Thread: Bloom Baby Bloom!

New blooms in the garden.....

Lovely GF, we've missed them - been nearly 8 months

Originally Posted by NamPikToot

Lovely GF, we've missed them - been nearly 8 months

True. Been awhile.

It hasn't rained here in the last six months. The orchids have to be watered every other day in this weather. It's v v hot and dry during the day.

Originally Posted by GracelessFawn

It hasn't rained here in the last six months. The orchids have to be watered every other day in this weather. It's v v hot and dry during the day.

Is that normal? in Thailand its been an odd dry season, had quite a bit of rain, normally when that happens it doesn't bode well for the wet season

Nah, the weather has been extremely hot and dry here. Its not normal. The plants are suffering...

Originally Posted by GracelessFawn

Nah, the weather has been extremely hot and dry here. Its not normal. The plants are suffering...

Well GF look after them coz we want load of piccies, now would be good. I think they'll have a calming effect on some of our agitated males posters, there's quite a few as you can see.

I love your orchids takeovers..... They are gorgeous.

New blooms in the garden....



A wild bloomer. (Only blooms once a year.)



My newly-developed rambutan fruits.



A thriving baby mangosteen fruit in my yard.

Looks like you've got most of my favourite fruits in Thailand covered. I like Pomelo as they are not overtly sweet like most tropical fruits, sometimes i just crave fruit with some bite, like Longkong too which have a kind of grapefruity twang.

Nice to see you back posting Grace.

I have a five-year old longkong
tree. Heard that they don't usually bear flowers if planted in PI soil coz of the climate. Palawan climate is diff than the other areas in PI, so hoping for the best.

You've got a real green thumb GF. Nice pics.

Originally Posted by Hugh Cow

You've got a real green thumb GF. Nice pics.

Thanks Hugh. Been checking stores for snake fruit seedlings or seeds, but had no luck so far.

I have a question to the resident Orchid expert.

One of my orchids is driving an offshoot, or whatever they are called with orchids. I am tempted to try and cut it off to raise it. Any tips?

BTW off topic. One of my friends bought a pomelo in the supermarket here in Germany. He brought a seed to the Philippines and the tree from it is now bearing fruit. A huge tree.

That depends on what sort of orchid you have, and the "offshoot". If it was a dendrobium or Phalaenopsis they will often have a "keiki" form along one of the flower stems, which you can leave on the plant until it has formed its own root system, then cut off and repot. It will be an exact clone of the parent plant.
Or is it just a growth shoot from the base ? You would usually just leave that as it is, until the plant is big enough to divide in two. Have you got a pic ?

It is a Phalaenopsis, the left plant of the three.



I will try and get a photo of the keiki. They sprout of between two leaves of the mother plant,

Interesting about the hormone treatment. My wife puts egg shells on the substrate. She insists that it has to be shells from raw eggs, not boiled. This seems to indicate to me, if it has any real effect it may be hormones from the egg white still on the shells, not the shells themselves.

I got photos of the two. Actually there seems a third one hidden between the leafs of the mother plant but I can't get to it. It is barely visible in the second photo.





May be difficult to cut them off. I will at least have to wait a while yet.

Phalaenopsis usually produce keikis in their blooming stalks if you cut the end part of the flower stalk before the flower dries.... An odd trick I've learned from avid orchid gardeners here. They seem to work for me as far as hybrid phalaenopsis are concerned. For the native ones that produce smaller pure white flowers, I normally cut-off a portion of the flower to make it produce a fruit/seed which I'd harvest and place in trees when dry.

Originally Posted by PAG

Wonderful!

Thanks for sharing PAG. The blooms made me smile.

Early Morning Surprise....... A bonus from the garden!

A Lilawadee/Frangipani grown in a pot at the front of the house.