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2007 Archived Messages


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Links to all the Photos and other images accompanying the list messages can be found on the Images page.

MONTHDATEDATEDATEDATEMONTHDATEDATEDATEDATE
January 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31 February 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-29
March 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31 April 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-30
May 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31 June 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-30
July 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31 August 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31
September 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-30 October 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31
November 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-30 December 1-7 8-14 15-21 22-31

8—14 April

From: Tricia Garner
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: what's going on?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:05

Received and broadcast on 8th April.

Andy, it seems to be a combination of problems. Virgin.net frequently
return list messages citing the reason 'service not available', the most
recent being a message originally sent on March 9th. I have contacted my
ISP who say they are aware of the problem and are trying to sort it out.

You are not alone!

Regards,

--

Tricia

Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] what's going on?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:40

I have noticed a similar phenomenon to Andy's! A trivial contribution from me, sent off on March 8th, turned up on April 4th. Maybe Einstein was wrong and electrons now travel much slower than they used to. I thought it was a peculiarity/problem of my system but for the last two days I have been emailing to and receiving from Canada almost as in a live conversation. The problem is, therefore, external to my machine.

So what is the problem/solution?

John (Sunday April 8th)

Andy Mckeown wrote on Saturday, April 07:

> The list offerings have become more and more post-modern in their
> presentation in the last 3 months. My postings appear only
> sporadically, sometimes months after I send them, responses to
> solutions appear without the original problem or it's solution. It
> reminds me of that Ronnie Corbett sketch when his Mastermind special
> subject was "Answering questions before they are asked".

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From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] what's going on?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:50

I had thought it was my personal PC problems especially in the saga of
preparing for Vista, and trying to avoid using Outlook − trying various
different e-mail programmes etc. and then having horrendous problems ,
eventually removing Vista, etc etc.. I won't bore you with the whole story
.

And then − from Tricia's comments that it seemed to be only virgin
customers, − me − and Andy − that's the answer.

But prompted by your comments Andy , I have to say that I am not aware of
any problems at all with the other group where I usually get more mail than
I do from Orchid-Talk. So I have to echo you .

-------------------------------------------------------------

From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: what's going on?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 10:50

Hi Tricia,
Since I am not of Virgin.net but Tiscali, you may be interested that I, too,
have met a similar problem to Andy's.
No need to reply − so long as you are aware.
Cheers
John

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From: JIM MATEOSKY
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: gongora vs stanhopea?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:25

--0-1337240957-1176035183:6981

Hi everyone,

I have several different Gongeras and stanhopeas, don't have the names and haven't seen the flowers yet. I am trying to get my hands on how best to grow this guys. They are in well drained baskets. I have read several books and looked at a few web sites and getting conflickting info.

Any advice compare to cattleyas?
Light Gongeras more or less than catleyas?
Water Gongeras more or less than catleyas?
Light Sanhopeas more or less than catleyas?
Water Stanhopeas more or less than catleyas?
Temperature?
Resting periods?

Thanks,

Jim

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From: Barbara Larimer
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: what's going on?
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 16:35

------_Part_40152_13469055.1176046613822

I also sent a message to Tricia (at her individual address − not to the
list) last week and had it returned as undeliverable.

Tricia, are you considering switching to a new ISP?

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From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: A Garden Centre bargain !!!
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 17:50

Hi all,

I just could not resist this Laeliocattleya, [if that's what it is?] as it was marked down because only one flower remained.

The cost was £6.00.

I first eyed it up and observed that there was a nice new growth at the back end and that there was a blackened bulb about midway along the rhizome. This told me that was the reason for the new growth at the rear.

So, when I got home I de-potted it, picked all of the very short moss pieces from around the roots, washed it and then very carefully cut off all dead roots and then peeled the husks from the bulbs. Then used my very sharp pointed tweezers to remove the now damp pieces of husk from the base of the bulbs to give the eyes a better chance of survival.

