CYMBIDIUMS IN FLOWER

Albeit only two but quite a show.

Now these two Cymbidiums blooming were achieved by leaving them out until  they had three nights of hard frost. Yes I am aware that many books state that they should not go below 7 degrees celsius at night...but I tend to ignore the accepted rules because everyone writes about what they do which is just copying what someone else has already done.

So after first surprising a few people at leaving them outside at such cold temperatures and with frost on at least three nights I have now got them to flower for the first time in several years, well since purchase in fact!

Here is a video ...

I have another surprise coming right up ...

THE HEADACHE OF COLLOSSUS

God I am having one hell of a headache and its getting worse!

It must be the weather and it is looking dark and gloomy like there is going to be a storm and about half way through the begiining of this sentence I thought I heard some heavy raindrops hitting the window?

I find it bizarre how so much pain can come just from the natural air pressure, really I do. I mean how can we have evolved for millions of years and oour bodies have not evolved to cope with these simple things? I get both fasfcinated while annoyed at the same time, lol.

I did hear the weather say there would be rain the weekend and I thought I heard possibly thunderstorms but not sure where they were talking about, I only caught wind of this weather report and was not paying attention.

Still if there is a storm then maybe it will clear the air and it gets back to normal? I mean if there is one thing I know it is when this horrible weather can be expected throughout the year and it is certainly not March nor April! In fact I do not expect weather like this until the latter half of August until mid September and every year I dread its arrival. because my body does not deal with it well!

Every year I yearn for air conditioning and yet I do not buy it because I cannot aford it, well right now and up to this point, it costs too much to run and added to all that and because my house is tiny, and yes it IS a house, my Orchids will not like it. Especially dehumidifiers as they like humid air!

That is why I do so well with my Orchids and if you are interested in Orchids and did not know that I kept them then where have you been this last year?!?! I am short of keywords for this post? Oh but wait a minute I can add Orchids now?! LOL!

understandingtropicalorchids.blogspot.com

I also have blogs on Reptiles, Amphibians & Fish in one blog, oh wait I can add them to my keyowrds now?! Lol!

British Wildlife, Wing Chun, CPUs & Computers, Astronomy & Astrophysics, Japanese Maple Trees and a few others and added to that I have not even created a blog for everything that I am into! I am missing about four or five I think! All in good time!

Now I am just wondering how long I can hold off until I reach for my Tramadol?! Lol!

Oh yeah and I have been at a loose end all day and could not focus. I cycled to Waltham Cross and had a look at Spokeshaves that were not there in Sainsburys Homebase along with wetstones and honing oils the latter only available in a kit with other things?! I saw a gadget in Cash Converters to do with computing I remeber reading about years ago and wondered whether it would be any use, until I saw the price of £99! I then went in Cash Generator and saw the exact same gadget and this one was Bluetooth and do not know about the other and yet this oone was £20!! I still could not decide whether it was worth me buying despite its low price?! It was one of those things that projects a bright red keyboard onto a flat surface and you type by touching where the keys are projected onto the table or desk. They had the name Oblivion on both but I just do not know what they are like to use?! I tried to go on Amazon but my phone could not get on there despite just  putting £5.00 on it the afternoon before and me being in Waltham Cross' High Street! I think going with Vodafone was quite possibly a big mistake?!

In the end I did not buy it, in fact I never bought a damn thing! I then cycled to a Saver store completely forgetting there is one in Waltham Cross I had just gone right by TWICE! I bought Tea Tree Oil which I use for my skin condition that affects my head and nothing else the Doctors have given me has ever worked. Even the Tea Tree only works to a degree and if you stop using it the condition just comes back! If left you get these lumps on your scalp! I know what it is and why it is there and I also know that my body is not producing the antibodies to deal with it and so it gets out of control!

Now I used to have this on my face and it was quite bad! In fact one ex girlfriend ended up with this patch on her face that looked alot like it and she said the Doctor tod her it was lumbargo?! I thought maybe she had got that from me but never found out and decided not to mention it! Oddly the facial problem was cleared up many years ago by way of Tea Tree Oil and once gone it never returned! I am sure I talked on one of these previous posts about a very old friend of mine whose wife, herself a nurse, went down with something on holiday to horrific proportions?! She lost her hair too and had all these creams tha Doctor gave her.

Being a nurse she did not believe me when I told her about Tea Tree Oil, probably because the NHS and Doctors do not want you knowingt about it because they cannot make money out of somethingt easily produced?! Yes there is no doubt a hell of a lot of wasted money and time going on and more than you realise. Eventually she agreed to buy some and try it and I made sure she only bought pure Tea Tree Oil! None of this other crap with Tea Tree in it because its all garbage to con you out of cash. A week later I returned to their home and she had a completely normal right hand and was ecstatic and thankful that I had egged her into buying a bottle and she went though a great deal of it wuite happily!

That was how I first knew that even nurses were kept in the dark over certain things! I ask and still get a Nizoral Shampoo today and not one Doctor in thye last 15 years has EVER suggested Tea Tree Oil!! Yet the have given me various topical steroids like Cutivate and the like and none have ever worked a damn!

