Nobile Dendrobium in all it’s glory.

This plant is more like a bush  than a single plant. Orchids love to be set free from their pots. They grow and grow without a lot of help.

Flowers popping up every day.

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What’s blooming in Ocean View, March 2017

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2017

I love this plant. I smile when I see it opening. I could tell you about the species but one can get that info easily enough. This plant is hardy; it survives in Ocean View, Hawaii, where the rain is slight, the winter temperature drops at night and the days are bright. We are at 2300 feet elevation; I know it grows nearer to the ocean where the young plant was raised. It seems delicate and lasts a long while.

This person lives in the shade house as a sort of guardian and is never sold. The orange blossom scent equals the best orange trees. I find it an indicator plant for mealy bugs. They will go here first. I pay attention and look around for more.

These popped out of nowhere. They do love being on lava. I forgot they were here. When I gazed at their faces I felt the slime that’s been floating around the ethers thin.

Orchids blooming in Ocean View, November 2016

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What’s blooming in Ocean View, August 1, 2016

A curtain of orchids graces our deck. This species is one of the parents of Dendrobium Mousmee, a favorite on the farm. This plant has been known as Dendrobium bronckartii De Wild.

These pendent type Dendrobiums would be happy up in tree but alas, it will have to suffer in the pot for now.

C. jenmanii semi-alba

Sobralia gentryii sets flowers several times a season from the same stems. All flower at once and are lightly fragrant. This is a bush in the ground. Not all orchids are epiphytes.

Jackie is asking permission to come on my lap. She has earned the official title of landscape plant destroyer. She must get great joy of pulling out heavy pots of orchids and bromeliads and chewing on them. Any suggestions welcome.

See the Roots

An Experiment Succeeds!

I’ve had trouble growing Grammatophyllums for many years thinking (blaming) my poor luck on the weather, the ongoing emissions from our Volcano, and my lack of skill or focus.  I was at an orchid society meeting with Roy Tokunaga of H&R Orchids as the speaker.  I saw his awarded plant covered with so many blooms that the plant disappeared.  He said his method stopped the inner bulbs from rotting, which had been my problem.  Following his method, I cut off ALL the roots from the bulbs; most were bad anyway.  I put the naked pseudobulb in a clean pot with rigid styrofoam chunks just to hold it in place.  I put the pots back on the bench and watered with everything else. After a few months I removed the styrofoam, a piece at a time.  I pulled this one out of the pot for the pix.   The new beautiful roots are growing to the pots with NO medium.  Now there is nothing to rot and the roots couldn’t be happier.  Give it a try.

 

See the roots. Notice the green root tips

August Landscaping Blooms

As an orchid addict, I found it difficult or impossible to throw away unhealthy plants.  I’ll bet a few of you out there can relate.  With much trial and error, I figured out how to bring them back to health.  When I was sure the plant was virused or had bacteria, I threw it away.  Bacteria has a nasty smell that’s hard to forget. Virused is more difficult, but I tried to err on the side of safety and tossed when in doubt.  That left the fungus infected and just unhappy-with-me plants.  Why I had so many unhappy plants would be the real issue, but in the process of it all, I learned a whole lot about Landscaping with Orchids.   Below are some of the survivors.

Rescued Cattleya

Den. Bill Takamatsu

C. boringiana with rosemary

Lc. Novissima ‘Blue Shadows’

Blc. Mahina Yahiro

See what’s blooming in Ocean View 7/4/2014

These beauties are gracing my farm and home.

Pot. Hwa Yuan Gold YK #2

Rhyncolaelia digbyana ‘Miss Chase’

Laelia tenebrosa x sib

On another note, while I walked around today, I found myself wondering if I should water something. I decided that since it rains/pours every day in Central America where  Peristeria elata live, giving mine more water would be just the thing. It seems best to try grow plants that come from areas with similar weather patterns to where one lives.  Remember the airlines brought them from somewhere. Having lived in Central America, I remember the pouring rains almost every day in the summer. We look at books and charts for climate information but nothing teaches us more than being in a place and experiencing the weather for ourselves.

Peristeria elata

A bit of encouragement is always nice

I’m sharing this letter I received last July but I never get tired of reading it… and yes, we are working on that online store!

“Hello!

I am Pam Castle and I just received the package of lovely Dendrobia that Jurahame selected for me. These are truly some of the very NICEST Dends that I have ever seen.

Thank you very much and thank you for the awesome packaging job! Some folks grow great orchids, only to have them ruined by bad shipping. All the blooms and spikes arrived intact! 🙂

If you ever create an online store, do let me know, as I will be happy to purchase from you again.

Cheers! Pam”