Several months ago I tried pollinating my Microcoelia exilis with pollen from a random Neofinetia hybrid. It was really not easy to do. The Microcoelia flowers are very tiny! Without a microscope or magnifying glass it was extremely difficult to try and remove the specks of Microcoelia pollinia and insert the much larger Neofinetia pollinia. After around two weeks of trying I threw in the towel.
Not too long afterwards...I noticed that some of the tiny ovaries were starting to swell a bit. And now I have around a dozen tiny seed pods on my Microcoelia.
My guess is that it's extremely likely that they were all selfed rather than crossed. I'm pretty sure that in my clumsy effort to remove the pollen I simply managed to self pollinate the Microcoelia flowers. But I could be wrong.
With most of my seed pods I just sow the seeds on my tree. But in this case, because it's not a common orchid, I'd prefer to go with the traditional method. All leafless orchids should definitely be more widely available.
Is anybody interested in the seeds? A few criteria...
1. Must be in the US
2. Must be experienced
This isn't the kind of seed for experimenting with. So if you're interested in some seed...then you must be able to provide some evidence that you've successfully germinated monopodial orchid seeds before.
Plus, I'm going to expect a reasonable percentage of seedlings in return. Maybe 10% or so. Of course there's no guarantee that the seeds are viable.
Not sure when the seed pods are going to be ready to harvest. They look like they could pop any day now. But for all I know it could still be another couple of months. I try and inspect them on a daily basis...and as soon as the first pod starts to open...I will remove all the pods.
So far Microcoelia exilis seems to be a really great outdoor leafless orchid for Southern California. I have two of them. The one with seed pods I traded for last year. This winter was pretty mild though. But my first exilis had no problem with a previous winter's temps down to 32F. Both of them bloomed this year and they started putting out new roots early in the year.
They are both mounted without any moss and located pretty high up under 50% white shade cloth. During the coldest days I water them once a week in the morning. During the hottest days I try and water them every night.
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Friday, February 21, 2014
Create Hyperlinks For Flickr
Flickr allows you to add hyperlinks in a few different places...but it doesn't create the hyperlinks for you. At the request of a Flickr friend...
Copy and paste the URL into here...
Enter the text for the link
Create Link
Test the link:
Copy and paste this code into Flickr
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Introduced Species Can't Always Reduce Biodiversity
Comment on: The last uninvaded frontier?
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One thing I feel compelled to note is that it can't be the rule that introduced exotics decrease biodiversity. Or else each exotic plant introduced to the Hawaiian Islands over the past 28 million years would have reduced biodiversity. You can't have much biodiversity if every introduction results in the loss of one established species. Errr...you can't have any biodiversity because the second exotic plant species would simply have replaced the first...and the third species would have replaced the second...
It could certainly be prudent to play it safe by arguing against the introduction of any species anywhere...but I think the priority should really be determining why some introduced species increase, rather than decrease, biodiversity.
The first plant to establish in Hawaii was like the first person on the bus. They had their pick of seats. It would be surprising for the second person to board the bus and force the first person out of their seat. "Hey, that's my seat!" It's not the greatest analogy because we have to imagine people being better suited to certain seats on a bus.
How many seats (microhabitats) are there in Hawaii? We can imagine an epiphyte boarding the bus and seeing that all the seats were taken..."it's ok, I prefer sitting on the roof". Epiphytes have no problem sitting in really uncomfortable seats. That's why they really increase the biodiversity to space ratio.
When I spent three years in the jungles of Panama...I really can't say that I saw a lot of people sitting on top of the buses. Epiphytes were the exception rather than the rule. Then again, I spent most of my time on the "drier" Pacific side.
Oncidium cebolleta grows in the dry forests of the Americas and Dendrobium canaliculatum grows in the dry forests of Australia. I would be extremely surprised if their cross introductions resulted in the loss of biodiversity. There are plenty of empty uncomfortable seats. Or maybe they would say to each other like two old time western gunslingers..."this here town ain't big enough for the two of us".
