Hiya fellow orchid watchers!
I found it interesting to see how certain orchids reacted while outside
this summer. The guinea pigs are, one each, B. nodosa, Laelia
fidelensis, Bc Nok Noi (C. Sophia Martin x B. nodosa), Encyclia
cochleatus and Enc. tampensis. There is a Tillandsia in with B.
nodosa.
Enc. cochleatus lost most of it's existing leaves to sunburn rather
quickly, and started three new ps'bulbs as well as two keikeis and a
flower spike which is still going strong.
Bc Nok Noi got a small burn on one leaf, the rest are unaffected and
it's been flowering for almost a month with two new ps'bulbs coming up.
B. nodosa and L. fidelensis showed no sign of burning. B. nodosa threw
up two spikes with four and five flowers respectively, almost a month
ago and just starting to fade. L. fidelensis threw up three new
growths and each is significantly larger than previous inside growths
and each has a sheath - the last time it flowered it was mid-winter, so
I'm hoping for a nice show this winter.
Enc. tampensis didn't burn but the leaf color got yellowish (something
I also expected from the previous two plants but it never happened).
This plant had just finished flowering inside.
They all went out to mingle with the Bonsai under lathe. I took no
other precautions, partly to see what would happen and partly because I
needed room inside.
The Tillandsia is doing well also ... sorry but I forget it's name and
the tag is long gone.
I wish I had the space to bring more of the orchids outside. I knew
from more experienced members both here and at OGD, that my plants
would benefit from a summer outside. It was neat to see it for myself.
Have a great day!
Bob Campoli - Philadelphia, Pa - USDA zone 6/7