please unsubscribe
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
In a message dated 7/3/2006 5:01:05 AM Central Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
___
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
orchids@orchidguide.com
Robert Fuchs' post regarding the rescheduling of 19WOC is disingenuous to
say theleast. While the time chosen, the end of January,might
avoid conflict with "several other major international orchid events," it
coincides precisely with the Miami International Orchid Festival, scheduled for
Fortunately Jerry Fisher understood the intended thrust of my post in OGD
V8#174 which seems to have eluded Andy Easton. The issue is not whether or
not I get to judge, at the MiamiWOC but the arrogance of the organizers
and Andy in coming up with ad hoc exclusion criteria. Heretofore
Jose:
The local grapevine here in Miami says that this
year's Miami International Orchid Show, which was held in Miami Beach as a
tryout for the WOC in 2008, was a financial disaster for both the management
[read Robert Fuchs] and the vendors. During March, Miami Beach is filled
with snow
Since the source of atmospheric oxygen is
conversion of carbon dioxide to oxygen by plants, the sum of oxygen + carbon
dioxideremains constant. It is hard tocomprehend how
oxygen levels could have ever beenmuch higher than at present. The
presentsteady statelevelof carbon dioxide, .04%,[the
The blessings of Global Garming! Frosts were
not uncommon in Miami prior to the mid '80's but we haven't had a single frost
since, which the orchids sure appreciate. I used to spend a lot of effort
slinging plastic sheets over the orchid tablesfor winter, but nowadays I
find it less effort
Mark:
I am keenly interested in access to the Plant
Sciences article as well as Barbara's thesis. By coincidence Iwas
just thinking Barbara's thesis ought to be about ready just this
morning.Please pass on to Barbara my best regards.If
anyone up there is interested, I will be bringing in
This is to advise Buzz Baxter to get a life. I, for one, enjoy all
the "childish bicking [bickering?]" I read in the OGD. What I find
"tiresome" is the attempts of other individuals to appoint themselves community
censors and censurers.Bert
Pressman
Many lay peopleexhibit a morbid fear of
chemicals. I have read advisoriesto wearprotective garb and goggles
when applying horticultural chemicals, yet mostsuch agents are relatively
benign. Thus TomHillson quotes the LD50 of Orthene to be 700 mg/Kg, which
works out to 1.7 ounces of the
I alsoown a mounted specimen of
Xanthopan morgana praedicta, which will be viewable atthe Malalatent
at the Redland International Orchid Festival in Homestead, Florida, May 19-21,
along withover 100Madagascan species offered for sale. If
anyone would still like a list of these species,
While the two species reference books recommended by Stephan Manza are
good, I find myself constantly going back to the Alex Hawkes "Encyclpedia of
Cultivated Orchids" as more comprehensive and informative, even though it was
published 41 years ago. Although it contains few pictures, the
Gene Howard asked about Silca in Cell Walls. Bob Dressler in
"Physiology and Classification of the Orchid Family" discusses the inclusion of
silica bodies in orchid cells sheathing vascular bundles as a presumed
reinforcement oforchid
tissue
[pp 23,25].However I was surprised to learn from
The tenth annual REDLAND INTERNATIONAL ORCHID FESTIVAL
will be held outdoors at the Redland Fruit Spice Park, Homestead,
Florida [suburb of Miami] on May 19-21. Fifty-five vendors,
mostly from overseas, offer a wide variety of orchids, includingmany
speciesthat are hard to find, at
I will be importing mature Aeranthes henrici from Malala Orchids
[Madagascar] for the Redlands Festival in Homestead, Florida, scheduled for this
coming May, along with lots of other Madagascan species not otherwise available
in the US.There will be discounts for advance orders and I will
Considering all the interest the OGD seems to be showing in Oeceoclades, I
amcontemplating importing Madagascan species, including several
Oeceocladesagain this coming year for the Redlands Orchid Festival in
Florida next May.
Whether I do or not depends to some extent on interest for
With regard to the mechanism of foliar absorption of nutrients,
John Stanley [OGD V7#372 message 3]is right; the wonder is not the
advantages of foliar feeding but that it can taker place at all. As I
recall, it was Tom Sheehan who obtained experimental evidence for its existence,
but I did
Regarding Andy's reference to my tilting
at windmills, I actually did receive a couple of key replies to my letter to the
WOC.The letter was copied to a number of individuals for their
edification, butthereplies soughtwere received, and the matter
is still open. As usual, Andy has no
Guido:
My old Latin dictionary listed albus-a-um
as white, depending on the gender of the noun being modified.
Definitions are not handed down from Mt.
