1 | P a g e

NIGHTCLIFF ORCHID SOCIETY

Volume 39 Issue Number 2 FEBRUARY 2015

Copyright 2015 Nightcliff Orchid Society

Ett [syn Eplc.] Volcano Trick ‘Orange Fire’owned by S & B McKeon

NIGHTCLIFF ORCHID SOCIETY OF THE NT (INC.) ———————————————

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Bulletin of the Nightcliff Orchid Society of the Northern

Territory (Inc) P.O. Box 41165

CASUARINA NT 0810

2 | P a g e

I would like to join / continue my membership of the Nightcliff Orchid Society

Please find enclosed the amount of $………. being the annual membership fee.

Fees are as follow (please circle choice):

Individual $20 Family $30 Junior /Pensioner $15

plus a joining fee of $15.00 for new members

Name: Mr/Mrs/Ms ………………………………………………… Home Address: ………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… Postal Address: ………………………………………………… ………………………………………………… Telephone No: ……………………… (Home)

……………………… (Work) ……………………… (Mobile) Email Address: ………………………………………………

On becoming a member, I agree to abide by the Constitution, Rules and By-laws of the Nightcliff Orchid Society. (Please ask the Secretary for a copy of these documents

if you require them.) Signed: ……………………………….. Date: ……………….. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

————————————————– For Use By Treasurer

Received By: …………………………………………………

Official Receipt No: ……………………………. Date: ……………………..

THE NIGHTCLIF ORCHID SOCIETY OF THE NT (inc)

MONTHLY MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2015

VOLUME 39 NUMBER 2

3 | P a g e

minutes

MINUTES OF NIGHTCLIFF ORCHID SOCIETY GENERAL MEETING

MINUTES OF NIGHTCLIFF ORCHID SOCIETY GENERAL MEETING 390

MONDAY 12th January 2015 Meeting opened 7.40pm Welcome to new members/visitors Nil Present As per Attendance Book Apologies As per Attendance Book Minutes of Previous Meeting Moved Ron James Seconded Kerryn Steward Carried Correspondence In: LOC Bulletin AOC Magazine

Nightcliff Orchid Society Office Bearers 2014

President : Heidi Jatis 0409696366 Vice President: Vacant Secretary: Marion Davey Ph 8927 8198 Marion.davey@hotmail.com.au Treasurer Wendy Edison Ph 0438456784 wendise@bigpond.com Public Officer Rob ChapmanPh 0428240172 rwchappy@bigpond.net.au Orchid Registra rMarion Davey Ph 8927 8198 marion.davey@hotmail.com.au Bulletin Editor : Marion Davey Ph 8927 8198

—————————————————————

COMMITTEE MEMBERS Anthony Fuller Ph 0437914089 Jenny Hanna hannadj@bigpond.com

CONTENTS PAGE Membership Application 2 General Meeting Minutes 4 Editorial 6 Mark Ryan’s orchids 7 Anthony Fuller 10 Scale insects 11 Recipe of the month 14

4 | P a g e

TOC Bulletin Bills from DCC [hall hire] ROC [email]

Correspondence Out: Nil Moved Di Dowling Seconded Paul Steward Carried Treasurer’s Report Wendy on leave. Barbara Promnitz acting in position.

Balances were disclosed. Nothing to report. Moved Barbara Promnitz Seconded Di Dowling Carried GENERAL BUSINESS

1.Magazine/names/addresses Please provide secretary with correct names, addresses etc. Many are still incorrect. Apologies for errors in January magazine. 2.Supper Roster Please fill in 2015 roster. 3.NOS events Should discussion/organisation of this wait for new committee? Good in theory, but need to at least plan some part of the Calendar of Events for Year. General discussion concerning need for members to take some responsibility within club e.g. joining the committee; organising a specific event etc. New members needed to keep the club functioning for the future. Discussion concerning Committee meetings, including frequency, location and timing. More people may be willing to join if meetings are seen as less onerous. 4. LOC Orchid Spectacular This is taking place across Mother’s Day weekend. Although NOS has not yet received a written offer to run a tea/coffee/cake stall, it will happen soon. There has been an unofficial approach to try to improve the quality of the coffee and cream Paul has offered the loan of coffee machine. Need a person to oversee ordering etc. Suggestions to change what is offered [foodwise] were not seen as practicable. Do we need to change prices for this year? General consensus was that the current suppliers are probably the best 5. AOB a. Volunteers needed to assist with obtaining sponsorship for Spring Show. Need to find

5 | P a g e

and book more sources of advertising e.g. TV and radio Banners need amending with new dates. Banner space [3] booked with DCC. b. Agreement of meeting to send flowers to Lisa following recent bereavement c. Agreement to send flowers to Sherryl when more is known about her health and

location.

