SOUTHERN ONTARIO ORCHID SOCIETY NEWS

SOUTHERN ONTARIO ORCHID SOCIETY NEWS
May 2013, Volume 48, Issue 5
Web site: www.soos.ca ; Member of the Canadian Orchid Congress; Affiliated with the American Orchid Society, the
Orchid Digest and the International Phalaenopsis Alliance.
Membership: Annual Dues $30 per calendar year (January 1 to December 31 ). Surcharge $15 for newsletter by postal
service.
Membership secretary: Marilyn Crompton, #1908-21 Overlea Blvd., Toronto
ON M4H 1P2, phone 416-
467-0018, renew or join on line at soos.ca/members
Executive: President, Yvonne Schreiber, 905-473-3405; Vice-president Laura Liebgott, 905-883-5290; Secretary, Sue
Loftus 905-839-8281; Treasurer, John Vermeer, 905-823-2516
Other Positions of Responsibility: Program, Mario Ferrusi; Plant Doctor, Doug Kennedy; Meeting Set up, Tom Atkinson;
Vendor and Sales table coordinator, Diane Ryley; Membership, Marilyn Crompton, ; Web Master, Max Wilson;
Newsletter, Peter and Inge Poot; Annual Show, Peter Poot; Refreshments, Joe O’Regan. Conservation Committee, Susan
Shaw; Show table, Iryna Bonya.
Honorary Life Members: Terry Kennedy, Doug Kennedy, Inge Poot, Peter Poot, Joe O’Regan, Diane Ryley, Wayne
Hingston.
Annual Show: February 8 - 9, 2014
Meeting Sunday, May 12 Toronto Botanical Garden, Garden Hall, Sales at noon,
Culture Snapshots (Repotting methods) meet on the Stage at 12:15, Regular program
at 1 pm.: On May 12, our guest speaker will be Poul Hansen from British Columbia. He
is a retired carpenter, newly accredited AOS judge, and has
been growing orchids since 1972 – mostly Oncidium alliance
but a smattering of Paphiopedilums, Phragmipediums,
Cattleya, Lycaste and Dendrobium. He has designed and
built three greenhouses over the years - each one larger than
the last.
·
·
·
Paphiopedilum Grant Szabo 'Marlow
Orchids' HCC-AOS78 points, Shown at
Rochester. Photo PP
Since 1975 Poul has been fascinated by and with Miltoniopsis
and flasks his own seed. He takes great joy in seeing new
seedlings flower for the first time; he says that blooms on
some of the progeny are more beautiful than on others.
Poul will have a limited selection of plants for attendees to
purchase.
Please note that this meeting will be in the Garden Hall.
1
President’s Remarks
Your executive is in the process of developing
a “brand” for the Southern Ontario Orchid
Society. This brand or logo, once decided upon
will be used on all S.O.O.S. promotional and
informational materials. At our May 12th
meeting you will be asked, by a show of hands,
to select your preference from among the four
flowers presented to you. The names of these
four flowers are:
Fellow orchid
aficionados:
Thank you to all who brought in a treat to share
for the April 7th meeting. Our next meeting will
take place on May 12th. People whose last
names start with the letter L are asked to bring
in a treat to share for this meeting. Please
remember that these treats should be finger
foods only i.e. something that can be picked up
with your fingers and does not require a plate
or fork.
Cypripedium reginae
Cypripedium parviflorum
Cypripedium arietinum or Ram’s Head
Lady Slipper
CULTURE SNAPSHOTS
Paphiopedilum hybrid
These brief, 20 minute, sessions led by Wayne
Hingston. The fundamental aspects will be
explained, but variations will be minimal.
Cultural booklets will be available at $ 2.00 to
cover cost.
You will be able to see the picture of each of
these flowers on the scrolling announcements
displayed on the screen on the stage.
These sessions will start promptly at 12:15 on
the stage.
June 8th and 9th are dates that you will want to
mark or record on your calendar. These will be
the dates for the annual “Tour of Orchid
Growers. I will be asking some of you if you
would be willing to open your growing areas to
other members of our society who are
interested in seeing how you pamper and
encourage your orchid plants into flower. I
potentially have five growers who are willing to
receive visitors. More details will follow as I
collect the names of the willing hosts.
