Indestructible

[PHRAG]

So I have blasted about ten buds in the past three months. Most were on Phals, but one was a Don Wimber that was just getting ready to bloom. The whole spike blasted. GAAAARRR!

But I have a Bllra. that takes everything I give it with a smile. I wanted to repot it in S/H. The thing is in full spike, mind you, and the root ball was ginormous. So against all better sense, I soaked the root ball to get the bark medium out and then trimmed the roots and stuck it in S/H. The plant responded by opening two more blooms. Wow, this thing may very well be indestructible.

What plant do you have that just won't die, no matter how hard you try to kill it?

 

[SlipperFan]

My original orchid -- a Paph. I tried to kill it by dividing it into single growths. It barely stayed alive for many years, but recently it's been blooming every year. Last year I tried to kill it by planting it in S/H, which it did not like at all. Now it seems to be recovering (again), being potted in my latest concoction of diatomite, CHC, Sponge Rock & Charcoal. I hope it never stops trying to live with me.

 

[Heather]

Not sure yet!

 

[Rick]

A couple of oncidia type intergenerics I have seem almost indestructable.

A Colmnara Wildcat, and a Degamora Flying High.

As far as Paphs go either my lowii or philippinense seem to do the best with the least care.

 

[bench72]

My Wilsonara Kolibri seems to not want to stop flowering... I've just cut the spike (since december) from the old bulb and the new bulb has a new spike forming... and it sits wherever there is space...

wouldn't wish the treatment it gets on my Paphs though...

 

[Mahon]

I burned an Encyclia tampensis with a propane torch, every bulb, cinged all the leaves off... wanted to see how the plants in the wild can posibly live when they are burned...

Results: they look dead and cinged everywhere, but the rhizome is maybe a little more 'fire-resistant' than the bulbs or any other part... the plant is thriving now, and actually JUST finished blooming 2 or 3 days ago when I visited it last.

(I have thousands of these Encyclia tampensis, so burning one alive is no loss, and no, I don't think the orchid really has feelings... until it cries, then I will change my view on the whole "plants have feeling too"!)

-Pat

 

[kentuckiense]

You have thousands of them?

 

[Mahon]

Well, technically, yes... because I had such enormous clumps, I just keep dividing them... I don't have them all mounted, so most sit in large flat trays, the plants laying roots down next to each other, and they grow in this rock/mulch mix... too many to really take proper care of...

Then also all the seedlings I have been breeding for a few years growing in trays... trying to get really nice flowering forms and propagating the rare Encyclia tampensis var. gigantifolia (this is most likely isn't a registered variety, but some of these huge varieties are known to exist, like my single original plant).

Maybe I have 2,000 plants of Encyclia tampensis... most of these will be relocated and introduced back into the wild, so the numbers will vary from time to time, depending on when there are plant rescues, and when I can find a proper place to reintroduce this species back into the oak hammocks... last time I reintroduced some Enc. tampensis was in February to a large forested property outside of Sebring... then also releasing about 50 or more plants up in Citrus Springs in Citrus County, Florida...

Anyways, if anyone is interested in this orchid project, PM me...

-Pat

 

[kentuckiense]

Maybe I have 2,000 plants of Encyclia tampensis... most of these will be relocated and introduced back into the wild, so the numbers will vary from time to time, depending on when there are plant rescues, and when I can find a proper place to reintroduce this species back into the oak hammocks... last time I reintroduced some Enc. tampensis was in February to a large forested property outside of Sebring... then also releasing about 50 or more plants up in Citrus Springs in Citrus County, Florida...

I'm down with rescues and reintroductions. Keep it up.