2017 Project Preliminary Poll
 

So here is the preliminary poll I made. I have made it so that you can vote for however many you want to see proceed. I figured this would be the best and most fair way to whittle the potential plant down. Once we reach a top 5 or so, we can then start checking for availability. Also, if we find that the two top candidates are just too different from each other, we can then make the decision to split the project as best seen fit.

FYI - Euchile citrina is nearly impossible to find...I've been looking for a decent one for at least 2 years. Might not be a good choice for the project but if someone finds it in the US, please let me know.:)

Looking like we might have some good plants to choose between!

It looks like the clear leaders are the Brassavola, the rupiculous Laelia, and Tolumnia. Is it too early still to cut the vote down and make a final selection?

Due to the forum fixing and such, I think it'd be fair to give it a few more days. After, I can always set up a second poll to narrow it down. There we can discuss availability of the plants.

Not only is the citrina hard to find, it's notoriously infamous for being challenging... as is ionopsis (usually dies pretty quickly), and quite frankly tolumnia... heard much griping about those over the years although they seem to be readily available... mine do ok I guess. just got another one from a friend who said "they do ok for you? all they do is die with me..."

I should also add rupiculous laelias are also known to be challenging, and from my own experience very slow growing and hard to get going in a new environment... some species easier than others...

The brassavola would be a great choice, readily available and very rewarding! but I and many probably have one already?

Just thinking aloud, something that grows well, adaptable, relatively easy to flower would be good for a group thing in my view...

I completely agree about the plant chosen being something relatively easy to grow and flower! I think it's helpful for people to know these things (as I certainly didn't know this before I cast my votes). Any other thoughts as to some additional unique plants that would fit this bill?

First, I agree we should pick something that isn't too hard to grow. The last project was Amsiella monticola. Reading that thread is painful. A lot of the people who participated in that haven't commented in this thread.

Brassavola grandiflora is not a large plant. It is much smaller than B. / Rhyncholaelia digbyana. It is perhaps smaller in scale than B. nodosa. B. glauca is a larger plant.

Brassavola and Tolumnia have a reputation as hard to grow. I know some people do grow them in pots with bark, but I can't imagine doing this. They are plants that like to get wet every day and dry quickly. On a mount, or in a tiny basket or clay pot with no medium, this is very easy. But you do have to water them just about every day. The only one I killed this way was a plant I put in a bucket to water and forgot about for 36 hours.

In the past, people have also selected particular hybrids that were readily available. An example from not long ago was Lc. Miss Wonderful. That project went well. It was an easy-to-grow and readily-available hybrid. There are lots of Cattleya alliance hybrids readily available. Many are on the small end, since breeders have been working to supply windowsill growers.

Two of the top choices in the poll are B. grandiflora and any rupicolous Laelia. There are sometimes hybrids available involving rupicolous Laelias, and they are a lot easier to grow than the species. For example, Bl. Richard Mueller (B. nodosa x L. milleri) This is sometimes called a Bc. because L. milleri has been transferred into Cattleya. Also Bl. Yellow Bird (Bl. Richard Mueller x B. nodosa, again sometimes called a Bc.). B. nodosa is a very similar plant to B. grandiflora. There is also a hybrid of L. briegerii x L. tenebrosa called Ipanema Beach which is very easy to grow.

I recall when people post photos of these Bl. or Bc. hybrids everybody replies Wow and I want one! Go look up Bl. Richard Mueller here on Orchid Board and see what you think. They are very easy plants to grow and flower. There have been a number of different hybrids made involving Bl. Richard Mueller. Maybe if we can't find enough of a single hybrid for everybody we could settle on any hybrid with Bl. Richard Mueller ancestry? Or a rupicolous Laelia x Cattleya hybrid?

Indeed, B. grandiflora is a smaller plant than B. nodosa. In my experience, Brassavolas are plants which grow and divide like weeds. No, faster than weeds. I had a B. nodosa which went from two leads to being a true specimen in under two years, going from a 2.5 inch pot to a 6.5 inch pot in that time. I know of the "hard to grow" reputation of the genus but I've surely never encountered it.