May 12/13 Repotting Methods
June 2/13 Pests & Diseases
For clarifications, call Wayne Hingston at 905686-5697
The spring orchid show season has come to an
end. Many thanks go out Laura Liebgott and
Don Wyatt for the stellar efforts in taking the
S.O.O.S. displays to all the shows this past fall
and spring. But especially thank you to all of
you, too numerous to mention, who loaned
them your plants so that they could create
these gorgeous displays. The show season will
resume with the Central Ontario Orchid Society
show on September 28th and 29th .
Talk to me at a meeting; e-mail me at
yvonneschreiber68@gmail.com, or phone me at
905-473-3405 (I do have an answering machine
–just let the phone ring long enough).
Yvonne Schreiber
Questions or comments
The program for our April 7th meeting was
“Topics in the round”.
All of the six
presentations seemed to be well received.
Thank you to our presenters: Alexis Antanaitis,
Heinz Ernstberger, Henry Glowka, Doug
Kennedy, Robin McLaughlin and Diane Ryley.
yvonneschreiber68@gmail.com or
905-473-3405
2
Montreal Show Ribbons
Ottawa Show Ribbons
Thank you to all those who contributed
plants for these shows and a big thank
you to Laura for transporting and
building the displays.
st
1
Place Ribbons
Oncidium Sherry Baby
st
1
Phalaenopsis Baldan’s Kaleidoscope 'Candy
Stripe‘
Heinz Ernstberger
Synea Tan
Ascocenda Laksi 'Chili Pepper' Doug Kennedy
Aerides flabellata var.alba (Robert)Marion Curry
Phalaenopsis ‘J. Astington’ John Spears
Dtsp. Chan Xen 'Supper Look' Anne Antanaitis
John Spears
PhalaenopsisBaldan’s Kaleidoscope 'Candy
Paphiopedilum Hamana Spice Chee Chong
Stripe‘ Heinz Ernstberger
Vanda Robert’s Delight 'Big Black' AM/AOS
nd
2
Jackfowlieara 'Apple Blossom'
Synea Tan
Sue Loftus
Guarisophleya Doris and Byron
Ernstberger
Paphiopedilum villosum
Heinz
Cymbidium sinense
Jay Norris
Paphiopedilum villosum
Heinz
Ernstberger
Chee Chong
****Best Vanda Alliance****
Vanda Robert’s Delight 'Big Black' AM/AOS
Synea Tan
Cymbidium Sweetheart ‘Sensation‘ Chee
Chong
Dendrobium nobile hybrid
nd
Joe
O'Regan
2 Place
Ribbons
Oncidium Tigersette ‘Wyld Court AM/AOS/RHS
Synea Tan
Phalaenopsis Hybrid
Liz McAlpine
Cymbidium ensifolium
Jay Norris
Cattleya. walkeriana ‘Kenny’ FCC/AOS Synea
Tan
Promenaea Ben Berliner
rd
3 Place Ribbons
Synea Tan
Ascocenda Laksi 'Chili Pepper' Alexi Antanaitis
rd
3
Brassidium Flyaway ‘Miami‘
Marion Curry
Dendrobium Hybrid
Alexi Antanaitis
Phragmipedium. Bouley Bay
Inge and Peter
Poot
Den. schuetzei x Sanders Festival
Heinz Ernstberger
Phalaenopsis Surf Song
Paph. sukhakulii
Paphiopedilum 'Pinocchio'Heinz Ernstberger
Phaleanopsis Hybrid
Heinz Ernstberger
Phalaenopsis Hybrid
Phrag. Cardinale ‘Lirsa’ AM/AOSJohn Spears
Epi. Max Valley ‘Shirani’
Anne Antanaitis
Sue Loftus
Dianne Ryley
Jackfowlieara 'Apple Blossom'
Synea Tan
Marion
Curry
Cymbidium sinense 'Rue Hung' Jay Norris
3
Paphiopedilum Duqueslin x Macabre ‘Haley
Suzanne’ AM-AOS 82points, Glen Decker.
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
Susan Ha.
Paphiopedilum Grant Szabo ‚Marlow Orchids‘
HCC-AOS 78 points, Marlow Orchids.
