Hengduang Flask

[naoki]

I just got an email from Hengduan Mountains Biotechnology. They are bringing some interesting flasks for the Slipper Orchid Symposium, Orlando, in Nov. I would love to get some, but I can't get plants shipped in the winter (I'm in alaska)... Some interesting ones are: P. coccineum, P. bellatulum f. chlorophyllum, P. gratrixianum (the broader leaf version), legal P. hangianum, P. tranlienianum.

 

[eggshells]

coccineum would be nice!

 

[SlipperFan]

Alaska! Sometime, I wish you'd tell us how you grow orchids, and maybe some photographs...

 

[naoki]

Alaska! Sometime, I wish you'd tell us how you grow orchids, and maybe some photographs...

Yeah, it was much easier when I was in NC. But it's not impossible (most alaskans don't live in Igloo). Getting enough humidity is the challenge in the interior AK. I grow mostly species paphs and phals in 2 enclosures (4x2x5' and 3x2x2'). So I can grow only limited number of orchids now. I use T5HO and LED. The grow tent has automated exhaust and humidifier controlled by HygroTherm ( http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?EntryID=260&DatabaseID=2&SearchID=5 ), which I'm pretty happy with. Before getting HygroTherm, the tent was overheating even with ambient temp of 70F. Now I can maintain decent temp and humidity.

One of the problems is that there are only 3-4 months when I can get orchids shipped safely. For example, it's supposed to go below freezing point tonight. So no more shopping until next summer for me...

 

[Ozpaph]

Yeah, it was much easier when I was in NC. But it's not impossible (most alaskans don't live in Igloo). Getting enough humidity is the challenge in the interior AK. I grow mostly species paphs and phals in 2 enclosures (4x2x5' and 3x2x2'). So I can grow only limited number of orchids now. I use T5HO and LED. The grow tent has automated exhaust and humidifier controlled by HygroTherm ( http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?EntryID=260&DatabaseID=2&SearchID=5 ), which I'm pretty happy with. Before getting HygroTherm, the tent was overheating even with ambient temp of 70F. Now I can maintain decent temp and humidity.

One of the problems is that there are only 3-4 months when I can get orchids shipped safely. For example, it's supposed to go below freezing point tonight. So no more shopping until next summer for me...

You sure are dedicated.
I have a grow tent for seedlings over winter (temperate climate). How does the HygroTherm and automated exhaust work?
By the way have been to Alaska and LOVED it!

 

[naoki]

I'm glad you had good time in Alaska!

It is pretty simple; HygroTherm is a thermostat and humidistat in one. The thermostat could be used in either heating or cooling mode. So I set it to the cooling mode, and when it hits 84F, the exhaust fan turns on. I put the 6-inch exhaust vent cover, usually used for a clothes dryer vent, and attached a 12V DC fan to it. I think you can see it on the top left of the photo. When the fan is not on, the cover is closed to prevent moisture loss. When the exhaust fan is off, I can keep 70-80% RH with just passive humidity tray. But after the exhaust fan runs for a while, the humidity goes down to less than 40%, so the humidifier controlled by HygroTherm (you can see at the bottom left) kicks on at 65%.

The electricity costs about $330 per year for this set up according to the kill-a-watt meter. I just started to experiment with LED recently. We'll see how well the plants grow. Maybe I can save money if I can use only LEDs.

I also thought of making a small DIY swamp cooler in it. But maybe a evaporative humidifier has a similar cooling effect?

 

[Kevin]

but I can't get plants shipped in the winter (I'm in alaska)...

Which city/town are you in, or at least, what area? I've never been there, but it looks beautiful! It's close to the end of shipping season for here too. Fall can be nice, but it's risky.

 

[Hien]

I just got an email from Hengduan Mountains Biotechnology. They are bringing some interesting flasks for the Slipper Orchid Symposium, Orlando, in Nov. I would love to get some, but I can't get plants shipped in the winter (I'm in alaska)... Some interesting ones are: P. coccineum, P. bellatulum f. chlorophyllum, P. gratrixianum (the broader leaf version), legal P. hangianum, P. tranlienianum.

Get the coccineum, hangianum & tranlienianum . I would think that if the flasks are pack with bubble wrap . then inside thick foam box with more peanuts inside the cardboard box, they will survive . What you could do is take your chance & ask some friends in Florida to pack & send them next morning fedex & use your office address , this way they are not sitting at your door .

 

[naoki]

Kevin, I'm in Fairbanks, which is in the middle of Alaska. It's about 2 hours drive from Denali National Park.

Hien, shipping to my office is a good idea. It's tempting, but I should experiment with something cheaper. Hengduang people says that they can ship from FL. They also say that P. hangianum is pretty difficult to establish after deflasking. But I'm glad that these species are gradually coming into the US (legally), so they will be more available soon.

 

[SlipperFan]

Naoki, I was quite sure you didn't live in an igloo, but I was curious about how you dealt with the lack of natural light. Your set-up looks great. Thanks.

 

[Cheyenne]

About the hengduan flasks, I got some hangianum last go around. If you get some ask them to put something in the flask. The jar was very big and the seedlings were so jumbled with alot of broken leaves. It took me a few months to get them growing again. They also just sent out a seedling list with BS hangianum and BS armeniacum var markii for 150 a plant.

 

[naoki]

Thanks Cheyenne. I got the new seedling list, too. I haven't seen many P. areeanum and P. villosum boxalii f. atratum offered in the US. I'm not sure if this form of villosum is a natural variation or an artificially selected form. Does anyone know?

So are your P. hangianum seedlings growing well after the initial slowness? I'm guessing that the cultural condition is similar to P. emersonii. I haven't killed my P. emersonii seedling yet, but I might not be giving a good condition for it since it is growing pretty slowly (only 1 leaf expanded in the last 4 month). P. hangianum deflasking is probably beyond my skill, though...

 

[eggshells]

Naoki. In order to grow hangianum well. Grow it warm in the summer months and it should stay moist all the time in the winter give it a dry period of 3-4 weeks.

 

[Cheyenne]

I put some of the seedlings in fir bark, charcoal and perlite. The rest in fine grade orchiata, the ones in orchiata sat there for a few months to recover then startrd growng nicely. The ones in fir bark started to decline and I lost a few. I moved them to orchiata and they started to recover. They like the higher alkalinity of the orchiata. They also like to be fairly wet spring through summer. I would of like to leave them in flask a little longer but that was not an option because they were laying on top of each other witb agar all over the place.
I have not found them that hard to grow. I did notice that when I put them in a tuperware container to keep the humidity up and sprinkled some dolomite lime on them they did alot better. I also deflasked in spring time. Hangianum likes to dry out in the winter, so I am still unsure how to treat them as small seedlings or recently deflasked at this time of thyear and through winter. If it is there dry time I feel like that could be a real disaster deflasking righ now. Maybe someone else knows.

 

[naoki]

Thank you for the info, eggshells and Cheyenne! I talked to them, and they are coming to the US again next Aug. So I'm planning to get a couple of them at that time.

 

[cnycharles]

when I asked last year or so about how you treated species with dry or cold seasons, when they were seedlings, was told to just 'grow them' until they get to be near-adults, and then try to mimic their seasons

 

[Cheyenne]

when I asked last year or so about how you treated species with dry or cold seasons, when they were seedlings, was told to just 'grow them' until they get to be near-adults, and then try to mimic their seasons

Thanks, I was wondering because I wasn't sure if they would stall if they didn't get there dry season. But I guess it makes sense because if you let those little plants dry out to much they don't have much in reserves and its very easy to go to long and then there dead. At least till they get to a reasonable size.

I wish Tom would chime in.