Sinai with immutable meanings. If you want to be an absolutist about your
definition of "alba", what if a given flower is white in my eyes
While we're on the subject of hybrids, there is something that has
always puzzled me. If man hybridizes species A and B, the f1 generation is
50%A and 50%B. If the two populations exist closely enough in nature to
form hybrids, the original f1 generationwould have probably
beeninterfertile
Juli's admonition ["... never to use metal baskets or metal
anythings because the metal oxidizes and harms the plant"] is the stuff that
myths are made of. Yes, metals do oxidize, but what follows from that?
What evidence did the personoriginally issuing the warning cite?
Does he, himself
There must be something in the discussion of permanganate as a
flower preserver that I'm missing. Does one apply it to the cut
stem? If so, how does it affect the flower up stream? Ifone
appliesit to the flowerone producesstains of brown manganese
dioxide which would presumably be
If you had attended our family reunion you would have noticed that
my cousin Linda resembles me more than does my sister Kate. That does not
make Linda my sister nor Kate my cousin, as you might have surmised from
appearances. If you had consulted our family genealogy chart, our true
Andy should be the last one in the world to complain about orchid
dictatorshipsafter bragging on the OGD that he will never permit me to
judge at the forthcoming WOC in Miami three years hence. Dragon Lady
indeed! AndFuchs'attempt to stop me from judging at Dijon on
the grounds that he had
Despite contentions that Orchid Taxonomy is
too arcane an art for us amateurs, our orchid expertscontinue
todelveinto areas in which they lack expertise,specifically
Linguistics. When Vandopsis parishii wasreassigned to the genus
Hygrochilus, was any sex surgery involved?What would happen
In the Indo-European language group, which
includes Greek, Latin and English, as well as most other European languages,
genders arearbitrary groupings of nounsby grammatical
criteria. Some of the three original genders contained sexually
distinguishable nouns, such as 'man' or 'woman,' and
I didn't anticipate that the concentration of bleach used for
decontamination wouldbe of such concern.The effectiveness
ofchlorine as a viricide was evaluated experimentally at very low
concentrations, presumably to determine minimal conditions for decontaminating
water for human
I am surprised that Viateur needs help on conducting a Google
search on Virus + Hypochlorite. Although a lifetime of practical
experience asa Biochemist andExperimental Cell Biologist assures me
that hypochlorite, i.e., chlorine bleach, can clean dirty orchid pots, the above
Google Search
Nancy's recommendation of a self cleaning oven would work, but what
about the logistics of the procedure? Do you think for one moment that my
wife would let medrag a load of dirty pots from my yard intoher
house, let aloneplacing them in her oven? Do the carbonized residues
fall out of the
Viateur asks if I refer to plastic
pots. Wrong! When I write of clay pots, that is a defined
material. There are lots of plastics and I can't generalize for
all,although in my experience all the various plasticpots that I
have actually exposed to chlorine bleach have been chemicallyinert
Zwei Dinge sind unendlich:Das Universum und die menschliche
Dummheit.Aber bei dem Universum bin ich mir noch nicht ganz sicher (Albert
Einstein)
"Two things are eternal:
The Universe and Human Stupidity.
However, I am not yet entirely certain about the
Universe."
It does read better in
At the AOS Florida-Caribbean Judging
Center, which I attend regularly,teams are autonomous and are composed of
3-6 accredited judges plus perhaps a student judge. They have no
obligations to comply with any AOS master judging plan, but the accredited
judges have been through a rigorous
In the same vane as Julio's analogy between
Prohibition and CITES, I remember a husky bully from childhood, who would grab
frailer subjects for subjugation by the collar and threatenus with, "What
did you say about my mother?" Viateur's fascitious conclusion that Julio
is in favor of the
Andy's latest dart,targeted at Peter
O'Byrne, inadvertently clarified his off OGD email to meof 4/6/05 assuring
me cavalierly that "...you will not be among the judges at the Miami WOC in
2008." He now asserts that he, "... will be part of a committee whose task
is to ensure that only
The posts by Ray Barklow and Iris
illustrate what I meant by the persistence of orchid cultural myths which
arecontradicted by Physics and Chemistry.
Iris, despite what you've read,
charcoal absorbs only materials that have unsaturated electron systems,
technically termed "Pi electrons."
Andy, my better instincts tell me to ignore
your post, but you did invoke the doctrine of Personal Privilege by mentioning
my name.
I was able to learn that others have been
retained as judges in good standing in the SFOS for years after they stopped
judging. The legitimacy of Fuchs' claim
Regarding the MSU low phosphate fertilizer
formulation, the author of the Orchids article Leo was trying to recall is Jan
Szyren. She was not the originator of the formula, but, more importantly,
reported her long term success with it as caretaker of the Michigan State
University orchid
Andy, Andy, hey, hey, hey.