We could do a Brassavola primary. Cloud's Orchids in Canada doesn't have grandiflora, but it has quite a lot of other primaries and such. They also have a couple of Tolumnia hybrids. I've personally never had problems with Tolumnia, and they're fairly easy to keep happy as long as they dry very quickly.

B. nodosa is a wonderful plant, very similar to grandiflora except a bit larger.

I can't have any plants that require daily waterings. It's too hot and dry here in summer... and I want to go on vacation. hehe

The B. nodosa hybrids like Yellow Bird can be grown exactly like other Cattleyas, only they're even easier to grow. It's only the species that are particular about drying out quickly and frequent watering.

Yeah, I think brassavola's are pretty easy as long as you give them light and let them dry out completely, mounted or potted, would be great for you rbarata...

Yellow bird is good, richard mueller, but if you prefer lavender's or purple... bc. Maikai 'Mayumi' (b nodosa x cattleya bowringiana) and bl. Morning glory (b. nodosa x laelia purpurata) are great.

of list however I consider following good candidates (besides b. nodosa) for ease of culture from what I've heard (or know from personal experience):

-isabelia virginalis- great mini and forgiving
-dendrobium oligophyllum- great adaptable mini den that blooms at any time supposedly (yet to get one so it's a good excuse)
-brassavola glauca- tough brassavola, relatively compact (doesn't like cold though I'll tell you that much)

That is just lovely! Is it readily available? I'm in for that.

I can get a Brassavola glauca for 17 €.

-"isabelia virginalis- great mini and forgiving" if I may be blunt...It's interesting but looks like a bunch of toilet paper rolls with flowers.

LOL yeah I can see that and now cannot be removed from my mind...

the challenging thing with picking the project plant is it's gotta have mass appeal... so it's gotta appeal to species peeps (who "generally" are into "botanical" flowers and growth) and to "curb appeal" folks that appreciate a big bang hybrid flower...

I apologize...And Ubada, I get it...Perhaps I should have said it looks like a craft project gone wrong? If it means anything, I like lousy wine too. 🤑

I certainly would be game for any of those three or a rupicolous Laelia hybrid (although I have turned into a species guy myself). If you have any others that would be fun for the project I for one would welcome the suggestions and we could add them to the next poll.

The B. nodosa and Yellow Bird-type hybrids are awesome.

I sure wish we had our Like button back.

ditto!

Is it possible to add a new plant at this point?
I was thinking about Sobralia gentryi.
And can I still vote? I believe we can vote in more than one but I can't find any button.

You know, at this point we've gone through lists, talked about lists, voted on lists, and are now creating new lists. And still we've accomplished absolutely nothing toward getting started on a project. It's like trying to pass a bill in Congress - except I think Congress works a bit faster. And now we're introducing new possibilities to further muddy the waters.

I've pretty much lost interest at this point.

rbarata, a quick search shows that to be a pretty large plant...up to 18" tall. Might that be to large for most of us? Although it does seem suited to your climate.

I haven't noticed it could get so large. About the climate, it's cool to warm which fits, I think, most of us here. In fact, here in summer, it doesn't suits me so well.

I'll be honest that I have no real interest in the Brassavola. Slightly more interested in the Tolumnia, but not much. I have three I got last summer that have yet to bloom, so I do not know if I can bloom them, though it may be too early to tell.

I am up for a possible challenge with a rupiculous laelia, even if difficult. Of course, I like challenges. If the rupis are really too difficult, another Laelia group may be an option, such as the former Hadrolaelias, which are dwarfs and have many easy to grow species. Of course, we could broaden it even more to just Laelias and, if that genus is picked, offer up a few species.

I mentioned in the other thread about the possibility of a beginner/easy project plant and a more advanced one. It maybe still be an option if we can't decide.

I do think we have enough votes to start narrowing down to few options. It might be time for another poll with the top three groups, then work on selecting a species from the winner if laelia, or, going with one of the other two if they win. I think we need to move forward on this before peeps lose interest :).

Anyway, that's my $.02

I'm more inclined to Laelias. Like you've said, I'm not much interested in the Brassavola or Tolumnia. If any of these win, I hope it will be the Tolumnia because I know how to find the balance between coll and warm (Tolumnia) but between warm and hot it would need do additional measures (Brassavola).
Plus, I don't find the Barassavola appealing...sorry but I simply don't.
About Laelias, I've never have grown one but, from my readings, I don't find it difficult. Another word for rupicolous Laelias...I believe these are the ones that have the fame of being hard to grow mainly because...they don't like to be pampered due to some hardy component in their natural habitat. Plus most of them seems to be small.
May I sugest to read this?