Finally I potted up the two pieces. The smaller piece has a little lump of cork bark inserted between the three bulbs to keep the new growth going in the correct direction.

The larger piece has one of those pot clips fixed to it to keep the rhizome pointing at the correct angle. It is not there to stop the plant from falling over as when potted in stone chippings this is never needed. It's there because the last bulb was canting backwards, possibly due to how it was commercially grown.

It is a nice looking flower and the other plants of this cross have three or four flowers to a spike. One thing that I did note was that it is obviously one of the 'Ladder' type growing orchids. As my good friend describes all orchids that gradually grow out of the pot at that 'ladder' angle.

So, does anyone have a name for it please

Regards, Rocky.

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From: Tricia Garner
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: [OrchidTalk] Problems, problems
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 19:55

I'm sorry some of you are not receiving messages promptly. Most ISPs have
problems at some point, some more frequently than others. There currently
seems to be a conflict between my ISP, demon.net, and virgin.net which I
hope will be resolved soon.

I am not considering switching to a different ISP − yet − because as far as
I can tell it's rather like jumping out of the frying-pan into the fire...

Fingers crossed,

--

Tricia

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

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From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Trip to Thailand.
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:50

Roger

In my 2 trips to Thailand, the only orchids that I saw reasonably near were
the terrestrials, except for 1 area where 2 or3 orchids were on a large
rock. There were lots of orchids in the trees but all very high up. Perhaps
the lower ones had all been "harvested"!

Ron

Roger Grier wrote on 06 April:

> Hi there Andy, and welcome home to the cold wind, but much better now.

> Andy, you know how I think, so did you take any photos of orchids actually
> growing attached to their host trees/rocks or whatever, and did you take any
> photos of their root systems?

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From: Tina Stagg
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Problems and (not with) Bifrenaria
Date: Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:55

I use Outlook Express 6 and my (broadband) ISP is Pipex. I have no problems and no spam either. Pipex is not the cheapest but perhaps you get what you pay for. I always used it for work, found it totally reliable, and just carried on when we retired.

I have two good pots full of Bifrenaria harrisoniae in flower at the moment. I find that shallow clay pots and a north-west facing corner in the greenhouse suit them best. I must find time to use my camera.

Regards and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it,
Tina

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From: Kenneth Bruyninckx
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] gongora vs stanhopea?
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 07:05

Jim,

Light Gongeras more or less than catleyas? -> less light than Cattleyas

Water Gongeras more or less than catleyas? -> more water/humid conditions
than Cattleyas

Light Sanhopeas more or less than catleyas? -> less light than Cattleyas

Water Stanhopeas more or less than catleyas? -> more water/humid conditions
than Catttleyas

Temperature? -> most intermediate/warm (minimum 15°C at night and minimum
20°C during the day)

Resting periods? -> no rest period, don't believe the books on this one if
you want the maximum amount of flowers on a happy plant ! Our plants may
receive less water in wintertime, but they are watered when the basket is
dry.

Kind regards,

Kenneth

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From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: What problem ?
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 08:50

Mornin' all, from a very misty still morning here on the south coast.

At least all of our E-mails do get through..........even if some of them turn up days later.

And I dare say that after quite a few of us have made comments and the various different 'Servers' have had their ears bashed, that it will sort itself out very shortly.

The Reverend 'Rocky' Grier.

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From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: A few comments.
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 16:10

Hi Ron, On reading what you and Andy have said about trips to Thailand etc, I just would like to put out a plea to anyone who visits countries where 'our' orchids grow to please where possible take photos of the plants growing naturally, especially the root run and what the orchid is attached to.

And Hi to Tina, go on spoil my day..........my Bifrenaria Harrisoniae that was GIVEN to me just sat there over the months and died..........perhaps that's why it was given FREE !!! Anyhow, I have always loved this plant, especially for the fragrance. Can you tell me where you think the best place to buy a plant, from say the U.K. ?

