April 18^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- Wayne Dawes will give a talk on the growing of Disa’s

    Floral Art :- "As You Like It"

May 16^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- Autumn Show and Auction Sale (Plants and other items)

    Floral Art :- See Autumn Show Schedule

June 6^th. Committee meeting 8pm at B&L Davidson 15 Pascoe Ave Claremont

June 20^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- John Whitney to talk on Sarcochilus

    Floral Art :- "Winter Time"

July 4^th. Committee meeting 8pm at Jan Dicker 166 Carella St. Howrah

July 18^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- Vic Dawes will talk about Pleiones

    Floral Art :- "Arrangement including dry materials"

Aug. 1^st. Committee meeting 8pm at Marg. Thiessen 3 Tanina Mews Kingston

August 15^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- Bev. Woodward will talk on Odontoglossums and allied genera

    Floral Art :- "Spring Fever"

Sept. 5^th. Committee meeting 8pm at Chequers 51 Wellwood St. Lenah Valley

Sept. 19^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :- Preparing for the Spring Show

    Floral Art :- "One Colour Arrangement"

29^th. Sept. – 2^nd. October Tasmanian Orchid Society Spring Show

Oct. 3^rd. Committee meeting 8pm at Jim Smith 11 Warren Crt. Howrah

Oct. 17^th. Regular monthly meeting at Legacy Hall Macquarie St

    Feature :-

The Tasmanian Orchid Society Inc. disclaims all liability against any loss or damage, which may be attributed to the use of any article or material mentioned in Greenhood. Contributions express the views and opinions of the contributor and are not necessarily those of the Tasmanian Orchid Society.

The deadline for all articles is the Friday, ten days prior to the monthly meeting. No Exceptions.

The AGM is over , all committee members were re-elected. One change was the election of Bev. Woodward as Junior Vice President. Two members who did not seek re-election were Beulah White and Rob Connor, thank you both for your work on the committee over the years

Three decisions made at the AGM were :-

1 The annual spring show will continue to be held over four days.

2 Members of the TOS will be entitled to purchase large bags of orchid compost at a discount.

3 The secretary, treasurer and newsletter editor will all receive the same honorarium.

Prizes were presented to all the winners of our Judging and Popular vote sections at our monthly meetings. Bring along your plants in flower each meeting for a chance to participate this year.

Thanks to the growers who participated in the orchid house visits. I understand the visitors were impressed and appreciated being permitted to view your facilities.

The orchid compost mix collecting was very successful, pleasant weather, a good roll up of workers and two mulchers working flat out. The new members attending for the first time enjoyed themselves and more than pulled their weight. DON’T FORGET THE MIXING DAY ON SATURDAY 16 april AT MIKE WHITE’S PLACE.

Wayne Dawes has been successfully growing and benching some beautiful Disa over the years. Hhe will tell us how he grows them and do a repotting demonstration at the April meeting

Treasurer, Barry Wilson will be collecting money from those members attending the Ross get together to finalize numbers for the caterers, cost $17.50. Donations of items for the giant raffle would be appreciated (proceeds are donated to the Australian Orchid Foundation). Bring along orchids in flower for the show we hold on the day.

The May meeting is our Autumn Show and plants will benched in the outer room in classes (no first or second divisions). It is intended that we will conduct our annual auction also on that night. Donations of plants, bric a brac or whatever would be appreciated. Bring something to auction and buy something to take home.

Contributors are required for Greenhood. You don’t have to contribute every month, one off articles are welcome. If you are interested in a particular group of orchids why not write about them either on a regular basis or casually. Groups for which contributions would be welcome include Masdevallias, Odontoglossum alliance, Sarcochilus and terrestrial orchids to name some. Rob Connor is no longer able to contribute to the Cymbidium column due to ill health and the Cymbidium column is currently be recycled so a fresh contributor would be welcome.

The newsletter is being upgraded on a trial basis, so colour photos can now be included with any articles. If an article refers to any orchid recently tabled at a meeting then I almost certainly have a photo of it on file and can include it. Other photos are welcome.

The preferred methods of sending articles in are by E-mail to mgwhite@aanet.com.au or else typewritten and posted to :-

Michael White 72 Esplanade Margate Tasmania 7054

Where does time go?  Here we are – three parts of the way to next Christmas with our lives seemingly flying by so fast.

I’m just beginning to wonder if the growing of orchids is a contributing factor - the watching, the waiting – all the anticipation of new growths and flower buds, etc.  We continue to look forward to tomorrow.