Very informative article. Thank you.

Also, in case os Laelias I'm tempted to try one and see if I can make it grow between two rocks.
That would be interesting, kind of a mount made of rocks.:)

A like for reading it all.

It's a slow day, Charles, cause yesterday wasn't.

Too late. I'm dropping out of the possibility of this project and just coming up with my own.

It appears to me that two things are happening here. First, people want to grow a plant they WANT to grow, while the idea of the Project is to try something new. Second, once people see that their own choices aren't rising to the top they are looking to add to the list WHICH HAS ALREADY HAD ONE VOTE. I'd love to work with aplant along with others in the group but just have run out of patience with this absurdity.

I, personally, don't think the aggression is necessary or warranted. I am sorry you are frustrated with the process. Please keep in mind that others may still be interested in trying something they may not like just to do something with the group. I fall into that category, while not really interested in the Brassavola or Tolumnia, I would go with one or the other if it is the group's choice.

Nobody has taken a leadership role, I'm not surprised that things are disorganized. As I already said as well, we have a clear top three. Things are getting somewhere, if rather slowly.

This was a preliminary poll, I will add. It was never meant to be the final poll, but to narrow down a long list. It has served this function. We have a three-way tie, so, aside from another poll, I'm not sure how to break this.

jkofferdahl, I'm sorry you got upset with the way this thread took. Obviously, everybody wants to grow what they want to grow but I haven't seen in any post anyone saying "if it's not this one, then I don't want".

I'm not sure if you aimed this one at me but that's ok.
My only choice was Laelias, which is one of the three finalists. And as far as I understood, we were allowed to vote in more than one (which I din't, not only because forum doesn't allowed me, but also because I don't see anything more that could seduce me).
I've only sugested to add a new plant because that was mentioned before in previous posts without any fuss about it...so I thought it could still be a possibility.

Anyway, I think it's time to give another step forward if people think it's ok.

That wasn't aggression. Not even close! I'm typically grumpy and terse, admittedly and as usual, but if I become aggressive it's really bad.

I was like you, in that I was willing to try something new because it would be a learning experience; now that I'm giving up on this I've decided to set up a mini-garden of nothing but miniature orchid species, and have ordered lights, a table, and plants for this. I want to learn about new plants.

And yes, we had a clear top three and then others tried to add new plants to the list. C'mon, man. That's like having a vote for President, disliking the results, and demanding a new vote with added candidates. I expected to vote from the three top candidates but this has simply become an absurd burden to even think about.

Well, hopefully we'll hear more from others... takes time to figure out best one for all's interests and conditions and such... obviously not everyone has to participate. I only had time for one last year myself... thought it would be fun to be more involved with a project this year...

Rupiculous laelias are challenging I can promise... they need full light, dry cold winters, need to dry out between waterings, grown often in rocks, but getting them established in rocks is another story... seen them grown in bark... anyway, if everyone is interested why not go for it, but with how slow growing they are I'd anticipate that being the orchid of the next 4 years LOL

Ok, so someone voiced out brassavolas, and well they do need a LOT of light...

maybe scrapping current list and starting a new preliminary might be worth doing (if not rupiculous laelias)?

... or Hadrolaelias would be great- pumila, praestans, dayana, all lovely and temp tolerant and prefer a little less light than other cattleyas...

It's apparent that there's not a lot of support for a single project as of now. There's obvious reasons that a project can be difficult to get off the ground. It has to be a plant that everyone is interested in and easy to grow for everyone interested. I think the ongoing forum issues did some damage to the regular member count. I think that if we wait a bit, for both the forum to stablise and member count to return, we can give this another go. It's true that this thing is a bit disorganised because there was no clear leader. I tried to fill that spot, but I've been hit with a massive depressive swing as of late, and that has kinda impacted my ability to organise things on this end.

I agree the OB issues didn't help. I think this is a good decision, Cody. I hope you will feel better soon.