Coming Events
MAY
AOS show trophy, Jim Marlow Orchids 83
points.
4, Toronto Judging Centre Monthly Judging, 1
pm Toronto Botanical Garden.
Toronto Judging Centre, April 6, :
11, Saguenay Orchid Society Show (to be
confirmed)
Cattlianthe (syn. Sophrolaeliocattleya or Slc.)
Bay Orange ‘San Diego’ HCC-AOS, CCM-AOS
86 points, Jean Allen-Ikeson.
12,
SOOS meeting Toronto Botanical
Garden, Garden Hall, sales 12 noon, program 1
pm
Miltoniopsis Pretty in Pink,’Swallowtail Dandy’
AM-AOS 80 points, Doug and Terry Kennedy.
Rhyncattleanthe (syn. Potinara or Pot.) Shinfong
Little Sun, AM-AOS, CCM-AOS, 84 points,
Heinz Ernstberger.
19, London Orchid Society meeting, Glen Decker of
Piping Rock orchids, http://los.lon.imag.net/
http://www.pipingrockorchids.com/
Toronto Artistic OA show April 13:
25, Toronto Judging Centre Business meeting
and Montreal Judging Centre Monthly Judging , Jardin
Botanique de Montreal.
AOS Show trophy and Silver Certificate, Terry
Kennedy.
Lycaste Green Valley, CCM-AOS 81 points.
JUNE
Miltoniopsis (syn. Miltonia or Milt.) Lennart Karl
Gottling, AM-AOS 83 points.
1, , Toronto Judging Centre Monthly Judging, 1
pm Toronto Botanical Garden.
Dendrobium densiflorum, CCM-AOS
2,
SOOS meeting Toronto Botanical Garden,
sales 12 noon, program 1 pm
Note! The next
15, Montreal Judging Centre Monthly Judging
at the Jardin Botanique de Montreal.
judging will be held at the
Toronto Botanical Gardens on May 4 at 1 pm..
AOS Judging is a service of the American
Orchid Society and is open to all! Bring us your
flowering orchids. We need the practice.
August 11, SOOS Orchidfest,
Toronto
Botanical
Garden,
James Rose of Calorchids,
calorchid@cox.net
Plant of the Month
AOS Judging Results
Please note, all of these awards are provisional
until published by the American Orchid Society.
Genessee Orchid society Show, April 5:
Sarcochilus hartmannii ‘Sonnenberg Gardens’
CCM-AOS 80 points, Sonnenberg Gardens.
Ascocenda Oriental Siberian ‘Windswept‘s Blue
Sky’ CCM-AOS 86 points, Edgar Stehli
Heinz with the Plant of the Month
Heinz Ernstberger did it again and produced the
“Plant Of The Month”! His Phalaenopsis
Baldan’s Kaleidascope ‘Candy Stripe’ won him
this honour by producing two branched
Paphiopetalum hirsutissimum v.esquirolei, f.
alba ‘Marlow Orchids’, CHM-AOS 82 points,
Marlow Orchids.
4
inflorescences on a big healthy plant. He places
it on a top shelf on the west end of his
greenhouse. So it gets lots of light and lots of
heat. He has it in his regular mix of medium fir
bark, small clay pellets, lots of charcoal and ½
inch size of sponge rock. He waters it once a
week with very dilute fertilizer in rain-water and
once a month with just plain water. His plants
are on saucers except for the cattleyas and are
therefore grown more or less semihydroponically. The plant has been in bloom
since Christmas 2012, managed to survive the
London ON show, then the Montreal show and
will be going to the Toronto Artistic Society
show shortly after the April SOOS meeting!
Congratulations and many thanks for your
generosity with your plants!
ever grateful Peter Poot for a future
newsletter!
Talk One: Heinz Ernstberger on “So you
think you’d like to have a small
greenhouse!”
In the Toronto area you need to get a
building permit for any structure attached
to the house (ie lean-to greenhouse) and
any detached structure 100 square feet or
larger. So Heinz picked a free standing
greenhouse that was 8’ x 12’ or 96 square
feet big and so avoided the permit cost.
A 220 Volt line in a conduit was brought
underground, into the area the greenhouse
would occupy.
