In My Bush House May 2018
Well finally some cooler weather has arrived over the last week with the temperature dipping this morning to 11 degrees in my bush house. We have had a dump of rain this past week too which topped up the tank again. The average we have had this year is 4 downpours in 4 months with little or nothing between.
With the ‘unseasonal’ warmer autumn my plants have all either finished growths or decided to put on more. This is evidenced by lovely new growing tips on nearly all my orchids. So if you are considering potting on, then do so now while the real cold has not hit.
While your plants are growing feed them. I noticed recently some people advocating not feeding native orchids. Yes they do alright in the bush without, but I am all about growing my orchids to their optimum. The other thing in the wild – they are hit and miss with rain and also different genera and species grow on selected rocks and trees, whereas we drop them into a plastic pot with bark that no orchid grows on naturally. So believe me they do better with feeding!
With the warmer weather this autumn I don’t have many initiated ‘spikes’ showing yet. Normally they would be showing by Anzac day, and some before. So time will tell whether this season is going to be a great flowering year or not. I will let you know over the coming months as they progress, or not.
All my Sarcochilus falcatus and Sarcochilus olivaceous have ‘spikes’ initiated but will sit there until later in the year, as will Plectorrhiza tridentata.
Dendrobium prenticei is in flower as is Cadetia taylori both of which are worth having in your collection. Oberonia crateriformis is in flower and usually stays for 6-8 weeks. This plant looks so delicate but has to tolerate a range of conditions in the wild and depending where it is grown it can look a light olive green to an almost bright orange with the amount of light it has. They can be propagated from one fan and can get from 1 to 2 new fans per season.
Dockrillia bowmannii is in its second flush and this is the best yet. What a stunning colour combination lime green petals and sepals and pure white labellum. Most of the clones I have seen are of quite good shape and more could be done in hybridization with this pretty plant. At the same time and not surprisingly my Dockrillia Limestone (Doc. bowmanii x Doc. cucumerina) is again in flower. These plants that flower a couple times per year are a real bonus. As are Sarcochilus hybrids. Today I would be surprised if there was not a Sarcochilus on the bench every month of the year.
Keep an eye out for insects; I killed a grasshopper this morning in the bush house. Check for aphids as they will breed at an astonishing rate. Keep those plants growing and hopefully we will have a glorious flowering spring. Good growing.