Epiphytic orchids, unlike other epiphytes such as bromeliads, rarely ever have high density populations. Generally they are few and far between. For me this seems to indicate that the rule for introduced orchids will not be a reduction in biodiversity.
Not sure if I'm remembering/interpreting a paper correctly...but a study of established reed stem Epidendrums in Hawaii seemed to indicate that they've already started to noticeably differentiate in the past 50 or so years since they've naturalized. It's pretty amazing how quickly they've adapted to the selective pressures of a new environment. I wonder how long it would take for them to become a new subspecies...and eventually a new species.
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One thing I feel compelled to note is that it can't be the rule that introduced exotics decrease biodiversity. Or else each exotic plant introduced to the Hawaiian Islands over the past 28 million years would have reduced biodiversity. You can't have much biodiversity if every introduction results in the loss of one established species. Errr...you can't have any biodiversity because the second exotic plant species would simply have replaced the first...and the third species would have replaced the second...
It could certainly be prudent to play it safe by arguing against the introduction of any species anywhere...but I think the priority should really be determining why some introduced species increase, rather than decrease, biodiversity.
The first plant to establish in Hawaii was like the first person on the bus. They had their pick of seats. It would be surprising for the second person to board the bus and force the first person out of their seat. "Hey, that's my seat!" It's not the greatest analogy because we have to imagine people being better suited to certain seats on a bus.
How many seats (microhabitats) are there in Hawaii? We can imagine an epiphyte boarding the bus and seeing that all the seats were taken..."it's ok, I prefer sitting on the roof". Epiphytes have no problem sitting in really uncomfortable seats. That's why they really increase the biodiversity to space ratio.
When I spent three years in the jungles of Panama...I really can't say that I saw a lot of people sitting on top of the buses. Epiphytes were the exception rather than the rule. Then again, I spent most of my time on the "drier" Pacific side.
Oncidium cebolleta grows in the dry forests of the Americas and Dendrobium canaliculatum grows in the dry forests of Australia. I would be extremely surprised if their cross introductions resulted in the loss of biodiversity. There are plenty of empty uncomfortable seats. Or maybe they would say to each other like two old time western gunslingers..."this here town ain't big enough for the two of us".
Epiphytic orchids, unlike other epiphytes such as bromeliads, rarely ever have high density populations. Generally they are few and far between. For me this seems to indicate that the rule for introduced orchids will not be a reduction in biodiversity.
Not sure if I'm remembering/interpreting a paper correctly...but a study of established reed stem Epidendrums in Hawaii seemed to indicate that they've already started to noticeably differentiate in the past 50 or so years since they've naturalized. It's pretty amazing how quickly they've adapted to the selective pressures of a new environment. I wonder how long it would take for them to become a new subspecies...and eventually a new species.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Inspiring Orchid Facts And Figures?
Reply to: Seeking inspiration on orchid presentation
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A. Orchids are the largest plant family. Around 10% of all flowering plants are orchids...most of which are epiphytes.
B. An orchid capsule can contain a million seeds.
C. A is the result of B. Each unique seed is one chance for success. One million seeds equals one million chances of success. Imagine an Easter Egg hunt with only one Easter Egg. The more kids participating in the hunt...the greater the chances that the Easter Egg will be found.
D. Orchid seeds don't contain enough nutrients for them to germinate on their own. This mean the dust like seeds can travel great distances. But the trade-off is that wherever they land there has to be a certain type of microscopic fungus. The fungus penetrates the orchid seed and provides it with the nutrients it needs to germinate. To learn more...
1. The Symbiotic Relationship Between Orchids And Fungus
2. We Need More Orchid Celebrities
E. The Orchid family has more succulent species than any other family...including the Cactus family. In other words...no other plant family has more CAM species. To learn more...
Which Family Has The Most CAM Species?
F. Regarding pollinators...
1. Wide variety of pollinators...even crickets.
2. As you already mentioned they can lure some pollinators by smelling like dead meat
3. They can tricks hoverflies by pretending to be distressed aphids
4. They can trick lonely male pollinators
5. They can smell like a hornet's prey
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A. Orchids are the largest plant family. Around 10% of all flowering plants are orchids...most of which are epiphytes.
