volume: 51 number: 2 -...

WSOS Bulletin Vol51 No2 December 2017

December 2017 Bulletin Volume: 51 Number: 2

Plant of the Night for November

Paphiopedilum unknown


Editorial Last month we were entertained by Greg Steenbeeke, who showed us lots of miniature natives and how they’ve been used in breeding. I was surprised to see just how many miniatures there are. It was very interesting to see how they affect their progeny when bred with a range of other species. Coming up this month we have the Christmas Party, yay! Thank you to all those who paid early. It’s our 80th this year (wow!), so we’ll be raising a glass to celebrate. Please remember to bring along a present or two for the Christmas raffle. There’ll be a surprise or two in store as well. Unfortunately I was advised last Saturday that one of our long standing members, John English, has passed away after a battle with cancer. John has been missed from meetings for most of the past year and it is very sad and upsetting to learn he is no longer with us. For those wishing to attend the funeral, it will be on Wed 13th December at 11am, at the North Chapel of Pinegrove Memorial Park, Kington St, Minchinbury. Our Librarian has resigned this year thereby leaving this post open. In order for the library to continue each month we need someone to take on the role. Anyone interested in helping out the club in the role of Librarian, please see myself or Peter Meyer. This being the last bulletin of the year, on behalf of myself and Committee I wish you all a fabulous festive season and a corker of a new year. Indulge yourselves as much as possible and enjoy the sunshine! Cheers, Sam.

Management 2018: President and Editor: Samantha Stevens [email protected] 0401 713 888 Vice President: Peter Meyer [email protected] 0416 226 520 Secretary: Rosie Blackhall [email protected] 0433 899 767 Treasurer: Arthur Midgley [email protected] 9718 6067 Committee: Jan Binovec Peter McBryde Joy Gouvoussis Arthur Smyrnios Jonathan Clark

Contents: • Editorial: page 2

• Meeting minutes: page 3

• Arthur’s Notes: page 5

• Novice Nook: page 6

• Sam’s Spot: page 7

• Member pics: page 7

Next Meeting: 18th December at 7pm Christmnas Party

Websites: www.wsorchidsociety.com www.flickr.com/photos/wsos/ www.orchids.org

Submissions: At meetings or via email to the Editor before the first Monday of the month


Minutes of WSOS monthly meeting held on 18th November 2017 MEETING OPENED: 7:45pm APOLOGIES: MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Moved: Jan Binovec Seconded: John Janz FINANCE REPORT: General Accounts: $19,134.72 Moved: Arthur Midgley Seconded: John Costa

General Business:

• Welcome new Committee members: Joy, Jonathan and Arthur S.

• Show report from Arthur Midgley.

• Committee will be buying new props and banners for the shows.

• Australian Orchid Council Conference and show “Orchids in the Foothills” will be on 18-22nd July 2018 at Windsor. Registration forms available at the meeting for non-email members only. Everyone else will have a copy in their inbox.

• Last chance for Christmas Party payments. Same venue and same price as last year at $25 per head. Venue is the same as last year: Bardwell Valley Golf Club at 2A, Hillcrest Ave, Bardwell Valley (see map below).

• A new Librarian is needed. The library will be closed down if there is no volunteer by the end of the January meeting.

• Lorraine from GCA spoke to the meeting and advised that we can advertise and promote in the GGA mag for free. We can get cheap membership at the Botanic Gardens and entry to the gardens on NYE for the club.

• Sam asked for votes on what genus to have for the next growing competition. Options were: Oncidium, Sarcochilus, Dendrobium and Paphiopedilum. Members voted to have a Paphiopedilum.

• Member’s name badges are available at $10 each. Please see Arthur.

• We have some labels at 10 for $1 and pens for $8 each available for purchase.

• Supper volunteers needed for 2018. Please see Peter McBryde if you can assist.

