads with a single layer of somewhat broken up pieces of styrofoam beads. This is done to keep the organic top layer separate from the water logged layer below to retard it s breakdown as much as possible. Gently fill around the plant with the organic mix the same as in the previous method. I find plants establish faster in the organic mix but then it does break down after a period of time and needs replacement while the inorganic mix could in theory last for ever. The organic mix consists of mostly either, thoroughly rinsed with HOT water, coco husk pieces or medium sized bark. Perlite, charcoal, a bit of quartz sand or ground small bits of clay pots (?) called turfus (also purchased from a hydroponics store) are also included. The proportions are quite variable and are not critical at all in our experience. Incidentally, quartz sand is the kind often found on golf courses in sand traps! Approximate ratios might be: Coco to Perlite to Charcoal to Turfus/Sand = 8 cups to 1 cup to ¼ cup to ¼ cup. Naturally, in both cases, repotting is needed when the plant outgrows it boundaries. Keep in mind that to underpot seems to be more beneficial for more rapid growth. Also good water quality is a critical factor for Phrag s. Therefore be sure to thoroughly flush the medium with plain water at least monthly. Note that I have observed that high levels of salts in the medium seem to cause leaf tip burn. Assuming that whatever fertilizer you use has trace elements in its composition, fertilizing as per your usual frequency, strength and balance should suffice. - Pat Vuurman Patrick Vuurman is a of the Orchid Society of the Royal Botanic Garden e. Photo by Marilyn Light: Pat Vuurman holds a Phragmipedium hybrid potted using his method. PAGE 5