Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 08:10 PM
Ted Byers
 
Posts: n/a
Default Onc. Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance'

Well, this plant is living up to its name. I guess it has settled into its
new home, because now it is filling the entire top floor of my house with
its fragrance.

This is the plant that is a puzzle. I discussed it with the vendor on
Sunday, and he reports he bought it, among dozens of others, as a seedling
in a 7.5 cm pot (about 3 inches) about a year and a half ago. I can see no
scars that would be present on any division, and I can see no trace of a
previous inflorescence, so I must assume he is telling the truth, as far as
he knows it, when he says these are first bloom seedlings. I know this guy
and he seems as honest as they come. Except for the size of these plants,
the plants are consisten with his description of them, and he didn't seem to
know why they are as big as they are.

He has potted it on at least a couple times since now the plant is huge and
looks crowded in a 20 cm pot. He did have some from the same batch that
produced three inflorescences in their first bloom, but he'd sold them
almost the moment he unpacked them at the COOS show.

What makes this even more of a mystery is that the general pattern I heard
described at Sunday's SOOS meeting was that this year most growers had
trouble with most of their plants because of higher than normal temperatures
and lower than normal humidity. Is there anything in the ecology of the
parents of Sharry Baby that might account for this incredile growth rate and
enthusiasm for blooming? The inflorescences on mine each are about 1 metre
tall with over 75 flowers each!

I am interested in hearing abut the ecology of these things, and anything
that gives an indication of how fast these things can grow (both mean growth
rates and variation about these means).

While the flowers themselves don't appeal to me as much as those of phals,
dends and catts, the overall display is as impresive as the scent, and I am
curious about the nature (ecology) of this plant.

PS: I now have access to abpo, so if anyone has pictures of Cymbidiums, and
can comment briefly on the form, color and scent of the flowers in
comparison with phals, dends and catts (my favourites so far, because I like
large, colorful, fragrant flowers), and perhaps their ecology, a post or two
would be appreciated. I have done some searches on it, and I am curious
about them. My interest developed as a result of seeing unusually healthy
(for Home Depot - they actually seemed healthy rather than half dead)
cymbidiums at Home Depot, with flower buds the size of the flower buds
currently on my unusually vigorous dend. Except for my Zga, I seem to have
been extremey lucky in the plants I've found to buy.

Cheers,

Ted

--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making


  #2   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 08:22 PM
Bill
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hi Ted, Your Onc. Sharry Baby was simply "properly grown" which means
that it was left to go rootbound in a small pot & it was never allowed
to dry out. sometimes we will hold a plant that blooms small till
another inflorescence (or two) Sharry Baby when grown in shade will
grow rather than bloom. Also it is possible to get a huge plant by
using excess nitrogen in the fertilizer. (will cause multiple growths
but no bloom) then cut down on nitrogen & give the plant more light &
you can usually get multiple bloom spikes. I specialize in Oncidiinae
Intergenerics & that is why-- they grow very fast & bloom more often
than most genera & the flowers last a long time. Good Growing, Bill

  #3   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 08:38 PM
Kenni Judd
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Ted -- Puzzle, indeed; little of this adds up. In particular, I have no
idea what you mean by "scars," that would be present on a division ...
Unless you've taken the plant out of the pot to look at the oldest part of
the rhizome?

I had no intention, in my prior posting, of suggesting that your vendor was
anything less than 100% honest. Only that after hours of talking to people
who don't know an orchid from a petunia (happens a lot at shows), he might
have "oversimplified" his answer to you. Or been relying on _his_ vendor.
And "seedling," in particular, is one of those words for which meaning, in
practice, often depends on context. Perhaps we need some new words? For
example, a one-word name for "very young mericlones of seedling size"? But
if we are going to be REALLY STRICT: It simply CAN'T be a first-bloom
seedling of Onc. Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' AM/AOS. The clonal name,
along with the award, belongs only to the awarded plant, and its 'clones or
vegetative divisions.

It could be a first-bloom seedling that would bear the grex name Sharry Baby
[but not the clonal name 'Sweet Fragrance'] if someone remade the cross a
few years back. And there were a lot of other fragrant clones of this first
crossing, so there's no reason to think that the offspring of a re-make
would not produce a lot of fragrance.

High temps are not going to help Sharry Baby produce spikes, but I can see
how they might contribute to taller spikes once they were initiated ...

Sorry not to be more help. Kenni


"Ted Byers" wrote in message
.. .
Well, this plant is living up to its name. I guess it has settled into
its new home, because now it is filling the entire top floor of my house
with its fragrance.