The orchids in my greenhouse, especially the Cattleyas, are now showing their new growths, so any re-potting will have to be done in the next weeks.

Regards, Rocky.

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From: Sharon Williams
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] A Garden Centre bargain.
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:05

Hi Rocky:
I am very envious of the state of your lovely alpine garden. We just recently had 5cm of snow, but it is just about gone by now. My alpine garden looks to be about 1 month behind yours!
So. if I understand you correctly, you just put these clay pots in a saucer of water and water when the saucer is dry -the water in saucer is not wicked up but just serves as an indicator of when rewatering needs to happen again. Makes a lot of sense to me, but I would imagine that would be just about daily in the heat of the summer in the gh.
cheers
Sharon

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From: nancy
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] gongora vs stanhopea?
Date: Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:05

Hi Jim -
Well, you ask a lot of questions!
My luck with stanhopeas has not been as good as with
gongoras; I suspect I need to water the stanhopeas a
bit more.
Both are recommended for shade; I find they do much
better, and bloom better, with more light − dappled
sun early and late seems to suit them pretty well.
Many/most of my cattleyas get a lot of direct sun, so
certainly less than that but more than what is
typically recommended.
I grow both in wire or wood baskets, and they seem to
appreciate a daily hosing off. I do not give either a
'rest' period, though they get less watering in
winter.
Neither genera has very long-lasting flowers, but they
can bloom sequentially for long periods, and the
flowers are bizarrely beautiful and very fragrant.
Regards − Nancy

~~~~~~~~~~~
"Imagination was given to man to
compensate him for what he is not;
a sense of humor to console him
for what he is."
--- Sir Francis Bacon

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From: francis quesada pallares
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] A few comments.
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:45

Hi Rocky,

I got a (very) cheap Bifrenaria harrisoniae from
Laurence Hobbs. At first it sat there and looked as
though nothing was happening. Then, one of the back
bulbs started to go yellow, so I cut it and potted it
on its own... Both divisions gave me a single, small,
punny growth last year, and are beginning to grow new
roots now... Hope this year the growths get bigger!
Will let you all know how I get on with them, as I
have been told that this plant can be very
temperamental!

Francis.

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From: Roger Grier
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: A name please !!!
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:00

Mornin' all,

This lovely Cattleya hybrid came into my possession last year and I am highly delighted with it. It also has a nice perfume.

Thing is, there was no label, so can anyone suggest a name please.

Kind regards, Rocky.

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re;Chong-yee Khoo
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 16:15

It is a long time since I have seen Orchid Talk correspondence from Chong-yee Khoo.
Does anyone know if he is OK and still in the group?
I'm sure I can speak for more than myself and say we miss his good orchid sense and fine photography.

The last memorable encounter I recall was when he was experimenting with rotating 3-D images. That must be quite a while ago.

If you're there Chong-yee, should we be imagining that you are producing an orchid tome with illustrations in the style of those Harry Potter-esque movie ones?

Best wishes
John

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From: Mark R
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 18:25

Hi all, my first post to the list.
I was just given a very strange and interesting leafless orchid,
Chiloschista usenoides. It is mounted on a piece of what I believe is
birch with some live sphagnum moss. I've been able to find some basic
information on it's culture but I'm wondering if anyone has some
specific tips. In particular, I'm not sure I can provide the 90%
relative humidity that some sources recommend, though it will get
daily misting. Any warnings or personal experience? Is a temperature
drop and less frequent watering enough to induce blooms?
An interesting plant, I would hate to kill it.
Thanks, Mark

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From: Ron Bower
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re;Chong-yee Khoo
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:10

Yes indeed. I thought he would be giving and enjoying much of his time to his first born son.
Ronbow.

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From: Tina Stagg
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: In flower now
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 22:00