Orchids being exhibited each meeting, even in the 2^nd Division, have shown some remarkable advancement especially from newer members of our Society; that there is renewed interest in other than cymbidiums which were the bulk of orchids seen at meetings when Chris and I first became involved.

We have a great society where growers are only too happy to share their knowledge with those just beginning.

Over the past year the AOC and meeting night judges have gone about their tasks quietly and competently.  My assistants have played their part but Karen has been on ‘not-so-well’ leave and we send you our best wishes, Karen, and hope it is not too long before you can return – we all miss you.

A few reminders:  May Autumn Show is held on May meeting night and set up in the front room.  No 1^st or 2^nd Division, due to limited space.  All classes will have their marked sections and if you should have any doubts about where to place your plants please ask Phyl, Chris or David to assist you.

All plants to be entered in 1^st Division Entry Book and don’t forget to fill in the exhibit slips for each plant.

2^nd Reminder:  Ross Open Day at Ross Town Hall on 1st May.   Please bring along some flowering plants plus exhibit slips (as per meeting night) so they can be easily identified by judges who will choose Best Exhibit and Best Cultured Plant for the day. 

A great day; please DO wear your name badges and come along and meet up with members of the three Northern Societies.

Happy growing for the 2011 – 2012 season.

Reserve Champion -Any Orchid- $15.00

Best Cultured Plant :- $10.00

All Class Trophies 1^st. $5.00 2^nd. & 3^rd. Prize Cards.

Class 1. Cymbidium Hybrid over 90mm.

Class 2. Cymbidium Hybrid 90mm and under

Class 3 Cattleya and Allied Sp./Hyb.

Class 4 Oncidium Sp./Hybrid

Class 5 Odontoglossum and Allied Sp./Hybrid (as per orchid meeting quidelines)

Class 6 Masdevallia or Dracula Species

Class 7 Masdevallia or Dracula Hybrid

Class 8 Dendrobium Sp./Hybrid Other than Australian Native.

Class 9 Any Other Orchid Species. (Not listed elsewhere.)

Class 10 Any Other Orchid Hybrid. (Not listed elsewhere.)

Class 11 Australian Native Dendrobium Sp./Hybrid

Class 12 Sarcochilus Sp./Hybrid.

Class 13 Australian Native Tuberous Sp./Hybrid.

Class 14 Other Australian Natives Sp./Hybrid

Class 15 Foliage or Fern.

Class 16 Flowering Plant

Class 1 Floral Art "Posies for my Mum"

Class 2 Floral Art "Dainty and demure"

Class 3 Floral Art "I Tried !!" Men Only

Plants will be displayed in FRONT ROOM in their designated classes and should be tabled by 7.30pm. If you have any queries, please consult Phyl., Chris. or David Atkins

All flowering orchids are eligible provided you have owned and grown them for the past six months. Results of this show are not included in the end of year points tally.

Please keep our judges on their toes – and remember the old saying "You have to be in it to win it!"

Most of March had the aroma of the RTBG Conservatory smelling sweetly of Stanhopea graveolens displayed in the hanging baskets. There are a few late flowering spikes so I will keep them on show till they have all finished flowering. I did see two flowers split this year and if you catch this natural phenomena at the right time I swear the basket moves with the force. In other bays Masdevallia barleana, Masd veitchiana, Encyclia cochleata. Miltonia spectablis and Oncidium excavatumexcavatum are making a show. excavatumAnother orchid that has a lovely scent is Maxillaria nigrescens and there are only a few pots of these on display however their presence is nearly overwhelming. Two lovely Wilsonaria Hilda Plumtree are flowering and have been on display for several months. Soon the Laelia gouldiana will be put into the display, They have a good show of flowering spikes.

The Gardens is now are running a Horticulture Certificate 1 and 2 course for 13 students. They come to the nursery for experience and I have had their help at Cymbidium Central. Here I can explain about various orchid viruses and how hygiene procedures are paramount. This a good foundation for any nursery practise. There is always something to do on the orchid front.

What a beautiful day, weather-wise, we were given to be out and about looking at the various orchid-growing areas of some of our members. It was also lovely to have visitors from Burnie and Launceston Orchid Societies enjoying our day.