B. An orchid capsule can contain a million seeds.
C. A is the result of B. Each unique seed is one chance for success. One million seeds equals one million chances of success. Imagine an Easter Egg hunt with only one Easter Egg. The more kids participating in the hunt...the greater the chances that the Easter Egg will be found.
D. Orchid seeds don't contain enough nutrients for them to germinate on their own. This mean the dust like seeds can travel great distances. But the trade-off is that wherever they land there has to be a certain type of microscopic fungus. The fungus penetrates the orchid seed and provides it with the nutrients it needs to germinate. To learn more...
1. The Symbiotic Relationship Between Orchids And Fungus
2. We Need More Orchid Celebrities
E. The Orchid family has more succulent species than any other family...including the Cactus family. In other words...no other plant family has more CAM species. To learn more...
Which Family Has The Most CAM Species?
F. Regarding pollinators...
1. Wide variety of pollinators...even crickets.
2. As you already mentioned they can lure some pollinators by smelling like dead meat
3. They can tricks hoverflies by pretending to be distressed aphids
4. They can trick lonely male pollinators
5. They can smell like a hornet's prey
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
Guess The Story Of The Flickr Follower
Yesterday I received an e-mail notification from flickr that I have a new follower...Wm Ray. It's a good thing...a bit of positive feedback that floats my way every once in a while. Like always, I clicked the link to see his (I guess) photos. Because...if my photos match his preferences...then maybe his photos will match my preferences. It's happened before. Hmmm...which is better...gaining a new follower or finding a new person to follow? Errr...followee? That's not a word. Oh wait...I just googled it and it is a word!
Ray didn't have any photos...or favorites. It's not too unusual. For the heck of it I clicked on his profile page and saw this...
First I looked to see who else he might be following...and I discovered that I'm the only one. That's unusual. And then I looked to see when Ray joined flickr...2011. I laughed. I didn't have to laugh...it wasn't obligatory...it was entirely involuntary. Why did I laugh?
A few related things were triggered in my brain...
Imagine going back in time and walking into the very first orchid nursery. I think perhaps you wouldn't be too impressed with the selection. "What? No Dendrobium canaliculatum crosses? Shucks!" Kinda like going back in time and walking into the very first candy store. "What? No almond joy? Sheesh!"
Maybe a long time ago (2011) Ray joined flickr and wasn't too impressed with the selection of photographers and/or orchid growers. Except, I've been a member since 2007...but not actively until maybe 2009. So it took three years for A. Ray to find me or B. for my photos to finally match his preferences. Maybe a kind of tipping point was reached and my photos finally crawled into the threshold.
The paucity of clues created a very holey story that stole a chuckle from me. Of course I can't help but wonder what the real story is. Anybody want to guess the real story? It's probably pretty mundane. Anybody want to make up an outlandish story? Is anybody else only following one person on flickr? If so, who and why?
Ray didn't have any photos...or favorites. It's not too unusual. For the heck of it I clicked on his profile page and saw this...
First I looked to see who else he might be following...and I discovered that I'm the only one. That's unusual. And then I looked to see when Ray joined flickr...2011. I laughed. I didn't have to laugh...it wasn't obligatory...it was entirely involuntary. Why did I laugh?
A few related things were triggered in my brain...
Imagine going back in time and walking into the very first orchid nursery. I think perhaps you wouldn't be too impressed with the selection. "What? No Dendrobium canaliculatum crosses? Shucks!" Kinda like going back in time and walking into the very first candy store. "What? No almond joy? Sheesh!"
Maybe a long time ago (2011) Ray joined flickr and wasn't too impressed with the selection of photographers and/or orchid growers. Except, I've been a member since 2007...but not actively until maybe 2009. So it took three years for A. Ray to find me or B. for my photos to finally match his preferences. Maybe a kind of tipping point was reached and my photos finally crawled into the threshold.
