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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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 |
#6
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"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
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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
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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
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"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
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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 |
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