In My Bush House September 2018
While the current round of Spring Shows are done and dusted all is not finished in the bush house. There are still plants that have not flowered Dockrillia calamiformis (fasciculata), is now coming into flower this terete from North Queensland is a charming orchid that has dark brown to maroon deep in the base of the petals and sepals with glistening white for the rest. Another from the same area is Dockrillia racemosa which has growth habit similar to Dockrillia schoenina but beautiful golden yellow flowers.
Dockrilla racemosa
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peaking of Dockrillia schoenina all my plants are coming into flower now, they have snuck in overnight and the buds are starting to open. What a glorious sight.
Plectorrhiza tridentata is sending its perfume wafting thru the house and I am still in awe of such a small flower emitting such a strong but pleasant aroma for such a long distance. The other powerhouse coming out now is Dendrobium falcorostrum this is one stunning orchid and its revelling in the colder weather at the moment as it comes naturally from altitudes of over 1000m in Beech forests. Its glistening white flowers are puffing up and on the warmer days will open fully. My only word of warning is admire it in the bush house but don’t bring in inside.
So while these are coming into flower it’s time to either set seed or cut the old ‘spikes’ off your Den. speciosum. I prefer to do this early as it will prevent too much energy being spent by the plant and I want it to divert this into new growths. This will be done over a week as I only use 1 pair of scissors per plant, I usually have 10-12 then they all go into a bucket containing a saturated solution of Tricleanium (available in yellow bottle from Bunnings) to kill any germs that may possibly be present. They will stay in there for at least 1-2 hours or longer.
Get your pots and bark ready as its potting season. Time to pot on or divide those plants that have reached the edge of the pot and are too big to go into the next size. For me the potting for Den speciosum these days is 150 – 200 – 250 or 300 or garden sieve. I have already potted on 2 plants and divided 1 large plant which yielded 4 plants of minimum 5-6 growths and 4 back bulbs with live eyes.
Don’t forget to add some slow release fertiliser when potting on and give all your orchids a good drench, as the weather is still dry but will get warmer. Good growing, Bill Dobson.