I can't remember who asked me to take pics of my 'new' greenhouse but here they are.

Also, Bifrenaria harrisoniae var. alba, in flower now. I'm sorry, Rocky, but I don't know where to buy it from as I was given mine, too. It hasn't flowered quite as well as last year as I didn't get round to repotting it last spring. It does like fresh compost every year. I am attaching a pic of last year's flowers just to make you even more envious.

Lycaste consobrina, a lovely little deciduous. I do prefer the deciduous yellow species to the big hybrids.

Zygopetalum Pinaroo (Blue Lake 'Sandown' x Titanic 'Australia'), only three flowers but good shape, size and colour.

Regards, Tina

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] In flower now
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 12:20

Hi Tina,
Congratulations on those beautiful pics and those tidy orchid lodgings!
Not a mealie bug or an abseiling mollusc in sight!
Almost perfection; for that we'd like one of your unobstructed view of the N.Wales coast as well
(and then we could all use it for a screensaver pretend we lived in paradise!)
John

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:00

Hi Mark,

I don't know if Chilochistas are regarded by experts as particularly
difficult but our experience is of having lost several species in turn
because we weren't diligent enough and they dried out.

I think you need to bear in mind that the plant and its mount probably has a
relatively large surface area and it doesn't take long for them to dry out
beyond a point of no return. (Much quicker than other bigger plants.) I
have to confess to being at level two of our three stages to growing
orchids; (1) keeping 'em alive, (2) keeping 'em alive and flowering them and
(3) keeping them alive and flowering them AGAIN! We have usually managed a
couple of years with them but I'm sure their demise was our neglect. Ours
were mostly mounted on those little wooden crates and maybe they aren't the
best mounts. We had one mounted on a green ?nylon coarse-felted pan scrub
and that lasted quite well I recall.

They really are beautiful plants, even if a hand lens is necessary to really
appreciate them. Someone out there may be able to advise on the possibility
of fungus if too wet but ours certainly didn't suffer that fate.

John

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From: Sharon Williams
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] In flower now
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:40

HI Tina: It was me that asked about your greenhouse. What a fantastic design -did you make it up yourself? I think the shading cloth curtains are brilliant! Would you mind answering some questions for me?
1. Where do you live?
2. Is this a seasonal greenhouse only or do you run it all year? If all year, what are your winter lows and summer highs?
3. What is on the floor for drainage?
4. How do you heat/cool it?
5. Apart from the vent at the top, are there openable windows/other vents?
Thanks SO much for sharing these!
Sharon

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From: Tina Stagg
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] In flower now
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:35

A bit hazy today, John, so no pretty islands, but here's the sunset to be going on with.

Tina

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From: Tina Stagg
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Ditto with attachment!
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:35

A bit hazy today, John, so no pretty islands, but here's the sunset to be going on with.

Tina

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From: Barbara Larimer
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Ditto with attachment!
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 22:35

Tina,

Ok, I will admit to being pea green with envy!!

With snow in our forecast for the weekend, I am dreaming of more idyllic
places. Yours looks lovely!

Barbara

On 4/13/07, Tina Stagg wrote:
>
> A bit hazy today, John, so no pretty islands, but here's the sunset to be
> going on with.

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From: Mark R
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:25

Thank you very much for the tips John.

Are you saying yours died of neglect or that they required more care
than you could reasonably provide? Any idea what humidity you grew
them at? Did they ever rebloom for you?

I have a lot of experience with mounted orchids but they've all be of
the easy and forgiving type (Angraecum, Aerangis, and Phals). This one
scares me a little. I guess I'll just stick it in my most humid
terrarium and see how it goes.

Thanks again.
Mark

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From: Tony Watkinson
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:30

I was reading somewhere about the Ghost Orchid from Florida, and the article
mentioned that the best of them grew low down on the trunks of trees which
were sitting in water. The bark tends to wick the water up to the orchid so