The paucity of clues created a very holey story that stole a chuckle from me. Of course I can't help but wonder what the real story is. Anybody want to guess the real story? It's probably pretty mundane. Anybody want to make up an outlandish story? Is anybody else only following one person on flickr? If so, who and why?
Monday, February 3, 2014
Linger Longer: Platyceriums and Bonsais
Reply to: Mounting Platyceriums
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Charles Alford sells some really nice Platyceriums. I've always been satisfied with the value to price ratio. He only sells four times a year though. You have to e-mail him to get on his list. But he offers many neat epiphytic ferns that you can't get elsewhere.
Tom has a nice collection of Platyceriums...all outdoors year around here in Southern California. Also good value to price ratio.
Growing Platyceriums from spore is pretty easy. The hardest part is the waiting.
One thing that's pretty great about Platyceriums is that they make perfect baskets for all types of plants. This can greatly increase the value to space ratio. For example...
Dischidia
Begonias, Impatiens
Orchids (Oncidium, Zygopetalum)
Rhipsalis
Vireya
Bifurcatums are fairly common here in Southern California...so if somebody shows me one it's like showing me an empty basket. I have the same perspective with bonsais. A nice bonsai will have a pretty decent value to space ratio...but it's still a tree without anything growing on it. It's a blank canvas.
Hopefully in the future every Platycerium will have at least one plant growing in it and every bonsai will have at least one epiphyte growing on it.
Imagine if Frank attends a bonsai show or a fern show. Let's say that he has a budding general interest in plants. What's the average amount of time he spends looking at each entry? Two seconds? I'm pretty sure if each bonsai and Platycerium had one companion plant...then the total amount of time he spent looking at the exhibits would increase. How much would the total time increase if each entry had two companion plants?
Depending on the preferences of the exhibitors...the companion plants could stand out and instantly grab your attention...or they could be more like Easter Eggs (media).
When I first moved into my house...my plant friends would walk right past my Cedar tree. As I started attaching more and more plants to it...visitors would linger longer and longer. I refer to this as the Man Man Zou standard. It's Chinese for "walk slow"...or "walk carefully". As in you'll want to take your time so that you don't miss any delightful details.
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Charles Alford sells some really nice Platyceriums. I've always been satisfied with the value to price ratio. He only sells four times a year though. You have to e-mail him to get on his list. But he offers many neat epiphytic ferns that you can't get elsewhere.
Tom has a nice collection of Platyceriums...all outdoors year around here in Southern California. Also good value to price ratio.
Growing Platyceriums from spore is pretty easy. The hardest part is the waiting.
One thing that's pretty great about Platyceriums is that they make perfect baskets for all types of plants. This can greatly increase the value to space ratio. For example...
Dischidia
Begonias, Impatiens
Orchids (Oncidium, Zygopetalum)
Rhipsalis
Vireya
Bifurcatums are fairly common here in Southern California...so if somebody shows me one it's like showing me an empty basket. I have the same perspective with bonsais. A nice bonsai will have a pretty decent value to space ratio...but it's still a tree without anything growing on it. It's a blank canvas.
Hopefully in the future every Platycerium will have at least one plant growing in it and every bonsai will have at least one epiphyte growing on it.
Imagine if Frank attends a bonsai show or a fern show. Let's say that he has a budding general interest in plants. What's the average amount of time he spends looking at each entry? Two seconds? I'm pretty sure if each bonsai and Platycerium had one companion plant...then the total amount of time he spent looking at the exhibits would increase. How much would the total time increase if each entry had two companion plants?
Depending on the preferences of the exhibitors...the companion plants could stand out and instantly grab your attention...or they could be more like Easter Eggs (media).
When I first moved into my house...my plant friends would walk right past my Cedar tree. As I started attaching more and more plants to it...visitors would linger longer and longer. I refer to this as the Man Man Zou standard. It's Chinese for "walk slow"...or "walk carefully". As in you'll want to take your time so that you don't miss any delightful details.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Green Thumbprint
Reply to: Weird Succulent!