• Assorted volunteers still required: o Benching marshals – see Arthur o Point score collating – see Arthur o Supper – see Peter McBryde or Jonathan o Historian – see Sam o Culture Club – see Sam o Committee – see Sam or Peter Meyer o Librarian – See Sam or Peter Meyer

TONIGHT’S SUPPER: Thank you Peter Meyer and Jonathan Clark RAFFLE PRIZES: Michael Luu x2, Joy Gouvoussis, Ali Saffet, Arthur Smyrnios, Jonathan Clark, John Janz BIRTHDAY RAFFLE: Peggy Shaw SUPPER RAFFLE: Peter Meyer NOVICE ENCOURAGEMENT: Sue Collins PLANT OF THE NIGHT: Paph unknown exhibited by Dimitri Mitsios MEETING CLOSED: 9:10pm

Meeting Events: Dec = Christmas Party Jan = Sam’s Photo Phest Feb =

Supper Roster: Dec = Christmas Party Jan = ?? Feb =


Shows in 2018:

13-14th April Castle Hill

18-20th May Orchids Out West

23-24th June Mingara

18-22nd July Orchids in the Foothills Conference

10-12th August Dural

17-19th August St Ives


Arthur’s Notes Counts: Number of plants benched = 47 Number of exhibitors = 12 Total views of the WSOS Flickr photo pages = 668,000 Number of photos on the Flickr photo pages = 2199 Orchid Benching: Plant of the Night was Paphiopedilum unknown exhibited by Dimitrios Mitsios. A beautiful orchid with strong Paphiopedilum sukhakulii influence. Christmas function at Bardwell Valley Golf Club: The club has not appointed a permanent chef so the function will catered by the club under the direction of a qualified chef. Still have not got a menu, and it will be similar to previous years; choice of mains, desserts and so on. If you require a vegetarian main dish, give me (Arthur) a ring on 9718-6067. Anyway, for $25 you will get a meal, a $5 drink voucher (buys a cup of coffee, a schooner of beer etc.). You will also get to toast the Society’s 80th birthday (champagne or orange juice, your choice). The drink voucher is prepaid, so use it or give it to someone else. There is no refund for unused vouchers. There is no need to sign in when you get to the club because we have exclusive use for the function and the Societies list of attendees will suffice. There are 98 parking spots and you can park in the reserved spots close to the clubhouse. Address: Bardwell Valley Golf Course 2a Hillcrest Avenue Bardwell Valley. If you are a first time visitor, best to check out google maps or use sat-nav because it is a bit tricky to find (see the map above). Gift plants: I have unpacked the gift plants from Aranbeem Orchids. They are advanced plants that should flower within a year or two. Plants consist of Cattleya hybrids, Vanda Hybrids, hardcane Dendrobiums and a couple of Phalaenopsis. It will be a bit of a lucky dip, so if you get a type you cannot grow maybe do a swap. There will be one plant per membership and you have to be at the function to receive it.

