PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Meets every third Monday of the month February 2016

The COALITION for ORCHID SPECIES

at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens

10901 Old Cutler Road

Coral Gables, Florida

www.cosspecies.com

Dear COS Members,

This past month many brave orchid addicts went to work and put in a display at

the Tamiami International Orchid Festival. And although I did not win the Tami-

ami raffle or the COS raffle, we but especially I had a great time.

I would like to thank Carmen Segrera and Rolando Armenterso for creating such

a stunning display. They were and are the heart and soul of the display. I would

also like to thank Lynn Corson, Larry Cox, Guillermo Salazar, Martin Motes and

… for donating plants for our display. My thanks to Lou Lodyga, Rose Perez,

Juraj Kojs and Katria Witfield for help setting up the display.

I am especially grateful for all of you who donated their time to help run the Or-

chid Hotel and the Membership Booth.

We were able to make $381 on the Raffle, $215 on the Orchid Hotel, and our 3rd

place finish gave us $300. Not a bad haul for the show

Katria Whitfield will talk about Madagascar Orchids

Don’t Forget the program starts at 7:00 pm

COALITION FOR ORCHID SPECIES

www.cosspecies.com

RENEWAL NOTICE

Dear Member,

Your 2016 COS membership will expire on Decem-

ber 31, 2015. 2016 dues are payable now. Checks pay-

able to COS may be mailed to:

COS

P.O. BOX 2373

8821 SW 136 ST.

MIAMI, FL 33176-9997

Individual: $25;

Dual membership: $40

Family (3 + at one address): $45

MEMBERSHIP DUES MAY BE PAID BY CRED-

IT CARD ONLINE AT

http://cosspecies.com/join

Or at our January 18th meeting

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FEBRUARY CLIMATE DATA

Average high: 77.7

Average low: 60.7

Average mean: 69.1

Average rainfall: 2.07"

Excerpted from Florida Orchid Growing: Month by Month by Martin Motes. All rights reserved.

Despite the bloom on the avocados and the burgeoning new leaves on the live oaks, February is not spring in South Florida. Danger of freeze continues past mid month and frost can occur still into March. Even if the weather is balmy it’s too early to let down our guard or take down any protection we have mounted against the cold. The trend however is toward the positive as each lengthening day brings extra hours of warming sunshine to begin waking our plants from their long winter’s rest. February characteristically brings a wide swing of day to night temperatures, ide-al for spiking ascocendas and vandas but also wringing from the air heavy dews and dense fog. Whilst these add a romantic atmosphere to the South Florida landscape, Wuthering Heights is singularly devoid of snails and slugs (much less Botrytis). The silvery carpet of dew provides a silky path to our orchids for snails and slugs which can range far, under these favorable conditions. They are eager to make a nice meal of your Phalaenopsis leaves or the soft crowns of your vandas before they retire during the dry months of March and April only to dream of the fresh shoots of the sympodial orchids brought forth by the first

Coal i t ion for Orchid Species December Page 8

rains of May. Now is the time to give them a rude awakening. Remember that snail bait is most effectively applied lightly (scatter the pellets every few feet) and frequent-ly (every 7 to 10 days). Two or three applications should do the job. The heavy fog which can cause condensation on leaves even under cover can also bring trouble. Botrytis is a fungus disease that can disfigure flowers with small black spots. Particularly apparent and annoying on white Phalaenopsis, Botrytis can ruin other flowers as well. Control is typically achieved in commercial greenhouses with fungicide in aerosol forms and by running fans to prevent condensation on the flow-ers. The latter option is also available to collectors. A small fan turned on the spiking and opened flowers at night will greatly alleviate the pressure of Botrytis. So will, to a degree, the application of soap which we suggested in January to control mites. Bi-carbonate of soda, ordinary baking soda, at 1Tbs. per gal will help as well. Quater-nary ammonium compounds (Physan, RD40, Consan, pool algicide) also give some control. Maintaining long lasting flowers like Phalaenopsis, dendrobiums and bi-foliate cattleyas in more perfect condition is well worth the effort. Having waited so long for the flowers we want to enjoy them as long as possible and they do all last longer in cool weather. The lower overall temperatures of February call for less frequent and lighter applica-tions of fertilizer as was the practice in January. If any reddening of the foliage per-sists another application of Epsom salts (1Tbs per gal), preferably in combination with Potassium nitrate, is called for; Nitrate nitrogen being more available to the plants under cooler conditions. If your resolve holds steady not to water (or above all) fertilize those Himalayan dendrobiums, your reward may shortly become evident in bursting flower spikes. Like the avocados and the live oaks, many cattleyas and other sympodial orchids have bloomed and are just commencing new growth in February. Right after flowering is usually an excellent time for repotting from the plant’s perspective and the cool day time temperatures in the greenhouse are hospitable to the orchid grower as well. It’s still a bit early to re-basket vandas But an early start on the cattleyas will allow plenty of time and energy for those Spring chores which are right around the corner. With that thought setting out to secure a good supply of pots in anticipation of the pot-ting season ahead is on February’s agenda.

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Book Review:

Aphid in My Eye – Adventures in the Orchid Trade

By Tom Powell. 2012. B.B. Mackey Books, Wayne. Softcover, 146 pages, black-

and-white illustrations by Betsy West, color cover.

