PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Meets every third Monday of the month October 2015

The COALITION for ORCHID SPECIES

at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens

10901 Old Cutler Road

Coral Gables, Florida

www.cosspecies.com

Hi Orchid Lovers,

Our auction will be on October 19th. Preview will be at 6:30 with

the auction starting at 7:00 sharp. Get there early if you want the bid

on orchids you want for your collection.

Please help support our society by volunteering to help and if at all

possible bring a plant or cutting to share. Since we will have guests

all members are required to bring a dish that will feed 6-8 people.

Your President

Bill

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Tamiami International Orchid Festival: January 23 and 24, 2016 Martin Motes

Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 10:00 AM -

Sunday, January 24, 2016 at 9:00 AM (EST) Miami, FL

Fort Pierce Orchid Society 2015

"Falling for Orchids" Show and Sale !!!

Saturday, October 10, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Sunday, October 11, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the St. Lucie County Shrine Club, just north of Midway Road 46oo Oleander Avenue, Fort Pierce To download fliers for the orchid show Click here For more information, or to volunteer, call 772-579-3014 or email rita2zfpos@gmail.com

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October Climate Data Average high: 85.4 Average low: 72.2 Average mean: 78.8 Average rainfall: 6.19" October is a month of change in South Florida. If the Romans had lived here where we do, they would have named this month for their two faced god Janus. Usually around the middle of the month, and certainly by the end of the month, the first strong cold front pushes into South Florida bringing to a close the monolithic heat and damp of summer and ushering in weather as most of the continent knows it, alternating periods of warmer and cooler. Alt-hough warm temperatures will persist for another month or so un-til the technical end of the hurricane season, the tropics are in re-treat and the temperate zone in the ascendency. Each successive cold front foreshadowed by ever lessening rain storms will pro-gressively cool our temperatures and dry our air. But days are shortening too, providing less hours of sunlight to heat the air and slowing the drying process. Nights are longer and cooler which produces the same effect, slower drying. Now we must start to move into the consciousness of winter and take greater care to in-sure that our plants are throughly dry before we water them again. The shorter days of October dictate that we rise even earlier to water if necessary. Each extra hour of daylight is to be cherished by us as well as our plants.

Most of our orchids are well aware of this sea change. The shorten-ing days of late summer have told many genera to finish their growth and prepare to rest. We need to listen too. And look! The last smallest leaves of these highly seasonal plants will have unfolded at the tips of their new growths telling us that their growth cycle is fin-ished for this year. Himalayan dendrobiums of the nobile type and of the section Callista (D. aggregatum et al.) now begin their five months of carefree existence in South Florida. They should be put in a bright spot and given no more water and above all, no more fer-tilizer until after they have bloomed in Spring. catasetums, mor-modes, Cycnoches, calanthes and other deciduous types should be treated the same way. Whatever moisture nature provides in the in-creasingly heavy dew and the passing rains that usher in most cold fronts will be adequate for these plants whose native environment is a seasonally monsoon one like ours. Benign neglect suits these gene-ra just fine and what a relief to the conscience of the ever busy or-chidist! The truly devoted will group these genera together, prefera-bly at the edge of the growing area and high up where they will re-ceive the maximum of light and air circulation. Grouped thus, the chance of an accidental watering of these while taking care of the more thirsty genera is minimized. Another strategy is to tip the pots of these dormant genera on their sides thus eliminating much natu-ral rainfall and avoiding a misdirected hose spray. Some growers even remove plants that have finished both growing and flowering from their pots entirely. When new growth begins in the Spring they will receive a fresh start in new medium. Many cattleyas, laelias, oncidiums and phalaenopsis-type dendrobi-ums will be finishing their growths and should be hardened off with reduced water and fertilizer but not the Spartan regime of the decid-

uous type. Lower nitrogen fertilizer applied at a lower rate and with less frequency will make these genera happy and prevent them from breaking into unwanted off-season growth that frequently hampers flowering as well. Many growers tend to use higher phosphorus, low-er nitrogen fertilizers of the "Bloom Booster" type during the cooler weather. But less frequent applications of the recommended 15-5-15 is a better strategy. These applications should be spaced further apart as well, at ten to twelve day intervals. Less frequent watering will also do for these genera. When the frontal rains pass through, check to see that the pots are throughly wet by giving them the "heft" test and if they are not heavy enough "top them up." Let them dry 'hard' be-fore watering again. In cool weather especially, less is more. Monopodial orchids like Vanda and Phalaenopsis which want to grow continuously, feel the change too. The broad swing of day to night temperature stimulates flower spike initiation in these genera. You can spur them on to greater excitement by giving them a shot of high Phosphorus 'Bloom Booster' fertilizer just before or just af-ter the sudden drop in night temperatures precipitated by the passing of a cold front. For most of the year "Bloom Booster" fertilizer ap-pears to be in fact "Bloom Blocker" but (perhaps from faith rather than science) high phosphorus seems to have the desired ef-fect(perhaps from shock) when the first cold snaps are also halting vegetative growth. We like Miller's Solugro (12-48-8) because it con-tains none of the ugly blue flower, clothes and hand staining dye. Other brands (with or without dye) are equally effective. Look for a very high middle number and a relatively low first number or ask at your garden center for a 'starter solution' which is the moniker for these fertilizers when used in planting out vegetable or annual seed-lings. Because the nitrogen level is lower, you can use a full table-spoon of these or more, per gallon.

Cooler weather calls our attention to our plants' needs for trace ele-ments. Chief among these is magnesium, often described as the 'major' minor element. Magnesium deficiency shows up in orchids as a reddening of the foliage particularly when the plant is stressed. This color change is frequently attributed to cold as it occurs follow-ing spells of cooler weather. This observation is the fallacy of post hoc, ergo propter hoc; cold is merely the efficient cause: the material cause is lack of magnesium. Hopefully the new fertilizer regimen outlined in the July chapter will minimize or eliminate the reddening by keeping the magnesium level up in the plants. But... Epsom salts (MgS) is the best and most readily available source of magnesium. This can be applied with Potassium Nitrate (KNO4) at the rate of one tablespoon each per gallon. Potassium Nitrate has the formula 14-0-44. The missing number in the middle is Phosphorus. In com-bination with our highly alkaline water phosphorus tends to react with magnesium and the other metals of the trace element group. Never apply magnesium and the other trace elements in combina-tion with fertilizers containing phosphorus. A general purpose trace element mixture can be added to the mix of magnesium sulfate and potassium nitrate at the rate recommended on the la-bel..(Concentrations vary). Goodbye red, Hello green! .

Motes Orchids is open only on days when classes are held. You can shop for seedlings in our virtual nursery any-time by visiting: MotesOrchids.com

Coal i t ion for Orchid Species September Page 10

1.Space plants to increase air circulation

2.Water as early as possible in the day

3.Move Himalayan dendrobiums, ca-

tasetums, calanthes and other seasonally

dormant plants to dry bright locations.

4.Reduce general fertilizer

5.Apply extra magnesium and potassium Thank you Dr. Motes

Taken from Florida Orchid Growing Month by Month

Coal i t ion for Orchid Species September Page 11

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 12 Coal i t i on for Orch id Species September

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 September Page 13

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 14 September 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 September Page 15

Coalition for Orchid Species

The 2015-2017 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

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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