Classic Orchid Hybrids - Arachnis Maggie Oei

Arachnis Maggie Oei ia one of the heritage hybrids of South East Asia and commanded a major share of the orchid cut flower industry for more than 30 years since its debut. A cross between Arachnis hookeriana and Arachnis flos-aeris registered by John Laycock in 1950, there are two distinct variants ie the Yellow Ribbon and the Red Ribbon. Whilst the blooms of Red Ribbon is prettier, the Yellow Ribbon variant is more floriferous and hardy.

Arachnis Maggie Oei 'Yellow Ribbon'

The plant is easily distinguishable from Arachnis flos-aeris by the more erect and stiff leaves (A. flos-aeris has droopy/floppy leaves) a vegetative trait inherited from the A. hookeriana parent. Flowers have coloured bars and splotches reminiscent of the A. flos-aeris parent, but the bars and splotches are thinner but are more numerous than the A. flos-aeris parent.

Rainy cool day...

It has been raining the whole day yesterday and drizzled on and off today thus making the weather pretty cool. The weather is really unpredictable nowadays. Luckily this damp and cool weather is to my advantage as I have a few Cattleyas that is waiting to be repotted after being bare-rooted.

Rain rain don't go away... keep the air cool for another day.

The early hours if Friday (12 Jan 2018) had the lowest recorded temperature recorded in the Klang Valley so far for this year, dropping to a low of 21 ^oC. Even the daytime high temperature are at a low 25 ^oC!

The weather however, makes some of the orchids fail to colour up due to the lack of strong  sunlight and heat. Take for example the Rth. (C. Netrasiri Beauty x Rth. Orange Nuggett) below. The petals have not taken up a more intense orangey-yellow than it should.

The colour of this flower hasn't intensifiied as it should due to the lack of
strong sunlight and heat.

In bloom today (non-Laeliinae)

Here are a few non-Laeliinae orchids that are currently in bloom.

The first one is Dendrobium peguanum. This tiny miniature is really cute, and would have been prettier if it was mounted. 

Cute little greenish-white blooms of Dendrobium peguanum. 

Another cute one blooming is the rat-tailed Trichocentrum cebolleta. The blooms are small, though the plant isn't. 

A member of the Oncidiinae family, Trichocentrum cebolleta is purportedly to
contain hallucinogens.

And this just came in the post as I was about to publish this post, Bulbophyllum mastersianum. Not a bad sized plant for the price.

Rhyncattleanthe (C. Netrasiri Beauty x Rth. Orange Nuggett)

This is one of the more interesting Rhyncattleanthe hybrids from Thailand. It is a cross made from a pink spotted with pink lip C. Netrasiri Beauty with the compact, concolour orange-coloured Rth. Orange Nuggett. 

Rhyncattleanthe (C. Netrasiri Beauty x Rth. Orange Nuggett)

The colour of the petals and sepals open greenish yellow but darken to an orangey chrome yellow, probably due to the colour influence of the pollen parent.

A Merry Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle ' Christmas

Wishing all my friends and readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Love the dainty, lilac-coloured Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace 'Twinkle '.

Caulocattleya Chantilly Lace is currently my favourite Laeliinae orchid hybrid. There is a mild, nondescript but pleasant scent and the flowers come in bunches of 3 to 6 blooms that last about a month.

Vegetatively they resemble a large and robust Caulathron bicornutum plant and behave somewhat like their Caulathron bicornutum mother with the tendency to sulk a while if the roots were disturbed during repotting. However, once growth resumes they are quite forgiving and easy to rebloom.

Brassocatanthe Little Mermaid

This charming little orchid has only three species from three different genera in its genetic make-up, and it has inherited mostly the best qualities of each and every one of its parents. This plant is Brassocatanthe Little Mermaid.

Brassocatanthe Little Mermaid - the size of the flowers relative to the plant is huge!

Registered by Dogashima in 1997, which by the way makes this a 20 year old hybrid, is a cross between Cattleya walkeriana and Brassanthe Maikai. Bsn. Maikai is a rather old but pretty hybrid made up of Brassavola nodosa and Guarianthe bowringiana. Thus Bct. Little Mermaid is 50% C. walkeriana and 25% each of B. nodosa and Gur. bowringiana. However, the vegetative form of the plant is more like Bsn. Maikai, except for the broader leaves, which is not surprising as most B. nodosa hybrids look a bit like B. nodosa, with sub-terete leaves and narrow pseudobulbs.

Two different Rth. Netrasiri Starbright

Rth. Netrasiri Starbright is one of those complex hybrids that have many forms. Here are a pic each of two different forms; firstly a yellow-red form that Thai sellers call Netrasiri Starbright 'Spectacular' and then the Netrasiri Starbright 'Malaysia' that I have posted previously.

Rth. Netrasiri Starbright 'Spectacular'

Rth. Netrasiri Starbright 'Malaysia'

As you can see, the colours are very different, but the lip are somewhat similar. Also the plant stature are almost the same, thus without being labeled or in bloom, you will have difficulty telling the two apart. Hence the importance to keep them properly labeled. Both of them love the sun in the tropics, and by slowly bringing them out to the full sun, they actually thrive and become more hardy and less prone to rot and fungal spots on the leaves. Plus they bloom more frequently. Only thing is, make sure there is good airflow to keep the leaves cool at the hottest time of the day.