Veteran garden writer Tom Powell (The Avant Gardener newsletter) has written a

gently humorous memoir of his early years in the mom-and-pop orchid business,

back when people really joined societies and plants could still legally be collected

from the wild. Aphid in My Eye recounts the foibles and follies of a young couple

(author Tom and his late wife Betty) who become so enamored of orchids that

they abandon urban New York living and move to a ramshackle farm. There they

live and work for an orchid grower who was "a hybrid of Gandhi and an emaciat-

ed Jimmy Stewart" with "a prodigious knowledge of orchids and a tale to go with

every plant." But this is no roman a clef novel. Powell does not name names, or

come even close. Rather, he has strewn facetious monikers throughout his pages,

with an affinity for the letter "B": Birst & Borpling Orchids; Roger Burlbutt; Herr

Buksoom; Dr. Bobbins.

The characters are very broadly drawn yet depict types familiar to orchidistas. A

certain Mrs. Birdee, who wants extravagant ar-

rangements at bargain basement rates; a shady

plan to corner the Mexican osmunda tree fern

market through a crooked broker named Ra-

oul; and...the customers. "Orchid shop-

pers...could be classified just like orchids."

There is the budgeter species who has set a

limit of $2 (editor note: remember, this is the

1950s) on his purchase...(Another) species al-

ways knows exactly what it wants. It walks you

briskly through six greenhouses — twice.

Halfway through the third trip, it finds itself

unable to make a decision and decides to come

back later. The trouble is, it always does. Most apt to provoke biliousness was the

know-it-all. One team admonished me constantly, "You’re growing these plants a tad

too dry — you’re giving them 15 percent shade when they need 18 percent!"

The best part of this rated-very-G booklet is Powell’s take on the "big regional orchid

society" or Metropolitan Northern Tier Orchid Society (MNTOS). Anyone who has

ever associated with the Byzantine politics and fiefdoms of not-for-profit plant

groups knows what he means. Powell describes the official and unofficial society lead-

ers as the brotherhood of the pseudobulb and oh-so-kindly portrays the behind-the-

scenes maneuverings of those more delicate times. What an experience the Powells

must have had, before the orchid world was subsumed by big-box stores and mass

marketing! Reading Aphid in My Eye is sort of like fondly watching a rerun of "Leave

It To Beaver," and wishing for the good old days.

Sue Volek has been growing orchids as a hobby for more than 15 years, in San Diego,

Washington, DC, and now Portland. She is on the board of the Oregon Orchid Socie-

ty, is an AOS affiliate, and has been an AOS member for more than 15 years.

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1.Spread snail bait lightly.

2.Spread snail bait lightly again in two

weeks.

3.Spray for Botrytis using Florida-

recommended fungicides or bicarbonate of

soda.

4.Begin Spring potting.

5.Watch for mites.

Thank you Dr. Motes

Taken from Florida Orchid Growing Month by Month

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Remember we are a SPECIES society and we ask

you only bring orchid species for our silent

auction.

If you want to bid on an orchid, please decide

how much you are willing to pay, bid that

amount and then walk away from the table.

We kindly ask that you not hover around

the table so others may see the what we

are offering.

Page 13 Coal i t i on for Orch id Species December

The Florida-Caribbean Regional

Judging Center of the American Or-

chid Society invites you to bring your orchids

in flower to be judged by our teams of experienced

American Orchid Society Judges, or just come to

learn more about orchids and the process of judg-

ing orchids. We meet the THIRD Saturday of

each month at beautiful Fairchild Tropical Botanic

Garden, Corbin Bldg., 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral

Gables, FL Judging begins promptly at 1:00 p.m.

GOT SPECIES? Get your 2011 COS Newsletters on

the web at

www.cosspecies.com

Special Thanks to Webmaster-designer Mike Haynes of ISatis-

fy.com, and Home Page photos by Greg Allikas,

www.orchidworks.com!

Get your raffle

tickets for a

chance to win

fabulous or-

chids from

outstanding

orchid venders.

Please patronize our loyal advertisers!

Where Quality is as Traditional as the Orchid Itself

28100 SW 182 Ave. , Homestead, FL 33030

305-245-4570 * rforchids@aol.com *www.rforchids.com

Coal i t ion for Orchid Species December Page 14

Susana and Victor Ortiz

Www.csorchids.com

For Sale

Benches from $65.00 and up (4 to 5 step)

For info: call Eddy or Gloria Rodriguez

(786) 683-4616 or (786) 7972054

Page 15 December Coal i t ion for Orchid Species

Remember it is important for you to make

sure you check in in order to get credit for at-

tending the meeting. The number of meet-

ings you attend determine when you get to

pick your holiday orchid.

Coal i t ion for Orchid Species December Page 16

Coalition for Orchid Species

The 2015 -2016 Board:

President William Capps

Past President, Lou Lodyga

Vice Pres., Michele DiBianchi

Treasurer: Melana Davison

Secretary: Katrina Whitfield

Trustees: Carlos Segrera, Erna Maxwell, Victoria Clemente, Ernest Garcia, Maria Cerna , Carmen Segrera, Rolando Armenteros,

Committees:

: Membership Victoria Clemente

Guillermo Salazar: Conservation

Newsletter Editor : William Capps Advertising/Reporter : Rolando Armenteros

Raffle: Carmen and Carlos Segrera Photography: Carmen Segera

AOS Rep: Lynn Corson Roster: Melana Davison

Webpage Liaison: Rolando Armenterso

Cynthia White: Silent Auction

Refreshments: Lorraine Lee

Bert Pressman Scholarship: Dr. Rene Izquierdo

Remember we are dedicated to the

culture and conservation of species.

Please bring only species plants for

our silent auction.

William Capps

Newsletter Editor

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