Other show table high lights:
The greenhouse was in kit form and took 6
man hours to put up. It was erected on top
of a frame constructed of pressure treated
2” x 6” lumber (set on top of a gravel base?)
Anita Kho told us that Lockhartia Gold Speck
should be grown warm, shady and wet. Anita is
experimenting with LED lights and is growing a
lot of plants under two lights that provide a
total of 2400 lumens.
Heinz saved all the packing crates and used
them to construct the benches.
Miltoniopsis Pretty in Pink ‘Swallowtail Dandy’
AM-AOS grown by Doug and Terry Kennedy at a
cool temperature range from 14C to maximum
25C had a lovely inflorescence with pink flowers
and a striking mask and a waterfall pattern over
the rest of the lip. They grew it in bright light
under lights in their basement, close to their
cement floor. The plant was potted in New
Zealand sphagnum lightened with crushed
Styrofoam peanuts. The treatment is much like
what they do with their lycastes.
Two small electric baseboard heaters were
installed at one end of the greenhouse, one
on each bench framing the door.
A thermostat was installed in line with the
heaters and set for 62F night temperature
and 70F day temperature. The change from
day to night temperature is triggered by a
$100 light sensor. The plug attached to this
sensor was taken out and the appliance was
wired into the heater-thermostat circuit.
Inge’s Programme Notes for
April 2013:
The walls were flexible double wall ¼ inch
Lexon (polycarbonate with a thin layer of
acrylic on the exterior surface – to guard
against
UV
light
damaging
the
polycarbonate). Plexiglass could also be
used. (Heinz bought his from a Plastic
manufacturer in South Markham)
Of the six topics covered by various
speakers, I was only able to attend and take
notes on two and hope I did not miss
something I and you will regret forever....If
the other speakers want to be kind to their
fellow members, maybe they could write up
their talks and submit them to the then
5
From the floor to the top of the bench the
walls were covered with ¾ inch Styrofoam
for insulation.
Using a soldering iron(to prevent fraying) he
cut 2 inch holes every 6 inches along the
top edge of the tarp and threaded a rope
through them. He tied the ends of the rope
at each end of the greenhouse peak and let
the tarp hang over the south side of his east
west aligned greenhouse. Using grommets
in the bottom corners of the tarp, the tarp
can be pulled over the greenhouse or back
from it and secured in place.
From the bench top to the greenhouse
peak, the walls were covered with bubble
wrap.
All this insulation resulted in heating costs
of $100 per month for December, January
and February. In March the heat came on
only during the night.
It is removed in the fall and re-installed in
spring.
Ventilation is provided by two fans that can
blow in or out and they are set into the
bottom of the door. Top ventilation is
provided by two louvers that replace two
top panels. During March and April they are
set to open at 72F. In summer they open all
the way(and stay open?).
Watering is done using a 2 gallon sprayer.
He needs to re-fill it twice to water his
present collection. By growing semihydroponically, Heinz saves rain water.
He has a humidity meter in the greenhouse
and the humidity is never below 50% but
after watering may be 100%
There is a little fan in the ridge that stays on
24 hours.
For fertilizing he uses Super Thrive (mostly
vitamin B1) at the rate of ¼ teaspoon per
his 2-gallon sprayer plus Dyna Grow at the
rate of 1 ½ teaspoons per two gallons.
A 5000 BTU air conditioner located under
the bench, comes on at 90F.
A maximum/minimum thermometer is
checked regularly to adjust the heating and
cooling.
As mentioned before all but plants like
cattleyas have saucers and are in plastic
pots. Cattleyas are potted in pots with a
built-in well underneath and a drip spout on
the side. So they do not ever sit in water,
but water is wicked up into the mix.
Phragmipediums are grown in clay pellets.
To combat low light in winter an alternating
row of Extra efficient T5 tubes(6500 K) and
T8 tubes are installed halfway up the walls
above the benches and on the outer edges
of the top benches. The lights come on from
10AM to 6PM during the short day part of
the year. The ballasts are mounted above
all the shelves and when it is cold they are
turned on a bit before the lights, because
the T5 lights are most efficient at 25C while
the T8 have their peak at 20C. So when the
greenhouse is at 62F (16C) neither would
work efficiently until the ballasts become
warmer.