We began at Barry and Loraine Davidson’s home in Claremont. Barry does not have an orchid house rather an orchid garden. We have seen some of his Sarcs. potted in basket pots containing expanded clay balls (we saw some 400) and his delightful Masda. plants at our meetings. BUT Barry has in his garden ½ wine-barrels full of Pleione and some full of kingianums growing beautifully amongst the Rhodos and garden shrubs. Then he has in a large pot, under some light shade from trees, a Cyrtochilum Revolutum (bought on E-bay) which has 3 spikes that are at the moment 2m. up into the branches of a garden tree. Nearby some potted Oncidiums were growing ; you guessed it, simply under the shade of trees in the garden. WOW the eye-opener of their orchid growing was the garden- bed of Speciosum. Barry has dugout the soil of a bed, approx. 50cms. wide and 3m. long, and put in approx. 20cm of gravel and on top a good layer of again those expanded clay balls. The plants look fabulous with many new growths on each plant. You won’t be able to bring them to a meeting or the show Barry.!! It was indeed a delightful garden to visit and admire and thanks to both Lorraine and Barry for the information re your growing of orchids and the morning tea that quenched out dry throatsfrom so many ooh’s and aah’s.

We then made our way to Alan and Helena’s home where we looked at his new orchid house complete with the blue shade-cloth and opal Alsonite roof. His plants are looking very healthy and growing beautifully. Helena tells us that the orchids growing in the BBQ area will hopefully be in another orchid house soon to be built and she can have her clothes-drying area and entertaining- BBQ area back to what it should be. Many thanks Alan for all your information re the growing of orchids as a result of all the research you have been doing via internet and books.

We moved on to the home of Chris and Phyl Nicholas. This is where we really did go ‘oooooh’ and ‘aaaaah’. This is where we saw the evidence of two people who have immense experience and knowledge re the growing of orchids; and have been doing it for some time so their growing areas are well established. Here was the proof why Chris is the master of our ‘Culture Corner’. (Phyl could have the same title) Phyl’s Masda. house was FULL of the most delightful little ‘special’ orchids as well as her collection of Masda. Just beautiful. Then Christopher’s house of Laelia, Cattleya, Sophronitis, Oncidiums , etc. was a true delight to walk through. Spikes everywhere and again some very special orchids to look at. We all wanted to stay longer and do so much more orchid- talking. Many thanks for opening your growing areas enabling us to see you collections Chris and Phyl and for the constant and never- ending sharing of orchid culture with us all.

On Sunday the 27th of March we were delighted to have access to four of the society members orchid houses. First we started off with Barry Davidson’s house and collection; my first impressions were amazing not only did he have a great collection of orchids but he had an amazing garden to go with. Barry’s orchid collection is a cool growing collection with no green house or shade house in sight; all the orchids are on the veranda or in and around the garden, from cymbidiums in the ground, to orchids in the trees. There was a great collection of Sarcochilus and a few in flower on the veranda overlooking the amazing garden.

The next orchid house on the agenda was Alan Millwards. As we heard at our March meeting Alan had most of his orchids under the car port of which he has upgraded to a shade house, we also heard a little bit about his new shade house with the blue shade cloth. As we saw at Alan’s house the blue shade cloth looked really nice and the orchids had healthy new growth on them. Not all the of the orchids had made it to the new shade house, and Alan explained the new roll for the ironing board as quoted "I was told to do the ironing, so I did".

Next stop was Chris and Phyl’s, and what can I say, you would have to see it to believe it, the size and the amount was just amazing. From orchids outside and hanging in trees to three great big green houses split in to "his and hers" filled to the top with orchids of all kinds, no room for people, just orchids.

The last house of the visits was Bev Woodward’s on the foot hills of Mt Wellington. The inspiring feature of Bev’s collection is the shade house that’s part of the house it’s self, I think we would all love to walk through our orchids to get outside or indeed anywhere.

What wonderful wet environments the tropics are. Orchids must love them. This is the common perception of the tropics and certainly what our tourist operators in Far North Queensland would have us believe, but is it entirely true?

The year round wet tropics form a very narrow band, not extending more than 10^o either side of the equator. Even Sabah in northern Borneo and southern Papua New Guinea have a definite drier season and certainly all of the Australian tropics have a distinct dry season in our winter months. At sea level in the tropics the evaporation rate is high and therefore most of our wonderful orchids grow in the zone 1 000 – 2 500m above sea level. There the temperature is lower and the rainfall and humidity are higher. Orchids tend to be epiphytic, which enables them to get the brightness of light needed for growth that is unavailable on the forest floor. Clinging to trees means the supply of water is not continuous as it tends to be in the ground, and there can be periods of very dry conditions for days. In these conditions, competition for space and rapid growth rate are less important than mechanisms to survive and growth rates are typically low.