This is the plant that is a puzzle. I discussed it with the vendor on
Sunday, and he reports he bought it, among dozens of others, as a seedling
in a 7.5 cm pot (about 3 inches) about a year and a half ago. I can see
no scars that would be present on any division, and I can see no trace of
a previous inflorescence, so I must assume he is telling the truth, as far
as he knows it, when he says these are first bloom seedlings. I know this
guy and he seems as honest as they come. Except for the size of these
plants, the plants are consisten with his description of them, and he
didn't seem to know why they are as big as they are.




  #4   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 09:28 PM
Ted Byers
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hi Kenni,

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Ted -- Puzzle, indeed; little of this adds up. In particular, I have no
idea what you mean by "scars," that would be present on a division ...
Unless you've taken the plant out of the pot to look at the oldest part of
the rhizome?

By scars, I mean the sort of "damage" that is visible on the end of the
rhizomes on those of my catts and dends that were bought as divisions. I
did do a bit of poking around the rhizome, and saw nothing resembling a cut.
Similarly, there is no trace of a previous inflorescence. On all of my
orchids that I know had previously flowered, I can see what is left after
the old inflorescence had been cut off. There is no such cut inflorescence
on my plant.

I had no intention, in my prior posting, of suggesting that your vendor
was anything less than 100% honest. Only that after hours of talking to
people who don't know an orchid from a petunia (happens a lot at shows),
he might have "oversimplified" his answer to you. Or been relying on
_his_ vendor.

I know. But another response in that thread could be interpreted as making
such a suggestion.

The suggestion of over simplification, though, doesn't seem likely because
when I was speaking with him, he was not busy. There were no other buyers
nearby, so there was no time constraint. And as I know him, he knows me,
and knows that I have some experience with orchids. Unless pressed for
time, he and the other orchid vendors I deal with will tell me all about
both the ecology and the genetic background of the orchids they have
available.

If the description I was given is incorrect, I'd guess my vendor was not
given an accurate story by his vendor. Since my plant isn't going anywhere,
I'll check the rhizome again when I decide to put it into semihydro next
year, between bloomings.

It could be a first-bloom seedling that would bear the grex name Sharry
Baby [but not the clonal name 'Sweet Fragrance'] if someone remade the
cross a few years back. And there were a lot of other fragrant clones of
this first crossing, so there's no reason to think that the offspring of a
re-make would not produce a lot of fragrance.

That is what I thought it probably was, but I was not sure how such a
seedling would be labelled if either or both of its parents were Sharry Baby
'Sweet Fragrance'. We'll find out for sure when it goes into semihydro
sometime next year as then I'll have an opportunity to rip the root ball
open. BTW: He did pull the plant out of the pot to show me how well its
roots had grown. I have never seen a potted plant of any kind or of any
size that had so many healthy roots!

Thanks,

Ted


--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making


  #5   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 09:37 PM
Bill
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hi Kenni, Picky, Picky, Picky LOL Bill



  #6   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 09:52 PM
Ted Byers
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Bill" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Ted, Your Onc. Sharry Baby was simply "properly grown" which means
that it was left to go rootbound in a small pot & it was never allowed
to dry out. sometimes we will hold a plant that blooms small till
another inflorescence (or two) Sharry Baby when grown in shade will
grow rather than bloom. Also it is possible to get a huge plant by
using excess nitrogen in the fertilizer. (will cause multiple growths
but no bloom) then cut down on nitrogen & give the plant more light &
you can usually get multiple bloom spikes. I specialize in Oncidiinae
Intergenerics & that is why-- they grow very fast & bloom more often
than most genera & the flowers last a long time. Good Growing, Bill


Hi Bill,

Thanks. I appreciate this. I was told to expect it to bloom at least twice
a year.

When you say they grow fast, have you seen them grow from a size suitable
for a 7.5 cm pot to a size suitable for a 20 cm pot in a year and a half?

And, as I mentioned in another post, when my vendor pulled it out of its
pot, the medium (sphagnum) was full of healthy roots. It was clearly root
bound. I have never seen a potted plant of any size with so many roots. As
huge as the pseudobulbs are, and I don't have a count of them because the
growth is so dense and there appear to be quite a number of new pseudobulbs
developing at present, if the density of roots within the root ball is
comparable to that visible on the surface of the root ball, the roots
probably weigh at least as much as the pseudobulbs, if not all of the parts
above the medium.

It makes sense that the plants may have had shade during a large portion of
their life since the leaves are rather dark. They're the color of the leaves
on my Hibiscus, rather darker than the leaves on my catts and dends, but
much lighter than the leaves on the phals I have had.