His standard potting mix consists of
medium fir bark, small clay pellets, lots of
charcoal and ½ inch size of sponge
rock(large Perlite).
Paphiopedilums are grown in a mix of fine
fir bark, fine charcoal and fine Perlite. They
are grown in a small pot.
For pest control Heinz uses Bug-B-Gone, the
type with the red screw top. It contains
To reduce heat in the summer Heinz uses a
green tarp bought from Canadian Tire.
6
canola oil and works well. The type with the
green screw top does not work for him.
Alexsi had some great Ascocendas and
Vandas in bloom to prove his method
works!
Now the challenge is to produce plants that
are as fabulous as the ones Heinz shows off
at our shows and show tables!
Talk three by Robin McLaughlin
Talk two:
was
about
orchids.
photographing
Alexsi Antanaitis showed us how he grows
Vandas in the house by using clear glass
Vases or plastic containers.
NO STUDIO REQUIRED!
Take a portrait in six steps
It’s really not hard to get a decent picture of
your favourite plant, or the one that finally
bloomed after several years of coddled
treatment. You must put aside time so you
can experiment and take many photos to
get just one you like; don’t worry, even the
pros take many different shots just to get
‘the one’. This series of six steps will guide
you to a portrait of the plant, not just a
snapshot.
He picks a vase that is tall enough to have
hanging room for the roots when the
basket/pot is mounted into the top of the
vase. He puts two shish kebab skewers
through the container at right angles to
each other and balances the two skewers
over the rim of the vase. He hides the
mechanics with some live Spanish moss
draped over the top of container and vase.
Clear packing tape could be used
alternatively to cover the top.
SIX EASY/SIMPLE STEPS:
Once a week fill the vase with water for 20
minutes and then tip out all but the bottom
inch of water. Once a month replace the
watering with a fertilizer solution soak.
1: LOCATION
You always need to start somewhere, and
before you even get out the camera you need
to figure out where you will take the photos.
It works very well if you select an area
where you can set up with an uncluttered
background, or where you can easily hang
up a piece of dark coloured cloth; blue and
black work best. Make sure you are not in
direct sun; bright shade works well and does
not tend to distort or wash out the colours.
Don’t worry you may need to try several
locations to find the best one. HINT: Don’t
choose a setup with the light directly behind
your plant: this will make taking the picture
more difficult.
Keep the plant in its vase in the sunniest
window - probably a south facing window
for the winter and an east or west facing
window in the summer, when the sun is too
high to get into a south facing window. If
you grow under lights, place your “vanda in
a vase” close to the lights and use such
lights as 4 foot Floralight.
If your Vanda has poor roots put Stim-Root
#1 (Rooting Hormone for soft growth
cuttings) in the watering water.
To clean the glass in the vases use vinegar
and water periodically.(Remove the plant
when you do this!)
2: SETUP
Now that you have found the place where
you can work, go and get your plant!!
7
Carefully place the plant, and rotate it to
select the best flower or best angle from
your vantage point. NOW is the time to start
grooming; just as you clean up to have a
family portrait taken, you need to clean up
your plant. If you are taking the picture of
the whole plant, then look carefully and
remove any dead leaves, old flowers or other
detritus. Make sure it looks its best! Be sure
to remove any stakes and clips that you have
used; they will be very distracting in the
final picture. If the flowers flop too much
without the stakes, then you need to make
them as invisible as possible. If using a
black backdrop, I use black stakes to blend
in, and try to make sure any clips are hidden
behind the flowers. You may need to
readjust your setup so that the clips/stakes
are less visible — maybe rotate the plant a
bit more. Make sure the plant is stable, and
if you want to photograph the whole plant,
either cover the plastic pot (again black
cloth works very well) or use a decorative
pot, but keep it simple. Your grandmother’s
bowl may he very special to you, but in the
end result you will see the bowl, not the
flowers.
This is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT
STEP: take your time. The more time spent
in preparation, the easier it will be in step
three. Sometimes at this point a quick
unposed shot will help point out issues: the
dying leaf tip right in front, that root sticking
out at an odd angle, or the hard water marks
on the leaves. These visual distractions can
be easily seen in the photo, but we tend to
overlook them when just looking at the
plant. HINT: Groom, groom and then groom
some more!
expensive. A tripod is essential if you want
to shoot without flash and have a softer
image. The real benefit to you is that it will
slow you down as you work, making you
take more care in your setup, and framing
your shot more carefully. This lets you see
more issues with the pose before you take
the pictures. Beleive me. it works. HINT:
Spend more on the tripod and you will be
rewarded with years of use.