Most of these orchids have one thing in common – not a lot leaves, but very thick ones compared to other plants. Why is this? We all learnt at school that plants make their own food. Utilising the energy of sunlight, the green parts of plants make sugars using carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and water from the soil. These are then turned into proteins, DNA etc. with the aid of other root absorbed nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. There is one snag though. The carbon dioxide comes in through tiny pores in the leaf during the day. This is fine, but when it enters, water also evaporates and passes out through the pores, which can be disastrous for our orchids without a continuous supply of water. How do they solve this? It was discovered that succulents and cacti could open their pores at night when the temperature is low and the humidity is high and then the pores closed in the morning, effectively making the plant watertight during the day. They could store the carbon dioxide trapped in the night in an acid called crassulacean acid. The carbon dioxide is released within the plant and photosynthesised when the sun is out. This is less efficient than the normal method as the carbon dioxide supply is limited, but it lets them survive. Subsequently it was found that many orchids do the same thing and it also allows them to survive in difficult environments. We now know that orchids will open their pores whenever the humidity is high, for example when it rains, and this gives them a little extra carbon dioxide. Orchids therefore have fewer, but thicker leaves to store the carbon dioxide and they still have sufficient surface area to trap the amount of sunlight needed. This form of photosynthesis is called CAM-photosynthesis (crassulacean acid metabolism-photosythesis – for more details the Wikipedia reference is excellent www.wikipedia.org ).

What has this to do with growing orchids? Not all orchids do this method of photosynthesising, but most of the ones that we grow operate this way. CAM-photosynthesising orchids will all have thick leaves, like masdevallias, phalaenopsis, sarcochilus, cattleyas and many dendrobiums, including speciosum and soft cane types. They can take surprisingly low humidity during the day, because they have sealed themselves off. At night, the humidity must be high so that they do not dry out when the pores are open and the carbon dioxide is getting in. This means that watering is best done late in the day in summer with this type of orchid. Keeping the humidity up during the day is fine, but misting and spraying is much more important in the early evening. It has been accepted for years that orchids do better where there is a drop in temperature at night to a minimum within the growing range of the plants. This raises the humidity. In winter, there is not the same problem and it is better to water as necessary in the morning, when the glasshouse is at its coolest and the temperature is on the rise, rather than spread cold water around at night that will stun the orchids and not dry off the leaves before dawn. If you grow phalaenopsis, or similar in the kitchen, stand the pot on a tray of wet pebbles, but the tray must be a good 5cm (2 inches) wider than the base of the pot. With little air movement in the house, this will be sufficient to keep the humidity up around the orchid. Do not stand the pot too close to a window at night in winter where it will experience cold down draughts.

Some orchids, like many cymbidiums, oncidiums and pleiones have leaves that look halfway between thin ones and thick ones. They appear to have the ability to swap between normal and CAM-photosynthesis depending on the prevailing conditions. These ones may be forced along during the growing season with watering during the day and more fertiliser, but most of the phalaenopsis, masdevallias, sarcochilus, dendrobiums and cattleyas will just chug on slowly.

Now that daylight savings is drawing to a close I hope you have used the extra daylight to clean and tidy up around you plants, and you probably found all those flower spikes that you hoped you would have. So now is a good time to start using a few stakes to train the spikes so that they go in the direction that you want them to. Use Bamboo or similar, put a piece of styrene or cork, if you have it, on the top to protect your eyes.

As the weather cools down you will need to reduce your watering, plants can be left safely, for four or ten days between watering as it gets cooler, particularly if your plants are outside and in bark, a good test is to pick your plant up if it is heavy don’t water, small plants in fresh open mix may need to be watered more often.

Remember more good plants are lost because of over watering than not enough water, if they are dry the roots will go looking for water and only grow longer.

The plants are now entering an almost dormant stage, so any fertilizing program should be greatly reduced. If your plants are in a glass house, top fertilizing with a quick-acting, short lasting fertilizer, strong in chemical urea, will benefit plants and fatten flowers, adding to width and purifying the colour, but on the other hand fertilizing plants now will speed up growth, which in turn will shorten the life of the flowers. I personally don’t believe in fertilizing once the temperature drops below an average of 16 C, as you need the warmth to activate the fertilizer.

Start preparing your plants for Winter, because it won’t be long now before the cold frosty nights are upon us, your plants will need to be protected from the frost particularly if they are outside.

The end of March and April is a good time to repot and divide any plants that you missed in spring.

Keep an eye out for slugs and snails as they will appear with the Autumn rain and they love a feed of your flower spikes and are capable of destroying them in one sitting.

Well, since I wrote my last cultural notes we have achieved 3 weeks of really good growing conditions, warm and sunny with a lift in the air.  Not the Indian Summer I was sweating on but it will do for this year.  Maybe next year we will get one.