You know I really did realise a long time ago that it is all just giant web we live in and many dark goings on were ... umm going on! Lol! Once I knew his to be true I started to see and hear more and more and more. Once I had the time I did something and you know the rest becauise that something is THIS BLOG!

After picking that up I then ventured to the town centre and went looking in various places with my usual limp! After awhile I gave up and had intended to buy shoes and so was going to go to Sports Direct after TK Maxx and gave up on the idea! Was getting to that tired, exhausted stage again despite taking it very slowly and my feet were hurting! I still bought nothing! I did not even return with any food! Grr!

ORCHIDS IN MY WINDOW

Ah now this is end of March like the other video I just uploaded.

Now this was a weird one whereby I have a mirror image on both sides made up of one Dendbrobium kingianum type, one Dendrobium nobile type and one Zygopetalum. Every year the two Dendrobium types flower around January February and all at the same time on each side.

Yet you can see clearly in the video that this year the left side flowered first while the right side flowered much later and one even failed altogether?!

I then realise that we had precious little sunlight and we had a couple of afternoons of sunlight and no mornings. This window is south facing and so an afternoon sund would hit the left side whereas a morning sun woulf hiut the right side.

This kind of threw me somewhat as they all get watered the same and fed the same so I was like 'wft?!' Lol!

My cream Dendrobium kingianum (labelled as such when I purchased it is in full flower here but I expected more flowers than this. Despite the fact there must be a hundred! Lol!

When I pan left to the Dendrobium Berry Oda (as labelled but obviously a hybrid kingianum) has but a few flowers left.

Oh and you can se that I have moved the Angry Wasp Orchid from upstairs in my bedroom to here?

My Cymbidiums have all ben placed in the garden now!

NEW ARRIVALS OF MASDEVALLIA & CATTLEYA

Wow would you believe it?!

I have pondered about Masdevallias for some time, they are very nice but do not really look like Orchids and I do like that typical Orchid look that you get with Phalaenopsis, Dendrobium, Cymbidium and like that of another new arrival is the Cattleya!

Now I have never had much luck with Cymbidiums, flowering, and Cattleya, keeping them alive for more than a year?!?!

But then I have a completely different set up now to what I had then and just the light rigging with the powerful LED bulbs and the large 1 metre x 0.5 metre humidity tray.

So let us hope that the Cattleya lives and then I may go for a couple of species I like like amythystoglossa and aclandiae I think it was?

Unlike last year this year will see a number of arrivals to my home and these Orchid areas, at long last, lol.

THE NEW ROOM

Right a year later than planned I have shuffled a few things around to make some space!

Now the corner of my living room has a new look and some more space for more things?!

Well a great deal will be happening in the coming months so I thought I had better be at least a little prepared for everything that will happen?!

LMAO!! OOOH YEAHHH!! :)

TO FLOWER ORCHIDS AND AVOID GAS FIRES

A few pictures in case I forgot to post them up.

Have a few Orchids that are not far from flowering so at last soime activity on here and on my YouTube account will start to take effect, lol.

Dendrobium victoriae-reginae

Phalaenopsis Mini Hybrid spiking for the first time. As is the only other Phalaenopsis that I have not yet flowered. Many of my Orchids refused to flwer for a long period. This was me feeling sorry for an idiot and offereing my help which was not only taken but then abused in many ways.

That will not happen again I assure you. ;)

MINI PHAL SPIKE... This will be pink! Yes I know I am a guy but was the only bloody colour they had! Well yes I would have BOUGHT a WHITE ONE if they had one! LMAO!

These flowers went pure white and then died of before opening up completely. It also happened to the Dendrobium victoriae-reginae too and at the exact same time. There was a factor involved and this was a Calor Gas fire. I now do not use it as I did and moved it upstairs.

So just in case you think that a gas fire must be better because it will be warmer then no! Do not do it! Luckily it did not harm the plants themelves.

Since removing the gas fire from where it was to another floor one of the canes on my Dendrobium victoriae-reginae seems to have found some energy?! It seems to be growing up and will grow a bit more as the tip has two big leaves with two new leaves appearing next to them! You will normally get a new spurt of growth due to the pars of leaves appearing in nodes, which are normally at least an inch apart or more.

MY EARLY DAYS WITH ORCHIDS

Still have the big reedy Cymbidium, six of the Phalaenopsis and a few others, the rest either were stolen or died because of a selfish twat who need to see professional help.

He lives in Thailand now, lol.

ONCIDIUM PHALAENOPSIS DENDROBIUM

A few other Orchids and their developments...

First up an Oncidium Sweet Sugar I saved from death from...somewhere two years ago!

Taken a while but produced two NEW growths few weeks back....

Another shot of the Dendrobium Berry Oda but with the NEW CAMERA

The Pelloric Phalaenopsis buds will all be open in two days, this is ONE of TWO Spikes so will reposition for next photographs.