that it can access as much or as little as it requires. I have tried to do a
similar thing with Chilochistsa after loosing a few. I have one mounted on a
piece of branch which sits in a small tub of water. Still growing after some
three or four years.
Another is mounted on an upside down basket which has a large piece of
sponge inside it. The whole thing sits in a shallow tray full of water. Some
of the roots are growing through the holes in the basket and sit on the wet
sponge all the time. It tends to get some algae growing around it, but I am
not one of those who have an inbuilt fear of algae and so leave it alone. It
is the largest Chilo that I have and looks really healthy.

Works for me

Hope this helps

Tony

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Ditto with attachment!
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:00

Hi Tina,
What can I say?
Perhaps, . . . in a word; phwoar! ** or as my granddaughter might say "Cool" (pronounced Coo-wal with a German lilt)
**phwoar, int. colloq. (orig. and chiefly Brit.).
Brit. /f(w)/, U.S. /f(w)()r/ DRAFT REVISION Apr. 2006

Forms: 19- foooar, 19- fwoah, 19- fwoar, 19- fwooaar, 19- fwooah, 19- fwooar, 19- phoar, 19- phooah, 19- phooar, 19- phwoaah, 19- phwoaar, 19- phwoah, 19- phwoar, 19- phwooah, 19- phwooar, 19- phwooargh, 19- phwoor, 19- phwoorr, 19- phwor, 19- phworr. Other forms with o and a occurring three or more times, and with similar repetition of final h or r, are also occas. attested. [Imitative.
Perh. influenced by COR int. Cf. PHEW int., FAUGH int.]
As an enthusiastic expression of desire, approval, or excitement, esp. in regard to sexual attractiveness: 'cor!' 'wow!'

Quite a good expression of approval for many orchids too I think!
Thanks

John

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From: John Stanley
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 10:05

Hi Mark,
To be absolutely honest, it is my wife who daily tends our orchids but I
often choose unusually difficult ones for our greenhouse and she then
struggles to give them what they need. An appropriate comment from her
might be "Here's another fine mess you've gotten me into" as Ollie used to
say (are you antique enough to remember?)

Our real problem is not so much neglecting them as trying to do the
near-impossible of growing too great a diversity of orchids in the same
greehouse. I have no doubt we'll have Chilochistas again but with the
experience of the previous ones (and Tony Watkinson's info) we'll make sure
they don't dry out. This would be in spite of Bechtel, Cribb and Launert's
advice(Manual of Cultivated Orchids p.110) that recommends allowing drying
out between waterings. We try to keep humidity at 80 but we know it drops
below from time to time and varies according to where we measure it..

As I said (I hope) in the previous email, we don't consider ourselves
'experts' but we try to learn by our mistakes and I think the prime lesson
with our Chilochista species is not to let them dry out. Yes, we have had
reblooming but not repeatedly and we haven't managed longevity like Tony
Watkinson ('s orchids). My suspicion is that we've become complacent when
they have seemed OK and our attention has been diverted to the next oddball
species we've acquired.

Tony's idea of a sponge reservoir seems a good one. Even then, there are so
many different kinds of (plastic foam) sponge that one needs to make sure
that it is 'open cell' rather than 'closed cell' sponge and will wick up
moisture. Also, having a glass "terrarium" box with an independent
microclimate could well help. All we need is space!
Good Luck
John

"Mark R" wrote on Friday, April 13
> Thank you very much for the tips John.
>
> Are you saying yours died of neglect or that they required more care
> than you could reasonably provide? Any idea what humidity you grew
> them at? Did they ever rebloom for you?

-------------------------------------------------------------

From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: orchid pics
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 14:30

I have taken a lot of orchid pics lately and have been ( maybe ?) adding
them to my web-site , but encountering great difficulties doing this. It
seemed as though the new pages were not getting to the site.

Sometimes they weren't − which is another story − but I am now told ( by my
domain host) that my ISP- ( virgin.net ) , along with a few others, uses a
web-cache system , which effectively prevents me from seeing a new version
of a web-page after I have uploaded it − even if I by-pass the obvious cache
on my PC by refreshing. Eventually that web-cached page gets lost and only
then can I see a newer version .

This seems to me to be quite useless for any webmaster.

Looks as though I must change ISP again. I'll talk to virgin about it first
. Can anyone recommend their broadband supplier and say that they definitely
don't do this ?

Geoff

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From: Tricia Garner
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: orchid pics