One of Sam’s Epidendrums


Novice Nook WITH DR FRED ORCHID DIVISION Most of the common orchids are relatively easy to propagate; so much so that by simple division your collection will naturally grow quickly. As space is always limited, consider exchanging or passing on some divisions to friends. Division with a sharp sterile instrument will prevent your orchid becoming large and unmanageable. Some growers treat the cut ends with a sulphur powder but this is not essential. Inspect the divisions for pests and diseases, remove any dead material and clean up any infestations. I usually then spray the entire plant including the roots with Eco-oil, pot up and leave for a week or two in a shady position before watering. I like to see two old shoots or bulbs and one or two new shoots in a division but the amount and quality of the root system is also important. If the roots are very poor, wrap in sphagnum moss until they shoot. Do not bury the rhizome in the potting mix as this will predispose the plant to being attacked by scale insects. For minimum disturbance of the plant, back-cutting the rhizome (between the bulbs) of large sympodial plants such as Cattleyas can encourage new shoots from each section while leaving the plant otherwise undisturbed. The divisions should not be smaller than three or four bulbs and it should be done during active spring growth. Months later when time comes to repot, all the hard work is done, as the advanced divisions should all have new shoots and fall apart easily at repotting. Orchids which tend to climb out of their pot are usually easy to divide, but some become inextricably bound to the pot. One option is to place the whole pot in a second larger pot of mix without disturbance. These establish quickly and can be divided later or allowed to grow into a specimen plant. Back bulbs left over after division will often shoot if the roots are removed. Trim off the roots and bury the lower third of the bulb in moist orchid potting mix if the weather is warm. In cooler weather trimmed backbulbs can be placed in sealed plastic bags with a little moist sphagnum moss, then hung in a cool shady area of the orchid house. Once the green shoots are a reasonable size they be potted up and transferred to a warm situation with reasonable light. In cold weather I protect these small plants with a Bell jar made from half a plastic drink bottle. Patience is essential because it may take years before the plant reaches flowering size. For a valuable plant it is worth the wait. Many orchid genera can be propagated in this way, although best results are usually obtained with a group of several connected bulbs unless the singles are large. “Keikis” are small rooted shoots which appear on the canes of many species such as soft cane Dendrobiums and Phalaenopsis. Once the roots are well developed, the keikis can be harvested and placed directly into potting mix. This is best done in the spring. Some keikis will benefit from a small pack of sphagnum moss tied about the roots and kept moist. When the roots are well developed and the plant is growing actively they can be separated from the parent plant. Stem cuttings are interesting variants on this. Thunias can be induced to shoot from the old leafless canes if cut into 6 to 8 cm segments and placed in water. The spent flower stalks of the swamp orchid, Phaius tankervillae can be similarly treated or cut into segments containing an eye and placed on moist potting mix. None of these techniques is foolproof but your yield will improve with practice. Don’t forget to make up a durable plastic label for each plant, preferably written in pencil which does not fade like most garden markers. Labels are particularly likely to be lost from small plants so secure them well.


Sam’s Spot The weather is moving to the hotter end of the scale and summer is definitely here! Plus a few cracking

thunderstorms and pelting rain. All good for the garden. 😊 In the orchid zone most plants are settling in to their growing phase and things are looking very green out in the backyard. Normally I’d be seeing lots of spikes starting on the Stanhopeas by now, but none have materialised so far. Probably because half of them were divisions from my huge pot full of nigroviolacea and it’s to be expected as they’re still settling in. As for the rest, well, they all need repotting and may be too dry without enough mix, but that didn’t stop them last year. I guess only time will tell. Otherwise there’s a few Epidendrums flowering, with a smattering of Coelogynes, and a couple of the Oncidium types are budding up nicely. Oh, yes! I almost forgot; my Psychopsis has started a spike, yay! It last flowered in 2015. It’s spent most of the past year growing a large new leaf and then once that was done, a spike appeared. Excited anticipation! Last month’s Phalaenopsis with crown rot has now dropped its last leaf. I’ll keep it watered for a few more weeks just in case there’s a new shoot, as the roots were still very good. Not looking hopeful but you never know. In the herb and veggie patch there’s been some action. The basil plants for the most part are looking wilted and unhappy, despite a good start after planting and mulching. Some of them are doing well so I’ll probably head up to the nursery again for another potful if the dubious ones die off. The beetroot are still powering and are very green and leafy and just starting to show bulbs. I put in a few snow peas and they are rapidly marching their way up their trellis and even starting to flower. I planted some Thai basil, more beetroots and another variety of tomato in a pot on my kitchen windowsill. The basil and beetroot germinated quickly and within a week I had tiny new plants sprouting. The tomatoes though haven’t yet shown themselves so I guess the seeds weren’t the best. My chives got swamped by an aphid outbreak, yet I saw a ladybug or two on the plant so I left it alone for a little while to let the predators feast. Then I grabbed a bottle of aphid death and liberally sprayed the plant. However, I grabbed the wrong bottle didn’t I?! Silly me didn’t look and I managed to douse my chives with weed killer. <Insert expletive here> It has since been yellowing rapidly so it looks like I’ve killed it. Ah, the joys of summer!

Member Pics Some photos from Gary Hodder showing pollination at work…

volume: 51 number: 2 -...

Documents