Whom you gonna dis today?
It seems to be the consensus that critical
remarks should not be out ofbounds in the OGD, but gratuitous nastiness
like "sticky fat fingers" is an admission that theposter
cannotmanage the English language with finesse.
Andy now informs us
Colin, I have some Australian species that are not doing too
well. What's the current market price of Koala bearsand where can I
get
one?Bert
Pressman
___
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
orchids@orchidguide.com
We imported a shipment of orchids from the Saigon Orchids and Flora
nursery about two years ago. While the shipment was delayed by Viet Namese
governmental red tape, it arrived eventually and was of good
quality.No Appendix 1 plants were sent, i.e., none of the
fascinating Viet Namese
Jerry:
You should try coming to the Redlands Fair
in Miami May 13-15. Representatives of the USDA are on hand to issue
paperwork in a professional manner, there will be a lot more vendors than were
at Dijon, especially from overseas,and, besides, it's a lot
closer.
My experiences, as a
Andy, as the master artist of defamation on
the OGD,it ill befits you to criticize others. If your remarks about
me were not intended to "start a fight," then why else did you make
them?
To begin with I was never informed that I
was no longer a "judge in good standing" at the SFOS, nor do
Sheldon, Fuchs did not exactly "...clean up at Dijon with his
Vandas." At the end of the regular round of judging, threeVanda
awards were given, including a gold to Martin Motes, Fuchs' South Florida rival,
for best Vanda in Show [V. Blue Grig x V. Arjuna], a bronze toMotes for V.
Motes
Iemailed the message below to Martin
Topletzdirectly, but in view of Andy's remarks impugning my judging
qualifications, without bothering to check facts as usual, I am appending it and
submitting it to the general OGD readership.
No, I am not an accredited AOS
judge,but no such
In view of the many posts concerning the
politics at the recent WOC, it seems appropriate to relate my own experiences
there. I had been duly registered and issued judge's credentials and
wasabout to join my teamwhen two of the judging coordinators,
RicNeiryinck and Cordelia Head,
We have beenmade aware ofthe excessive zeal of the US
Plant Police [aka USFWL] on many recent occasions. Their French
equivalent appears to be equally ruthless.
Some of the organizers of the WOC
requested thatMadagascan orchid vendors"show the flag" by selling
Madagascan orchids at the WOC
The vendors' list for the 9th Annual REDLAND INTERNATIONAL ORCHID
FESTIVAL,to be held at the Fruit and Spice Park, Homestead Florida, May
13-15, is now on line:www.redlandorchidfestival.org.
The listincludes 56 vendors,28 of whom are from overseas, which, I
believe, is without precedent.
The vendors' list for the 9th Annual REDLAND INTERNATIONAL ORCHID
FESTIVAL,to be held at the Fruit and Spice Park, Homestead Florida, May
13-15, is now on line:www.redlandorchidfestival.org.
The listincludes 56 vendors,28 of whom are from overseas, which, I
believe, is without precedent.
1. The point brought up by Mark does have merit; different ions
have different "mobilities" in an electric field, hence different
conductivities. So what exactly does measuring EC tell you about the
effect of a given solution on orchids?
2. Technically, salts by definition include all
Maybe I'm missing something. If I habitually fertilize my
orchids with 5 Oz 15-5-15 diluted to 20 gal, that works out to 1/4 Oz/gal.
If there are 128 Oz/gal, that means I add 1/4 part fertilizer to 512 parts water
or about 1 part fertilizer to 2,000 parts water.If
thereare0.15 parts
I have read all those heated discussions on
EC TDS and wondered if I was experiencing a resurrection of medieval
philosophers arguing about how many angles can dance on the head of a pin.
Do orchids possess EC meters that tell them when to burn their roots? Can
conductivity distinguish
Tricia's post about having read Glancy's post about Taiwanese pests
puzzles me. I am one of those who received Glancy's postsWITHOUT any
message, yet Tricia says she received the posts WITH the message. Does
that mean that there are different versions of the OGD? When I reply to an
OGD
Nancy:
Regarding Cycnoches warsweiczii, Cychnoches do occasionally bloom
after they defoliate and enter dormancy for the winter. It probably would
not take up any water or nutrients from the pot if repotted, since its roots are
likely to be dead,but it can draw on stored reserves to bloom.