4: SHOOTING
Take several pictures using different settings
on your camera. Try it both with and
without flash. If you have aperture priority
(AV), then set it to the highest aperture you
have available (this is the largest f number
on the dial). Many cameras will take
excellent results with “intelligent” auto, or
the automatic program mode. At times the
macro setting will work very well, but not
for everything. EXPERIMENT!! When you
are using macro, don’t forget to turn off the
flash or the picture will be overexposed:
remember the tripod from step 3? Try
moving further back and using the zoomdoes it work better for you? There will be a
lot of experimentation needed to find out
just what works for your individual camera.
To ensure that you can duplicate the results
you like; write down how you did it and
repetition will be easier. HINT: Experiment
and WRITE IT DOWN! TAKE NOTES!!
:
5. REVIEW.
Now carefully review your pictures and BE
CR1TlCAL. Is the flower overexposed (too
bright) or underexposed (too dark)? Is the
image at an odd angle? Are the colours
funky? Some things can be fixed in
Photoshop, but that can be time consuming.
It can be easier and definitely faster, to just
3: FRAMING
Having spent most of your time so far in
step two, this step should be fairly easy.
With your camera mounted on a tripod.
carefully frame your image. The tripod is a
great investment and does not have to be
8
go back and take another picture. If you are
not happy with your results, go back to step
two. If, however, you find yourself
distracted by the background. then go back
to step one. Did you leave the date feature
on? This is okay to record quickly when it
bloomed for you, but not what you want in a
portrait.
READ
YOUR
NOTES,
MAKE
COMMENTS ON WHAT WORKED! If
this is not our first attempt, then you already
have comments in your workbook; check
what worked the last time and try repeating
your success. AND TAKE MORE NOTES
HINT: Experimentation and note taking are
the road to succes. HINT 2: All cameras arc
not created equal, don’t get frustrated asking
the camera to do something it was not
designed to do.
6: ENJOY
If you are happy with your results you can
sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your
labours. PRINT that picture: FRAME that
picture: HANG it where you can see it! If
you are not satisfied, then go back and take
more pictures. Take more notes; figure out
what works best for you. HINT: With
practice, observation and critique you will
succeed!
©Jay
Norris
2013
A Star is born.
Crystal Star Orchids offers broker
service with over 15 top orchid
nurseries from Taiwan and the U.S.A,
including:
jay@ravcnvision.ca
Ching Hua Orchids, In Charm, Krull
Smith, and Sunset Valley.Our website
is up and running. If you have any
questions please feel free to email us
at:
crystalstarorchids@gmail.com or call
Eric Lee at (905) 478-8398.
9
April 2013 Show table:
Class
Class 1
Cattleya
First
Second
Third
Rhyncattleanthe [Rth.]
(syn.
Potinara or Pot.) Roy's Magic
Rth. Shinfong Little
‘Youngmin Golden Boy’
Sun
Rhyncattleanthe [Rth.]
(syn.
Potinara or Pot.) Roy's Magic
Manuela Lapuente
Liz McAlpine
John Vermeer
Phalaenopsis
Baldan’s
Kaleidoscope ‚Candy Stripe‘
Ascocenda Laksi ‘Chilli Pepper’
Phalaenopsis
Baldan’s
Kaleidoscope ‚Golden Treasure‘
Class 3
Phalaenopsis and
Vanda Alliance
Alexi Antanaitis
Heinz Ernstberger
Class 4
Oncidium
Class 6
Dendrobium
Class 7
All others
Colmonara Egyptian Beauty ???
Alexi Antanaitis
Henry Glowka
Lockhartia Gold Speck
Anita Kho
Onc. Tigersette ‘Wyld Court’
Anita Kho
Acianthera casapensis
Anita Kho
Stellis tarantala
Ann Antenaitis
Dendrobium Lai’s Pearl Ribbon
Sue Loftus
Pleurothallis ghiesbrechtiana
Erika Lorincz