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Tue, Apr 17, 12 at 0:34
| Finally found some of the deciduous Calanthe hybrids that date back to crosses made by the Eric Young foundation. Have 4 different ones of them and mentioned this to an old timer. An AOS judge now on the very far side of 80 with a great collection and much knowledge and experience. He confirmed that these plants were very popular once but have fallen out of favor and one very seldom, if ever, sees them today.
He also recommended steer manure, stated that they are heavy feeders and that I'd double the size of the pseudobulbs if I grew them in 50% steer manure, the rest the usual terrestrial mix of sand, perlite and mulch. I'm about to do this, has anyone tried it? Nick |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| And where would one get steer manure? I could see the availability of horse manure but not steer poo. But you might have a ranch down the road,I don't know? i would let it "rest" before you used it if I were you. gb |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Wed, Apr 18, 12 at 17:43
| Home Depot, neatly bagged. Regular fare for lawn fertilization. Nick |
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- Posted by terrestrial_man 9 (eyuracleo@hotmail.com) on Thu, Apr 19, 12 at 0:37
| Nick, I would advise against using Steer Manure. What the practice has been with some cymbidium growers is in using well aged steer manure. You should empty out a bag in something outside and let it age for a year or so. But I have used Nitrohumus in potting up Cypripediums. Probably about a tablespoon per gallon of mix. But the mix is very well draining and I use r/o water. I would rather use a liquid fertilizer for orchids and cut it down to 1/2 and water every watering while the plant is in active growth. Miracle Gro is pretty safe. It is 12-4-8 and could probably be fed at recommended dosage without harming your plants. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Miracle-Gro� Liquid All Purpose Plant Food
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Thu, Apr 19, 12 at 1:10
| Can't argue with your recommendation, certainly the gold standard. This old timer suggested something outside the box and I'm going to try it on one plant. I ended up with 2 Calanthe Rozel, not clones or divisions so not identical plants but close enough so that one in standard mix, the other in 50% steer manure, should give an indication of the effect. Nick |
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| Sounds like a bunch of bullsh*t to me ;-) Bob |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Thu, Apr 19, 12 at 8:55
| That is correct, thanks for all your help. Nick |
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- Posted by olympia_gardener 5 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 19, 12 at 11:15
| Hi, Nick, It sounds interesting, something different. Would you keep us posted on the result of using steer manure. |
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| Jeez Nick lighten up... Bob |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Fri, Apr 20, 12 at 9:51
| I'm totally 'loose' about this. Have absolutely nothing to prove but would love to produce a set of big pseudobulbs just for the conversational value. I have a daughter who is absolutely uptight about stuff like that. If I brought a plant to her kitchen table and she found out it had steer manure in the pot, she'd sterilize the entire table, or better yet discard the table and get a new one. She is on a constant crusade to protect her cubs from the evil germs who lurk everywhere. Nick |
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| :) How ironic to "get a set of BIG pseudobulbs" from steer manure. Oh no it's BULLS that have Big pseudobulbs! sorry.....LOL.gb |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Fri, Apr 20, 12 at 16:19
| Nothing 'pseudo' about their knockers. Nick |
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- Posted by terrestrial_man 9 (eyuracleo@hotmail.com) on Sat, Apr 21, 12 at 4:56
| Nick, don't you mean: "That ain't no bull!" |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sat, Apr 21, 12 at 10:34
| Correct, my stuff comes from steers who ain't no bulls. Nick |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sat, Apr 21, 12 at 20:52
| The deed is done. I have 2 seedlings of Calanthe Rozel Mendenhall Pink x Rozel Newberry, as yet unnamed and unbloomed. Same size, 2 adult bulbs plus one new growth, both starting new root formation on the new bulb, but they are not clones, could be divisions but cannot confirm, so unfortunately not truly identical. This is the closest set of twins I could come up with, they may be fraternal not identical twins. One went into 50% steer manure and we'll have the answer by Dec. Around Nov they'll go deciduous and by Dec start the inflorescence, if they are old enough to bloom, with the next new growth appearing in Feb/March. If and when they bloom, they make 3' long upright/arching sprays of 50 odd deep burgundy red flowers. I shall report the results. Nick |
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- Posted by orchidnick z9Ca (orchidnick@yahoo.com) on Sat, Jul 14, 12 at 12:43
| At this point the one in regular dirt is doing better than the one in the manure mix. Both look healthy. Nick |
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