Dendrobium genus

I have added one more genus to the Orchideya.ca website: Dendrobium
Turned out I don't have that many pictures of dendrobiums, so if anybody has any, please feel free to upload...

Ottawa Orchid Show 2016

I have compiled a small video from the orchid show that took place in Ottawa on the weekend of April 17th, 2016. The video is bit shaky because it was done with a phone. I tried to use youtube enhancement feature to stabilize it, but it produced some tiny movements in shaking places that were more smooth but would really hurt my eyes after watching it for a while, so I reverted to original version.
Next time will try to keep my hands more stable.

Phalaenopsis lueddemanniana bloomed again

Such a productive little plant Phal. lueddemanniana used the same two old spikes to flower this time. And again two blooms opened up almost simultaneously. Instead of pictures I created video:



I now kind of sorry that I removed keiki from it. Would be a really nice display if keiki produced the flowers too at the same time.
I like everything about this species and would like to add one more - the paler version of it.

Cattleya araguaiensis deflasking

This is my first attempt at deflasking cattleya genus. As if it wasn't challenging enough, I have pretty bad experience with this particular species - Cattleya araguaiensis. I tried it back in 2012: one try, another try - but every one of them eventually died...
Maybe I was getting weak plants?
Now in flask with over 25 seedlings there should be at least one that is vigorous enough to grow nicely despite my care... That's my hope.



Flask came from Ching Hua orchid nursery.



Plantlets are on the slim side but have pretty long roots, that are much more flexible than brittle roots of paphs that I got used to. Agar was soft and came off very easy.



Deflasking cattleya for the first time I wasn't sure which mix and pots should I use for my araguaiensis seedlings. My old cattleyas grow in coconut husk chips, but seedlings probably require more moisture-retaining media. After much of debate with myself I decided to experiment with two mixes: sphagnum moss and mix of small coconut husk chips and sponge rock(perlite).



For sphagnum I used one net pot and one small shallow plastic tray with holes at the bottom(they work good for paph seedlings).
For coco mix - just plastic trays. Net pots are good for seedlings because they provide fast drying, but in the long run they pose the problem - roots tend to stick out in the holes and tangle within the net, so I don't really like compots in the net pots because you do need to repot compots eventually and will end up breaking those tangled roots... That's why I did only one net pot compot.

Here is the outcome : 4 pots with 6 seedlings in each.



They live in the smaller tank that is warm and humid.

Orchideya.ca redesigned

I have totally redesigned my orchid reference website at Orchideya.ca. There were several reasons for it.
Firstly, I got tired of black background.
Secondly, I wanted to use a layout that would adjust itself dynamically for any size of device used for browsing and still be usable. Bootstrap 3 allowed me to do so nice and easy with minimal CSS hassle.
Thirdly, I added features that provide some interaction with users. They can now upload their own images and they can leave comments about any grex. I don't require registration to do so, but comments have to be reviewed and approved before they will be visible. Same goes for the images. Just want to make sure I still have control over the content to keep it relevant and appropriate.
I added Analytics section where I plan to put some statistical reports about orchid registrations with graphs and grids. So far there is only one Phragmipedium registrations by year. I plan to add more soon.
I also added two new orchid generas - Vanda and Cattleya.
Both of them were recently reclassified and there were lots of duplicate names, so I had to append registration year to the name to somewhat distinguish between those duplicates: looks ugly, but should do the job.
If there are any discrepancies and confusions from such manipulations - please let me know, I will gladly fix it.
Paphiopedilum genus is in the works...