My new haul from Elsner Orchideen

[camille1585]

This weekend I received my order from Elsner Orchideen, a German grower. The plants are perfect, as usual. Healthy plants, gorgeous roots, medium in great condition, and very well packed (and packed dry). Customer service is excellent. I had started preparing my order a couple weeks before, and when I finally did check out, 2 of the plants were no longer available. After a lighting fast email exchange, she added them back onto the site for me (there were still a few hiding in the greenhouse).

I ordered 4 plants this time (though I was eyeing about 5 others, including a Clowesia Rebecca Northern that I’ve been wanting and searching for for quite a long time, but I’d rather wait until spring to try my first catasetum!). So I got:

*Phrag Sedenii (was told it’s a good choice for a first Phrag)
*Paph Magic Lantern (so excited, it’s been on my wishlist for a very long time)
*Neofinetia falcata (the weird growing one I wrote about in another thread)
*Leptotes bicolor.

The Leptotes is mounted, and I’m so happy to finally replace the plant I lost years ago. Yesterday I found a beautiful glass jar to hang it in, and added some leca and a bit of water at the bottom for extra humidity. I have it on my desk at work for now, and had the idea to place it on top of my laptop’s docking station and the warmth of the dock gets transfers to the jar. Inside it’s nice and warm and humid, perfect for a mount! My only concern is weekends, since it’s at work it will go 2 days without water. I may have to bring it home every weekend. (My colleagues are going to think I’m the crazy orchid lady, but maybe that isn’t too far from the truth).

First photo is the 4 plants from Elsner, and the second is the current state of my office. I have a nice west facing window. At the end of the week I’ll be adding 2 Neos to this setup, and next week I’ll bring whatever I happen to buy at a local show on Saturday… It’ll be a couple more months at least before I can restart the collection at home.

[Pattywack]

Camille your new plants are beautiful, very healthy looking! The glass jar looks great, I’ll bet the Leptotes bicolor loves it in there. I have this plant and it has grown well though never flowered for me. I recently moved it to my greenhouse/shelving unit and hope it flowers eventually.

It seems you have a excellent grow space at your office and quite a bit of empty space...yay! I’ve never grown a Phrag or Paph though they are beautiful orchids.

I too am going to an orchid show next weekend in Baltimore Md, hope to find a few “must haves” as J&L will be there with their awesome miniature orchids. Last years show I went a little crazy and brought home 18 new plants! I had a blast!

Did I see on another post that you will be going to Japan? That will be awesome, I’m pretty jealous! I would be on a Neo pot hunt for sure and would love to visit any growers while there. You will have to post a thread all about that trip!!!

Congratulations on the new orchids, they are beautiful, thanks for sharing.

[camille1585]

18 plants!?! And I thought I had a problem! "Luckily" I never come home with much from this show. It's quite small, mostly hobbyists selling their divisions and other home grown orchids, and a handful of pro growers. It starts at 10am, and the good stuff is usually wiped out within an hour. And my boyfriend is tagging along, so I have to show some self restraint.

Funny that your Leptotes is reluctant to bloom, my previous one seemed to throw spikes quite easily! I was growing it indoors under lights.

And yes, in a bit over a month I'll be in Japan! I'm in Osaka for a weeklong meeting, then staying an extra 5 days to visit temples/shrines/autumn foliage around Kyoto and Nara. I'm trying to find out if there are any Neo shows or growers in that area that I could go to. Seed Engei is too far sadly, and I'd never be able to convince my boyfriend that a 4+ hour round trip train ride is a good way to spend a day. I also have no idea if they are open to visitors.

[jcec1]

Plants are looking healthy, which is good news - seems like we have a good supplier we can use. The vase for the Leptotes is really nice looking, I often think orchids can be quite ugly when not in bloom - but that display is very pretty.

[orchidsarefun]

Phrag Sedenii ( and phrag Schroedera ) are the fastest growing orchids I've ever had - in the right conditions it's not unheard of to get 4 growths per year. I would advise repotting into a cymbidium pot ( much deeper than wide ). Multifloral paphs and phrags love them.

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by orchidsarefun

Phrag Sedenii ( and phrag Schroedera ) are the fastest growing orchids I've ever had - in the right conditions it's not unheard of to get 4 growths per year. I would advise repotting into a cymbidium pot ( much deeper than wide ). Multifloral paphs and phrags love them.

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can find one saturday at the local show! Can Phrags be repotted whenever, or is it better to wait until spring and new growth?

And if my research is correct, Sedenii's parents are both streambank species, so I assume that I should be keeping this one fairly wet.

[orchidsarefun]

Yes, they like to be kept moist, though I've never stood them in a saucer of water. The shape of the pot helps. You can repot now, just not mid-Summer. About 20% sphagnum in the mix is about right.

[syspila]

Gorgeous plants!!!!

[camille1585]

Originally Posted by jcec1

Plants are looking healthy, which is good news - seems like we have a good supplier we can use. The vase for the Leptotes is really nice looking, I often think orchids can be quite ugly when not in bloom - but that display is very pretty.

Yes, it's nice to have a list of high class vendors to choose from! I like the German nurseries most, aside from shipping costs I find them to be much more affordable than the well known French growers for instance. Another one I recommend (if you can stomach the shipping fees) is Nardotto e Capello in Italy, who sell species, primarily. They had hands down some of the best plants I've ever seen, but I have not ordered from them in a very long time, because of the shipping costs (24€ for GB and NL...).

[estación seca]

The Leptotes should be fine when you're away for the weekend, but maybe not sitting on the warmer.

And maybe you could figure out a way to cover the openings so humidity stays up over the weekend? I set a decorative dish on top of a large top-mouthed jar filled with orchids, and set another orchid on top of the dish.

As an aside, I have seen USB coffee and ramen cup warmers sold on Japanese sites. I wonder about a USB powered enclosed, lighted terrarium for small orchids?
usb ramen warmer at DuckDuckGo