In reply to Ron Kaufman, RGD V6 #472, Jenny's email address
is:[EMAIL PROTECTED]Bert
Pressman
___
the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
There is a powerful enzyme, catalase, present in most cells, bacterial,
plant and animal, that converts hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen real
quick. The peroxide lasts long enough to put the kabash on many bacteria for a
short time, hence its effectiveness in treating crown rot, but
I was dismayed to see how many self righteous OGDers would support the
draconian sentence imposed on George Norris and somewhat relieved that at least
Steve Topletz and Eric Muehlbauer saw fit to place the crime in a proper
perspective. Remember Dickens' Les Miserables, in which Jean Val
Prompted by Lauder's problems in getting delivery from a SE Asian Nursery, I
wish to report a more pleasant experience with Saigon Orchids and Flora of
Viet Nam. Some of the fleshy bulbed species [Calanthe, Phaius, etc.] I
ordered were found to harbor beetle larvae by the supposedly lax
With regard to my source of information about orchid species extinction
[Peter O'Byrne, OGD V6 #423 Message 6], it is based on facts we all know. If
orchid fanciers find a given orchid species of interest, entrepreneurs will
propagate it artificially until all desires are fulfilled.
Regarding Don's question about who informed on Norris, no one knows for
sure, although earlier suspicions about Eric Christenson seem entirely unfounded.
Perhaps no one informed. Attention could have been drawn to Norris simply
by the fact that he offered the tainted species,
Nina Rach's terse commentary on the conviction of George Norris [17 months]
for importing Peruvian Phrags illicitly is too casual. We should all be
outraged for the imposition of draconian penalties for violation of a law
designed to protect endangered species of ANIMALS. If you take into
While searching for an article in my pile of reprints, I recently stumbled
upon the original 1967 article by HH Thornberry advocating TSP as a viricide.
It is apparent that his background as a Plant Pathologist did not serve him
well as a Chemical or Biochemical expert. He shows no
I presume that Bob Scully's rebuttal of he antiviral effectiveness of a
simple exposure to bleach [hypochlorite] originates from the Work Ethic concept
that the greater the labor, the greater the reward. Regarding the torch vs.
bleach, it ain't necessarily so.
I have great respect
When I made my original comments about the efficiency of chlorine bleach for
cleaning pots and cutting edges, my intent was to reassure orchid growers,
particularly novitiates, about simple and reliable procedures. I had no
intention of getting into a dispute with AJ Hicks, nor putting
AJ Hicks questions [OGD V6#370] the chemistry behind my recommendation of
bleach as a virtually instantaneous sterilization agent. He cites the odor of
chlorine in bleach as evidence of the volatility of hypochlorite. He is
correct that the manufacture of bleach involves the uptake of
The active ingredient in bleach is not gaseous chlorine but hypochlorite
ion, which is not volatile. Accordingly, bleach needs no confinement to work
properly. It destroys the amino acid tyrosine, a constitute of all complex
proteins, on immediate contact; the rest of the organic matter
With regard to Iris Cohen's warning [OGD V6 #366, message 4, repeated as
message 8, I presume for emphasis] about cleaning pots in bleach, from my
background in Chemistry and Biophysics, as well as long personal experience, it is
nonsense! I have no idea where the idea of saturated calcium
Regarding smuggling Appendix 1 orchids, there are two distinct illegalities.
It is not only illegal to ship the orchids from Peru without the proper
papers, but it is also illegal for them to enter the US. Both INRENA in Peru and
US Fish Wildlife have separate jurisdictions which apply.
In my linguistic readings I learned that a pidgin is any contact language
which mixes vocabulary from two unrelated languages with little formal grammar.
It can evolve in complexity with time, even acquiring a grammar and thereby
becoming a creole. I had no idea there was any pejorative
The Liebig Principle states that growth will always be limited by
whatever nutritional factors are in limited supply. When we examine an organism
growing in equilibrium with its environment, the factors limiting growth are not
always apparent. We can, however, determine by trial and error
Mark Sullivan's post initially mentions the effects of carbon dioxide on
orchid growth but then gets on to an entirely different subject, carbon
dioxide and global warming. The negative information about the ability of enhanced
plant growth to control global warming through carbon fixation
Fredrick JM Depuydt faults the data indicative of Global Warming as
statistical in nature. Please note that an important concept of the Philosophy of
Science is that ALL data is statistical. Information that cannot be expressed as
within an explicit statistical probability is without meaning.
Paul Bouleau inquires about the application of lime water to Paphs. I
suspect there is some confusion here between limestone, which is calcium carbonate
and rather insoluble in water, lime, which is calcium oxide and is
converted to slaked lime, which is calcium hydroxide, by contact with
71 matches
Mail list logo