  It’s amazing what that burst of warmth and light has done for the oncidiums.  I was worried that the new growths were only half made up and bulbing; now, whilst in most cases they have completed their growth, the bulbs are nice and plump although smaller than usual. I can only hope that if the warm spell stays a little longer they will continue to expand and reach normality.

The foregoing demonstrates the flexibility a successful orchid grower must develop. For a short time I was almost back to summer mode, misting most days and increasing watering and spray fertilizing.

From now on, early April, the days are shortening quite rapidly; the sun has lost a lot of its warmth and with the end of daylight saving it will pay to close your vents as soon as you arrive home from work.

We lucky retirees can close ours mid afternoon and trap the warmth remaining in the houses.

For those of you who put up extra shade over the summer I would suggest you take it off before the end of April.  The plants will love you and it will gain you 2-3 degrees of warmth through the day, most beneficial at this time of year.  Ours is coming off this week.  If you have sprayed the roof with Parasolene it should gradually weather off.

Don’t forget that the May meeting incorporates our autumn show so let’s have all your flowering plants.  It puts the judges on their mettle and with your support it can be quite a spectacle.

Finally, it was so good to see the number of members, particularly new ones, attending the open house visits.  It is occasions like this where we can all learn something as well as get to know our fellow members, which we don’t do at monthly meetings.

. Chris Nicholas

The picture is of our native sarcochilus; Sarcochilus australis. Australis means southern and it is the most southerly growing species. It must be grown mounted as the growth habit is hanging.

Many sarcochilus plants will start showing flower spikes from now for a few months. The peak flowering is in November. One or two may be flowering at the moment and it is possible, with careful selection, to have the slow continual production of flower spikes and a sarcochilus in flower all year round. The flower spikes that are appearing now will take some time to mature, so do not hold your breath waiting. Quite a few will be in flower for the spring show at the end of September.

Keep regular fertilising as they are still growing actively, but this will slow down by the end of the month. It is a mistake to assume that plants are dormant from May to September as slow changes are occurring, such as the appearance of flower spikes. If possible use a fertiliser designed for inducing flowers. This will be one that is higher in potassium and lower in nitrogen. Fertilising will slowly, but surely breakdown the potting mix and sarcs like a very open mix with no fines. If you think that your mix is starting to breakdown to mush, then repot the  affected plants, because the roots will surely rot. Done with care, sarcochilus can be repotted at anytime, because they have quite robust roots, which should not be damaged. I prefer mesh pots to ensure that sufficient air gets to the roots. Sarcochilus mounts generally last for years, but if you must increase the size of the mount, then attach another to the old one and do not attempt to unthread roots or disturb the orchid excessively.

Do not overwater. The mix should go from wet to just damp before rewatering. From the end of this month watering is best done in the morning, as necessary, on a rising temperature so that the leaves are dry by evening.

Barry Davidson

Although autumn, as defined by the Government. has officially commenced, the warm summer weather continues with 25^oC still occurring, on the other hand a high of 15°C can also occur.

The days are shortening and night temperatures are dropping, an indication that autumn is upon us All that new growth we saw through spring and summer has to fully develop and harden off. Therefore take care with watering from now on. Carry out watering early in the morning to allow plants to dry and drain by evening

Mounted plants will still continue to require water. Be prepared to water paths and under benches when sudden high temperatures occur. Continue to clean and tidy plants ready for benching at Shows and meeting

Aphids are still about and will attack any soft new growth Don't let them ruin a plant Either wash or brush them off. Only use pesticides as a last resort. A little care and attention now will pay off in due course.

K9, plus Calcium (Ca) 0.5 which is good for Pleione in reducing leaf tip die back. It also has the usual trace elements.

Using any of these or several others that are available, in a nine or ten litre bucket make up a solution using one quarter to one half of a teaspoon of fertiliser and mix well. This should give you a strength of 3-400 parts per million, (ppm), which is about right for most orchids. (Cymbidium can take up to 600ppm).

At this time of the year watering can continue but be gradually reduced until all the leaves have fallen off when watering should cease except for an occasional misting to prevent the bulbs from shrivelling.

Apply fertilisers either by dunking which will ensure the pot or pan is thoroughly soaked or by misting as a foliar spray.

Fungal diseases seem to be more prevalent this year probably because of the unusually mild summer coupled with the leaves being warm and damp. This is an ideal situation for fungal attack. It would be a good idea then to do your watering late evening, so the leaves are cold and damp which I am told reduces the risk of fungal spores taking hold.

Laelia purpurata is the floral emblem for Santa Catarina a Brazilian State.

Editor Mr M White 72 Esplanade Margate 7054 Ph. 6267 1589