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I'm always talking about plants...it's pretty ridiculous. Actually I recently thought about walking around my neighborhood knocking on doors and asking people if they wanted some free Aloe thraskii seedlings. I have two flats worth. LOL...I just tried to imagine people's reactions. *awkward*
I'm very socially inept...but it would be kinda neat to walk around and see how much variation there was among the siblings. I think some of them have Aloe vaombe as their other parent. Around 5% of the seedlings have leaves that are noticeably wider and redder. Plus, they put out their second leaves sooner than the others...hybrid vigor perhaps...hopefully.
Maybe I could avoid the awkward interactions by just leaving the seedlings on people's porches. Perhaps I could do this once a year...kinda like a creepy Santa Claus....errrrr...Aloe Claus...wearing a dried Hercules leaf like a necktie? Should we pick one day of the year where we all go around the neighborhood leaving small gift plants on people's porches? Who do we have to call about starting a new national holiday? If anybody left any edibles on my porch I'd have to find somebody to trade with. Unless it was a longan seedling. Or a coconut seedling.
Maybe the bees will bribe me to be Aloe Claus. They LOVE thraskii...it really closely matches their preferences. How many jars of honey would I have to find on my porch in order for me to go around disseminating thraskii to all my neighbors? 5 jars?
Hmmm...I just remembered that when I was growing up...my mom persuaded several of the neighbors to plant Jacarandas as street trees...and she even paid for some of them. She's long gone but the trees are still there...blooming so nicely...and then making a mess.
Has anybody else left a noticeable green thumbprint on their neighborhood? I wonder who left their green thumbprint on my neighborhood...the street trees are really really tall Washingtonia robustas...
It's no joke when their dead fronds fall!
If I disseminated thraskii to my neighbors...once they were large enough...it would be super cool to leave this miniature orchid on people's porches. In this zoomed out photo you can see that it's growing on an Aloe. That would be my green thumbprint...a neighborhood with a bunch of miniature orchids growing all over a bunch of tree Aloes.
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Lots more on the topic of green thumbprints... The Eden Exercise
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I'm always talking about plants...it's pretty ridiculous. Actually I recently thought about walking around my neighborhood knocking on doors and asking people if they wanted some free Aloe thraskii seedlings. I have two flats worth. LOL...I just tried to imagine people's reactions. *awkward*
I'm very socially inept...but it would be kinda neat to walk around and see how much variation there was among the siblings. I think some of them have Aloe vaombe as their other parent. Around 5% of the seedlings have leaves that are noticeably wider and redder. Plus, they put out their second leaves sooner than the others...hybrid vigor perhaps...hopefully.
Maybe I could avoid the awkward interactions by just leaving the seedlings on people's porches. Perhaps I could do this once a year...kinda like a creepy Santa Claus....errrrr...Aloe Claus...wearing a dried Hercules leaf like a necktie? Should we pick one day of the year where we all go around the neighborhood leaving small gift plants on people's porches? Who do we have to call about starting a new national holiday? If anybody left any edibles on my porch I'd have to find somebody to trade with. Unless it was a longan seedling. Or a coconut seedling.
Maybe the bees will bribe me to be Aloe Claus. They LOVE thraskii...it really closely matches their preferences. How many jars of honey would I have to find on my porch in order for me to go around disseminating thraskii to all my neighbors? 5 jars?
Hmmm...I just remembered that when I was growing up...my mom persuaded several of the neighbors to plant Jacarandas as street trees...and she even paid for some of them. She's long gone but the trees are still there...blooming so nicely...and then making a mess.
Has anybody else left a noticeable green thumbprint on their neighborhood? I wonder who left their green thumbprint on my neighborhood...the street trees are really really tall Washingtonia robustas...
It's no joke when their dead fronds fall!
If I disseminated thraskii to my neighbors...once they were large enough...it would be super cool to leave this miniature orchid on people's porches. In this zoomed out photo you can see that it's growing on an Aloe. That would be my green thumbprint...a neighborhood with a bunch of miniature orchids growing all over a bunch of tree Aloes.
*********************************************
Lots more on the topic of green thumbprints... The Eden Exercise
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