Do the displays provided by Sharry Baby change as the plants mature? While
I can;t complain about what I have, I notice that the inflorescence has a
lot of branches, and the flowers on these that are closest to the main stem
of the inflroescence are on average about 7 cm from it, and the branches
themselves average about 5 cm apart. That leaves a fair bit of air between
the clusters of flowers on the branches of the inflorescences. Also, will
they rebloom from old inflorescences, like some phals do, or does the
inflorescence come off once the flowers are done?

I can't claim credit for growing this since I only bought it last Sunday. I
guess it would be more correct to say I bought well and that my vendor grew
it well.

What can you tell me about the ecology of Oncidiums?

Do you have a website where I can find more information and some pictures of
other Oncidiinae?

Thanks again Bill.

Cheers,

Ted


--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making


  #7   Report Post  
Old 05-10-2005, 11:00 PM
Bill
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Hi Ted, You can go to my website: http://www.OrchidIslandOrchids.com
there are pictures on a few pages there is a care sheet at "care ' and
if you click on "wholesale" you'll see the deal of the century as well
as a laundry list of crosses (and only about 1/10 of the available
crosses are listed) if you have further questions email me direct, if
you will. Thanks, Bill

  #8   Report Post  
Old 06-10-2005, 06:16 PM
Susan Erickson
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Wed, 5 Oct 2005 15:28:01 -0400, "Ted Byers"
wrote:

That is what I thought it probably was, but I was not sure how such a
seedling would be labelled if either or both of its parents were Sharry Baby
'Sweet Fragrance'. We'll find out for sure when it goes into semihydro
sometime next year as then I'll have an opportunity to rip the root ball
open. BTW: He did pull the plant out of the pot to show me how well its
roots had grown. I have never seen a potted plant of any kind or of any
size that had so many healthy roots!

Thanks,
Ted


Ted -
Luckily Sharry Baby likes to grow roots not like some of the
'Wildcat' strain which will not grow roots no matter what you do.
Also I think Bill's explanation of the green leaves, the
multi-growths and the size fit your plant. Grown warm, wet, and
fed it grows multi-new pbulbs off each old one. Grown bright it
may often spot on the leaves, bloom on each new growth as it
matures and be in bloom frequently. Under lights this may not be
seasonally, especially if enough light is available for it.
Enjoy.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php
  #9   Report Post  
Old 06-10-2005, 07:18 PM
Ted Byers
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Susan Erickson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 5 Oct 2005 15:28:01 -0400, "Ted Byers"
Ted -
Luckily Sharry Baby likes to grow roots not like some of the
'Wildcat' strain which will not grow roots no matter what you do.
Also I think Bill's explanation of the green leaves, the
multi-growths and the size fit your plant. Grown warm, wet, and
fed it grows multi-new pbulbs off each old one. Grown bright it
may often spot on the leaves, bloom on each new growth as it
matures and be in bloom frequently. Under lights this may not be
seasonally, especially if enough light is available for it.
Enjoy.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php


Thanks Sue.

Given what you and Bill have said, and that I am growing this in the house,
near a south facing window, if I want decent display along with leaves that
are not spotted, should I treat it more like my catts (some of which have
well developed buds and should be in bloom soon) and my dend, or more like
my phals?

Thanks again,

Ted


--
R.E. (Ted) Byers, Ph.D., Ed.D.
R & D Decision Support Solutions
http://www.randddecisionsupportsolutions.com/
Healthy Living Through Informed Decision Making


  #10   Report Post  
Old 07-10-2005, 12:25 AM
Susan Erickson
 
Posts: n/a
Default

On Thu, 6 Oct 2005 13:18:28 -0400, "Ted Byers"
wrote:

Thanks Sue.

Given what you and Bill have said, and that I am growing this in the house,
near a south facing window, if I want decent display along with leaves that
are not spotted, should I treat it more like my catts (some of which have
well developed buds and should be in bloom soon) and my dend, or more like
my phals?

Thanks again,

Ted


Live with the spots that may develop and treat it like the Catts.
More blooms are worth a few black spots.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php
Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Onc. Sharry Baby Wendy7 Orchid Photos 0 02-11-2008 06:22 PM
Onc Sharry Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' x2 v_coerulea Orchid Photos 0 10-06-2008 11:41 PM
Onc Sharry Baby 'Fragrance' V_coerulea Orchid Photos 1 13-01-2008 10:07 PM
Onc Shari Baby 'Sweet Fragrance' V_coerulea Orchid Photos 2 19-01-2007 04:33 PM
Silly Question about Onc. Sharry Baby Bacchae Orchids 2 17-10-2003 03:02 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:27 AM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 GardenBanter.co.uk.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Gardening"

 

Copyright © 2017