Coelogyne flaccida

When I pop a plant out of a pot I always hope to see a root structure like this. A large section of the pot filled with roots, but not so tightly bound together that they cannot be cleaned without a lot of damage.

Coelogyne flaccida grows from northern India through south China in mountain forests in the 3000 to 6000 foot range. It is cold to cool growing and is fragrant.

The roots shown are from one of the leads and the other side of the root structure was from a second lead. Both of the divisions were well rooted. I put the smaller of the two on the $5 table.

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I will be on a road trip 8/1/13 through 8/5/13. I will not be reading or answering mail. The $5 table is still active, just waiting for my return. This is a spiritual moment, part of why I have time to stop and smell the orchids the rest of the year.

Cattleya aurantiaca

I created a problem for myself with this Cattleya aurantiaca. It had gone over the edge of the pot when it bloomed in March. I had planned to re-pot but then didn't.

The roots of the largest pseudobulb were attacked by snails. Then a new growth started at a wierd angle. I couldn't find an orientation that worked for the whole plant when re-potting.

Cattleya aurantiaca grows in Mexico and El Salvador in rain forests. It is cool to warm growing and blooms in winter and spring.

Fortunately, there was a solution. The roots on the rest of the plant were really excellent. I cut off the newest pseudobulb and the new growth and treated that like a sprouted backbulb division. I was perhaps a little early potting it in sphagnum but I think it will develop new roots in the new pot.

Cattleya lueddemanniana

This Cattleya lueddemanniana is a backbulb division from Dave at Cattleyaphilia. I got three backbulb divisions from him in March and I still owe him something in return. This is the last one to be potted.

Cattleya lueddemanniana grows on the northern coast of Venezuela. It is fragrant, warm to hot growing and needs bright light. It blooms in summer or fall.

The plant is not ready to be potted. But I felt I had to do something. It has been declining steadily and is not showing any signs of sprouting. Direct potting of Catt backbulbs is not my favorite method but the prop-up-and-wait method wasn't working. Now it is a matter of waiting.

I have several Cattleya lueddemanniana varieties. I think a nice small collection could be made of this species alone. They are a very beautiful flower. The picture on this post is my generic picture. I am looking forward to changing the picture to the flower from this exact plant.

Cattleya Drumbeat 'Minerva Burr'

This plant was a two pseudobulb rootless backbulb division. I had thought it had died completely but it turns out that it didn't. The sprout has started to grow since I moved it to a 3-inch pot and sphagnum last December.

Cattleya Drumbeat 'Minerva Burr' is the cross Cattleya Bonanza x Cattleya Horace, registered by Stewart in 1967. It has a very showy flower with two to four open at a time.

I think I will keep it. It was re-potted a few months ago and deserves a chance to get used to the new pot. Besides, it is a great example of how far down an orchid can go and still make a comeback.

Laeliocatonia Renata 'S&W' HCC/AOS

I only have memory to go on for this plant. It has an inventory number but the information was not in the database as to when or where I got it. I seem to have got side-tracked before completing the paper work. And I have come to appreciate having notes and pictures over the time I had the plant.

The plant has mealy bugs on it. I don't see many mealy bugs since I got rid of the ants but they show up once in awhile. I can't do a real cleaning of the plant while it is in bloom but I can get rid of the visible bugs. Once it is finished blooming I will un-pot it, remove all the brown parts and generally clean it for re-potting. Then an all-over bath in tepid soapy water, a rinse and an all-over spray with the Ortho.

Euchile citrina

I have had the Euchile citrina in my collection since I got it in bloom in 2004. I moved it from a pot to a mount. Since then I have tried it all over the growing spaces and it has never bloomed for me.

Euchile citrina grows in cerntral and southern Mexico with a strong lemon scent. It needs bright light and a dry winter rest. The genus Euchile contains 2 species from Mexico. They used to be Encyclia but were removed for technical reasons. Definitely need a dry winter rest.

This plant is a small backbulb division potted in sphagnum over peanuts in a 2-inch plastic pot. When I removed the plant from the mount there was a group of three pseudobulbs and these were put on the $5 table. There was this separate single very tiny backbulb. I was going to toss it, but couldn't. So I am putting it back in a pot and am going to give it one more try.

Dimerandra emarginata

This Dimerandra emarginata is a collection plant. I got it last year as part of a trade. The other person chose it for me and I am glad he did. It got me acquainted with a genus I had not been familiar with.

Dimerandra emarginata grows from Mexico all along the east coast of South America down to Brazil. It is warm to hot growing and grows in low elevation rain forests, blooming through summer into fall. The genus Dimerandra (Dmd) contains 7 species growing from the West Indies down to Brazil at lower elevations.

This plant is mounted in coconut fiber. There are ten pseudobulbs and stands ten inches above the medium. It has fewer leaves than it had when I got it, but It has also grown taller. It is in conditions that ought to be similar to the ones where it grows. I am not going to make any change for at least another year.

Five Dollar Table

I have a twitter account but didn't know what to do with it. But is seems to me @Backbulb #FiveDollarTable is the perfect way to announce the changes.

Potinara Burana Beauty x L anceps

Here is a sprouted 4-pseudobulb backbulb division. It is coming along very nicely with nice green-tipped roots and two leads. With six PBs it might bloom as soon as this winter.

I got the plant from the SCOS gift exchange at the party we have in December. This is a backbulb division I made when I re-potted it. I usually re-pot new plants so I can see the roots.

This is going on the $5 table. I feel a little bad about letting it go, but I must be firm about what is collection and what is excess.