Catasetum Competition Grow

Fred Clarke sent us 20 plugs for the raffle table in January 2019. We are going to have prizes for the first one to bloom this hybrid, the one with the nicest flower, and the best grown one. Here's more information about the cross and how to grow catasetums.
Catasetums go into an exponential growth phase in the summer, so make sure to provide copious amounts of food, water and fresh air. Their blooming season is during the summer, perhaps we’ll be awarding the prize for the ‘first to flower’ catasetum this month! Take pictures of your blooms and send them over so we can start compiling the candidates for the ‘best bloom’ award. We’re thinking of having Fred Clarke join us via Zoom to select the winner. Sometime in late summer, you’ll bring your plants in for voting to see who gets the ‘best grown plant’ prize. Should be fun! Read Fred's Summer Newsletter for what to expect this season.

Jim Roberts Deflasking Project

At our August 2019 meeting, Jim Roberts of Florida SunCoast Orchids showed us how to deflask orchids and pot them up in either plug trays or compots. Five caretakers are nurturing them until they grow up to a size where they can be planted individually.
Art Russell sent us pictures of his seedlings, and reports "The image shows that those I took home for members are continuing to do well. We lost perhaps a third, but those remaining appear to be thriving." Harry McElroy and Tom Sullivan have joint custody of another group of plants that are also doing well. We'd love to get reports from the others who are growing these up to a size that we can then pot up individually, maybe later this year, so we all will have one or two to grow and bloom.