New to Forum, Not to Orchids
 

Hi all,

I'm Colin. I have been growing orchids for years, but have recently gone a little mad! I have started to dabble with breeding and flasking in a small "mad scientist" home laboratory and am keeping a blog about it at MadOrchidist.com

I am the president of the small "Coastal Valley Orchid Society" and am also active with the "Orchid Society of Santa Barbara". I studied Zoology at UCSB, but am a nut for all things Biology, both plant and animal.

I grow mostly Cattleya Alliance stuff, and have recently taken a special interest in the (somewhat taxonomically confused) Schomburgkia/Laelia/Myrmecophila group.

Anyway, I look forward to reading and posting more here . . .

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kr13Eyj0UJ...1600/photo.JPG

Welcome Colin! :)

Welcome to OB! That's a nice growing area you have!

:welcomeflowers:

Nice to have you here Colin!! :)

I love your growing area, it looks so peaceful.

Welcome! And I completely jealous of your outdoor grow area :)

WELCOME ABOARD!

I envy that you can grow orchids outdoors all year.
Your grow zone is conducive to that... your atmosphere is so humid that it shows by the robust plants and thick roots you have ...I like the vanda in a big pail...altho you can just put it in a hanger bareroot ... water it every other day...it will still survive in your area

:welcomeflowers:
Glad you found us!

Thanks - Good Eye
 

That is one of my favorite vandas, V. suavis, and it does remarkably well outdoors here. It is actually potted in granite rocks - weighs a ton! The specimen that it is a piece from is taller than I am. It is actually floor to ceiling out at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate, and I also saw a giant one at the St. Louis Botanic Gardens, so I like the idea of a solid base for a plant that will probably have to sit on the ground eventually . . .

Aha...Santa Barbara Orchids...thats where I got same specimen...its fragrant sequential bloomer all year round...I can see that you had 2 spikes lately...did it produce a keiki for you?

No free plants yet, but it has another flower spike coming on now. Reliable, durable, fragrant (like coconut), and gorgeous - what more could an orchidist ask for?!