Popular vote. Sue Mckeon’s plant C. Lumita x C. guttata var. alba Lucky door Barb. Promnitz Raffle 1 Kerryn Steward Raffle 2 Jack Hamilton Raffle 3 Shri Campbell Thanks are due to Paul and Kerryn Steward and Marion Davey for providing an enormous supper which could have fed the comparatively small number of members for several days. Orchid Focus 1. Marion Davey gave a short talk about all of the orchids displayed, including the

popular vote winner and several runner up plants. 2. Mark Ryan and Marion Davey oversaw a “Show and Tell” session based upon

‘Orchids with Various Problems’ such as infestations, pruning to increase side shoots, overcrowded plants and rotting back of new shoots. Many useful ideas were exchanged.

The meeting closed at 9.40 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

No committee meeting for January so no minutes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

aa

The Supper Roster for 2015 only has February filled in. If people do not sign up, there will be no suppers.

Please consider signing up!

6 | P a g e

EDITORIAL There was a lot of discussion at the last meeting about both orchid and social events. Most societies seem to suffer from a lack of people being willing to ‘get involved’ and Nightcliff Orchid Society is no different. Throughout 2014, the committee was usually short of people. This causes at least 2 problems. Firstly, it means that there are too few people trying to do all the work and organising events. Secondly, it means that whatever does [or more commonly] doesn’t happen is based upon the ideas of only a very small group of the same people so no new ideas are presented. Everyone can say that they are busy and have no spare time to be part of a committee but the club will stagnate if 2015 runs the same way as 2014. It is really important that more people try to be involved in the club, and being on the committee, or even running a sub committee such as catering or organising a social event would help the club to move forward. Next month is the AGM. Please think about joining the committee.

THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW A SELECTION OF ORCHIDS FROM MARK RYAN’S COLLECTION Mark has a growing collection of orchids, the majority of which are species. Many need challenging conditions in order for a Darwin grower to get them into flower. Lepanthes [Lths.] saltatrix An orchid from Ecuador. It grows naturally in cloud forests but will cope with high temperatures.

NEXT MONTH IS THE AGM.

NOMINATION FORMS AVAILABLE FROM THE COMMITTEE

PLEASE THINK ABOUT NOMINATING

7 | P a g e

Masdevallia [Masd.] Sugar Baby. This is a primary hybrid that grows in cool to warm conditions. It is not happy growing in Darwin unless it is provided with appropriatee conditions such as a chiller cabinet with lights.

8 | P a g e

Pleurothallis [Pths.] striata [Syn. Specklinia (Spe.) uniflora] This beautiful little South American orchid is happy in Darwin’s hot conditions although it needs shade

9 | P a g e

Diplocaulobium [Dcm.] kirchianum [ Syn. Den. kirchianum] This is a small creeping plant from Papua New Guinea. It is very happy growing in Darwin conditions and its flowers last several days.

Dendrobium delacourii This is a miniature species from South East Asia. The fringed lip is quite variable but is the characteristic feature of this pretty orchid. It will grow and flower successfully in Darwin but prefers cool dry season nights.

10 | P a g e

Vanda vietnamica. [Old name = Christensonia vietnamica] This delightful miniature comes from Vietnam. It only bears a few flowers but they are surprisingly large for such a small plant. It grows and flowers happily in Darwin. Only recently discovered, it is now being widely used for hybridising.

PLEASE KEEP BRINGING IN YOUR FLOWERING ORCHIDS

FOR OTHERS TO SHARE IN YOUR SUCCESS.

IT’S ALWAYS EXCITING TO SEE

OTHER PEOPLE’S ORCHIDS

11 | P a g e

ORCHIDS AND SCALE INFESTATION The term ‘scale’ is a fairly general one and can refer to an infestation by several different insect pests; for example soft scale, hard scale, cottony cushion scale. Mealy bugs belong to the same insect group as well. Scale insects have a complex life cycle but are called ‘scale insects’ because at some stage in their life cycle the female insect forms a hard protective shell while it is sitting on a leaf or pseudobulb. The details of the life cycle vary between species but a generalised version is as follows.

1. The adult female, protected by the scale covering produces hundreds of eggs. Many species do not require any involvement of a male; the female produces unfertilised, but fertile, eggs. In some species the female releases live young rather than eggs.

2. The female dies after egg laying and once the scale covering breaks open, hundreds and possibly thousands of eggs or live young are released. The live young are called nymphs or crawlers. They are usually less than 1mm in length.

3. The nymphs/crawlers have wings but are weak fliers. They are distributed around the shade house by wind, birds, people.

