Figs

The small fruit nets work great ....  I can finally get to the fruits before the birds. 2 different variety of figs. They dont taste as sweet as they should be but the fruit size is getting larger. Plants are still small so may get better .

Quick snapshots

Have been busy ,  orchids a bit neglected , took some quick shots this morning.... 3 new growth from the Bulbophyllum spiesii and the bulbs are getting larger as the plant mature. This one is comparable to a mid size apple.  The dendrobium totem pole is also doing great. Orchids are getting established and have started to bloom.

Sorry for the silence..... Went galanvanting !

Went to chase the cherry blossoms, planned last year but missed the trip because the blooms were much earlier than expected by almost 2 weeks. This year my guess was much better. Still it was not perfect. We had planned to land in tokyo last week of march , 2 to 3 days after the start of cherry blossoms,  leave after a few days just as the blooms near peak and arrive in shizuoka then kyoto and osaka to experience the cherry trees in full bloom but  just before the trip the weather went cold hit by a stream of cold air delaying the blooming process, what was supposed to be peak blooms by end of march became only 50% to 70% and the sky became cloudy and day temperature dropped to below 15 C. Luckily we managed to make some adjustments and could delay departure by a few days to enjoy the warmer sunny weather and catch the kyoto and osaka cherry trees in full bloom.

Phalaenopsis speciosa C1 red

Phalaenopsis speciosa C1 in bloom. It's  indigo/purple  sibling has also thrown out a spike... 

Acclimatisation in progress

Made holes and cuts on the top and sides of the container to get the seedlings accustomed to growing in normal enviromnent. The covers will eventually be removed and they will continue to grow in these containers untill ready for potting or mounting onto fern barks  or cork bark.

Renanthera kalsom 4N

This has been growing tied to a red palm. Not reached full potential yet but nice large blooms nontheless.

Deflasked

The process is not too difficult, I didn't want to break the bottles so all that was needed was a few gentle shakes then with the help of a korean metal chopstick ( wiped with alcohol) the seedlings came out of the bottle quite easily. I am using mid size plastic food containers, these are good as they allow light and maintain high humidity. I made holes in the bottom for drainage. media is just spaghnum moss to start. The media is washed off the seedling roots and they are given a short soak in a diluted fungicide solution. I sort them out grouping the larger ones of the same parentage together into one container. Placed on the moist moss, they are kept covered in a bright area with some morning sun. Remember to remove the covers if the sun is direct otherwise the seedlings will get cooked. First few days I keep the humidity high so that they don't get shocked in the new environment. Holes are slowly added on to allow the seedlings to adjust to open air growing.

I use Lushgro Tuber from eco city hydrophonics to encourage new root growth and Gaviota 63 both very diluted.

Sun bathing.....