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 16:35

It's also known as a Proxy − can you not turn it off? I always keep it
turned off here for the very reason you mention. See the attached screen
shot where the options are greyed out as I have chosen not to enable them.

I imagine you must have some similar kind of setting you can choose, rather
than have to change your ISP.

Regards,

--

Tricia

Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, and I thought to myself, where the heck is the ceiling?

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From: Dennis Read
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Biff. harrisoniae 'Alba'
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:10

Many years ago i bought this orchid from a nursery near Cullompton in Devon, I think the owners had a name like Trussel. This has been growing well for the last 12 years with never a flower. I have given away countless divisions but nobody has come back to say it has flowered. Roger if you would like to try send me your address of line and I'll send you a division. Regards from Devon where the farmers want rain but they are in a minority.

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From: nancy
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: Chiloschista usenoides/Tony
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 17:15

Hello Tony and all -
I've been following this with interest, as I have a
Chiloschista parishii. I haven't had this plant long,
so don't have much to contribute to the care advice
(though I will try to adapt the sponge-wicking idea).
However − Tony, do you have a photo of your plant?
With or without flowers is fine, I would like to get
an idea of the growth rate and see what a healthy
plant looks like.
I have been hosing it off a couple of times a day, and
so far, so good (it is alive so far).
Thanks − Nancy

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From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Chiloschista usenoides
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 19:55

John said

> My suspicion is that we've become complacent when
> they have seemed OK and our attention has been diverted to the next oddball
> species we've acquired>

> I recall Keith Andrew saying , many years ago , "we see that the Miltonias
> are below par ( everything else is OK) so we concentrate our attention on
> them , giving them all our TLC, and adjusting this and that ... presently we
> are proud of them again , and turn our attention elsewhere. Oh dear, the
> odonts look rather poor, it's their turn ... and so on..."

> Or , as Confucious say " can't devote all our attention to everything at the
> same time"

( That was a very long thread I've just deleted ! )

These leafless orchids always, I am sorry to have to say , reduce me to
helpless laughter .It is enough of a challenge to try and grow a reasonable
decent christian orchid with green leaves, never mind these mindless bunches
of dead roots. The only thing worse in my greenhouse would be one of these
underground orchids the Australians pretend to have − they live and flower
underground , never appear above ground − so they say.( Pause for more
laughter ). Its not enough that they can play cricket, they have to have
orchids like nowhere else too !

( Tomorrow I may apologise to my Aussie friends − tonight − having spent the
day toiling in the garden, getting out the garden furniture , ready for a
long summer of tropical bliss ( this is the south of UK in the global
warming golden age ) not to mention planting out my cucumbers and tomatoes-
the bananas ( well, banana in the singular to be honest ) stay in the
orchid house until at least the end of April − and a hundred more tedious
and boring jobs − this paragraph has had too many sub-clauses and I have
lost the thread − what I meant to say was that I finished that bottle of
very good Chablis on my own − I expect you can tell....

Regards to you all

Geoff

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From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: [OrchidTalk] Re: orchid pics
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:00

Where did you find that Window Tricia ? I used "Find" and could not discover
it ? Is it one in your ISP's site , or where ?

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From: Geoffrey Hands
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: Biff. harrisoniae 'Alba'
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 20:05

I don't have Bifrenaria in my collection now, but I recall it as an orchid
with very hard bulbs and very rigid leaves very hard rest ! Have you tried
this ?

Geoff

Ps my plant came from Peter White and flowered every year with that
treatment.

Geoff

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From: Ron Newstead
To: Orchid Talk List
Subject: Re: Biff. harrisoniae 'Alba'
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:00

Dennis, your farmers are not alone. I live in Somerset and my 4 rainwater
butts are all empty.

Ron

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