P. O. Box 211463, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33421 www.orchidsocietyofthealmbeaches.org Find us on Facebook Hello Orchid Enthusiasts! February 2016 I hope you are enjoying the orchids you got at the auction. Many thanks to everyone who volunteered to help and made the auction such a success. And thanks also to the members who donated wonderful plants. The money we raise at the auction and plant sales make it possible for us to have outstanding speakers throughout the year. And speaking of plant sales, I will be passing around a sign-up sheet for help at our booth at the Mounts Spring Sale, April 23 24. At the fall sale, we had a trial run allowing a few members to sell their plants from our booth. It worked out well, so for the spring sale we are opening it up to all members of OSPB who might want to sell their orchids. The board will be working out details for member sales, and we will let you know at the next meeting. Luis Del Pino of Rio Orchids will be the speaker at the next meeting, Thursday March 10 th. Rio Orchids specializes in growing orchids from seed and flasking. Luis will bring beautiful plants for the raffle and to sell. Don t miss it. Charline Nakamura will resume Saturday orchid workshops beginning March 12, 10:00 am. Attendees may bring a plant with problems or something interesting to share. The location will be the same as last year, the Community Building at Park Pointe in Lake Worth. There will be maps at the meeting. Your President, Doris Happel Hello OSPB, This orchid is Blc. Fritz Nicholas and it is my new acquisition from the OSPB auction. It is very fragrant and it is a very healthy and lovely plant. The auction ran very smoothly; we had about 100 plants and Jacob Galeski did an excellent job of auctioneering. Shannon and Allan were the runners and spotters. We pretty much have it down to a science now. Gloria and Tipr collected all the monies and passed out the passes for the buyers to retrieve their plants from Cheryl and Mary Jo in the holding area. I don t think we had any glitches and everyone was happy to go home with their new beauties to add to their collections and we made some money for the society. 1
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March 10th is our next meeting. Shannon has volunteered to hold the room open. Refreshments will be provided by all those celebrating their birthdays in March. We don t have many with birthdays in March so if your birth month is August or December,. when we don t need refreshments,.you may bring them to any meeting, anytime. If you just have a new recipe you want to try out; we ll be happy to test it for you, bring it to the meeting. Our March 10 th speaker will be Luis Del Pino from Rio Orchids in the Redlands of Homestead. Luis and his wife Angie Villanueva purchased their nursery last year from long-time orchid grower and hybridizer Ruben Sauleda, who started Ruben In Orchids in Miami in 1959 with his mother Rebecca Sauleda. Luis had worked with Ruben for 30+ years and has learned everything he could about orchid propagation from pollinating to flasking. They make their own crosses and grow them from seed in their own laboratory. They have a diverse selection with many unusual Cattleya and Encyclia crosses and more that you won t find anywhere else, all grown in their own 6400 sq. ft. greenhouse. They are all grown to thrive here in South Florida. Luis will be presenting a very interesting program on orchid propagation and they will also be supplying the raffle plants. They will have plants for sale too. This is going to be a very interesting meeting so be sure to bring something to take notes on and.bring a Friend! Have you been experiencing some of this yellowing? Or are some leaves turning purple? These are signs your plants got a little bit too chilly in the last couple of weeks. They may be dropping some of those yellow leaves as well. It s ok. It s usually the older leaves that are affected and they sometimes are the ones that show damage from scale or other mechanical injury, so them falling off helps to groom your plant. Anyway that s the way I look at it. Epsom salts or Cal-Mag fertilizer will clear up the purple. I ve heard anywhere from 1 teaspoon to 2 Tablespoons Epsom salts per gallon of water. I use 1Tbls. but I don t use it often enough. The Cal-Mag fertilizer is available from Green Barn or Broward Orchid Supply. You probably have leaves dropping off your hibiscus and crotons too. I ve had enough cold weather! 3
It s time to repot your plants if they need it. How do you know when it s the right time? 1. Is the rhizome extending over the edge of the pot? Are there new green root tips emerging? 4 a. Rhizome growing over edge b. Nice green root tips emerging c. Don t wait until the roots are this long. 2. Have you purchased new orchids recently? It s a good idea to repot as soon as they go out of bloom. They are probably not growing in the same media that you use and it is probably nearing the point where it will be breaking down. Most growers use plastic pots and perhaps you grow in clay pots; so you will have to water them differently. 3. Is your plant infested with scale or mealy bugs? Take it out of the pot and blast it with the hose until you get all the bugs off of it, (protect the new growth so it does not get injured), spray it with insecticide and repot in new, clean media. 4. Do you have any plants where the middle looks like it is dying? That means it could be rot starting. Repot fast before you lose the whole plant. Cut off the dead or dying parts each time you cut use clean, sterilized clippers or a single edge razor blade until you see good, clean tissue. 5. Is your plant overrun with weeds? Repot it to get rid of the weeds before your entire collection is overrun with weeds. Oxalis and artillery fern are absolutely the worse to control. Don t let it get a start in your collection. Introducing Wayne Green: Wayne joined OSPB in December but I failed to mention him in the newsletter until now. He lives in Delray with his wife Lizzy and is also a member of the Delray Beach Orchid Society and Florida Orchid Growing on Facebook. He has a fairly large collection that he grows in his pool cage. He grows some fantastic Dendrobiums and has a monster, C. Bob Betts growing on an oak tree in his front yard that is The Bomb. Please make him feel at home with our OSPB family.
Coming Events: March 4-5 Stuart Martin County Show & Sale @ the Martin County Fairgrounds, 2616 S. Dixie Hwy (A1A) March 12 The Saturday Morning Study Group @ The Clubhouse at Parke Point, Jog Rd., Greenacres 10:00 to 12:00 Members $1. Guests $3. Learn about orchid culture, or how to repot, or Charline will answer any questions you may have concerning your orchids. Wear old clothes; you might get your hands dirty. March 11-13 Fairchild Botanical Gardens International Orchid Festival @ 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables March 18-20 Port St. Lucie Orchid Society Show & Sale @ the Community Center, 2195 S.E. Airoso Blvd., Port. St. Lucie March 26 27 35 th Annual Flamingo Gardens Show & Sale @ 3750 S. Flamingo Rd., Davie April 23 & 24 Mounts Spring Plant Sale. OSPB will have a booth selling plants and promoting our society. We will need your help. Please sign-up at the next meeting; no experience required. It is a great way to get to know you fellow members and enjoy the fresh air and the flowers. May 13 15 Redlands International Orchid Festival - TOS will have a bus going down to the show on Saturday, the 14 th. Contact Cheryl Akey NOW to save your seat 561-329-4390 The bus will fill up quickly. This is the best orchid sale anywhere in the state of Florida and possibly all of the U.S. Don t miss it. The cost is $25. which includes admission to the show. The bus will leave from the Mounts parking lot at 7:45 a.m. and return by 5:00 p.m. There will be more information available at future meetings. Just a reminder..ospb has orchid tee shirts for sale. They are $20. each; men s and ladies sizes. These are ladies sizes shown here. They can be custom made to your specifications for an additional charge. 5
I will have them with me at the March meeting. Be sure to check them out. If I don t have your size I can order it for you, or you can contact Lisa at and tell her exactly what you want. I look forward to seeing everyone at the March meeting. I know the information will be very interesting and I m sure at least one of his plants will find it s way home with me. If I don t win one in the raffle, I ll buy one for sure. See you there. Bring a friend! Happy Growing, Patt Lindsey More Auction Pictures from Frank Please Support Our Sponsors 6