4. The crawler eventually settles on a suitable feeding site, typically a fold or depression, pierces the plant to begin feeding and starts to secrete its scaley covering.

5. The crawler needs to moult several times forming immature instars [under its scale covering] before becoming mature and starting to lay eggs. Throughout this time it will be sucking food from the orchid plant.

12 | P a g e

CONTROL There are several different approaches to controlling a scale infestation.

1. Pest oil This is a popular and cheap method of controlling scale. Any proprietary oil should be suitable for larger robust orchids such as Laeliinae. A light oil is necessary for more delicate orchids. The oil mainly works by preventing the insects from breathing. Liberal spraying is necessary as any scale not covered by the oil will not be killed. Repeat spraying is necessary.

2. Alcohol. This can be applied directly to scale using a cotton bud or similar. It is labour intensive but kills scale effectively. Not advised for young plants.

3. Cultural Any affected plants can have infested parts removed and then be quarantined, but this is also labour intensive and if crawlers are present, the plant will soon show signs of reinfestation. It is also difficult to access scale that is hiding in leaf axils and other folds.

4. Contact insecticide The scale can be sprayed with a commercial insecticide. Again, if the scale is not actually sprayed, it will not be killed. This can be a problem for scale on the undersides of leaves.

5. Biological control Many other insects actively feed on scale. Examples include ladybirds and certain parasitic wasps. This natural method will not work if other pesticide sprays are also in use as the helpful insects will be killed along with the scale.

6. Systemic pesticides. These can be applied as a solution to the soil. The active ingredient will be absorbed by the roots and spread throughout the plant. As the scale insect feeds, it takes in the poison and dies. Insects that do not feed directly on the orchid plant are unaffected.

A big apology to Jack Hamilton who sent in the same photos that were credited last month only to Alasdair McGregor whereas Jack had also sent them in three months ago but I deleted them by accident.

13 | P a g e

Lc. Siamese Doll ‘Kiwi’ Owned by S & B McKeon

SUPPER ROSTER FEBRUARY 2015 MEETING

Supper at this meeting will be provided by:

LYNNE STRATHIE, SUE McKEON AND DI DOWLING

Thank you to these people

14 | P a g e

RECIPE OF THE MONTH Paul and Kerryn Steward are both well known as excellent ‘cooks’. Last month, Kerryn brought along a delicious mango and nut cake for supper. Here is the recipe. 1kg mixed fruit 2 cups fresh mango pulp and juice 2 cups SR flour 1 ½ cups nuts almonds,macadamia or walnuts or make without nuts your choice Soak fruit in mango pulp and ¼ cup of water overnight. Preheat oven 125◦C Stir in SR flour and nuts to fruit mix and pour into 22cm cake tin lined with Baking paper and bake for 2- 2 ½ hours . Cooking notes

[It’s up to you if you want nuts or not and l puree half the mango and roughly chop the rest. l have also used mangos that l have frozen. This cake also freezes well

An unknown Laeliinae owned by S & B McKeon

15 | P a g e

NIGHTCLIFF ORCHID SOCIETY EVENTS FOR 2015

FEBRUARY 2015 General meeting Monday 9th

Committee meeting Monday 16th

MARCH 2015 AGM followed by General meeting Monday 9th

Committee meeting Monday 16th

APRIL 2015 General meeting Monday 13th

Committee meeting Monday 20th

MAY 2015 General meeting Monday 11th

Committee meeting Monday 18th

Orchid Spectacular 8th -10th

JUNE 2015 General meeting Monday 8th

Committee meeting Monday 15th

JULY 2015 General meeting Monday 13th

Committee meeting Monday 20th

Darwin Royal 23rd – 25th

AUGUST 2015 General meeting Monday 10th

Committee meeting Monday 17th

SEPTEMBER 2015 General meeting Monday 14th

Committee meeting Monday 21st

Spring Show 4th – 6th

OCTOBER 2015 General meeting Monday 12th

Committee meeting Monday 19th

NOVEMBER 2014 General meeting Monday 9th

Committee meeting Monday 16th Annual Auction

DECEMBER 2014 No General Meeting

Christmas party – date to be confirmed

16 | P a g e

Remember, the bulletin always requires articles and photographs for inclusion into next month’s bulletin. E mail to marion.davey@hotmail.com.au

Trichoglottis brachiata owned by S & B McKeon

The next meeting of the Nightcliff Orchid Society will be held at the

NIGHTCLIFF COMMUNITY HALL on Monday 9th February 2015

commencing at 7.30pm

Contact the Secretary, Marion Davey on ph 8927 8198 for any further information