Orchids in San Ramón?

[Sam Wilson]

Hey Joe,

Are you planning to swing by the Orchid Expo in San Ramón this weekend?

We've been trying to propagate Phalaenopsis orchids the past few weeks and so far have so-so results.  I started with 16 little node sprigs and I've weeded out a few that got moldy and/or dried out, but I have yet to see any real sprouting!

I'll have a chance to refine my technique with 2 or 3 other orchids we've got that are about to lose their blooms.  What I tried this last go round was to seep some chopped ginger for 24 hours in a water I had previously brought to a boil.  Then I soaked the orchid node sprigs I had cut from orchids which had lost their bloom.  When cutting my orchid sprigs I sealed the ends of the sprigs with wax to help them stay moist and not catch a rot infection on the cuts.  After the ginger water soak, I carefully nested my node sprigs on ginger water soaked beds of coir (coco husk hair) and I tried to keep them somewhat moist, but not wetly.

    

I am less than 3 weeks into this experiment and am not ready to throw in the towel, but I sure was hoping for more sprout signs by now... At least I now have ginger sprouting in 3 jars on a kitchen window sill.

I don't think we'll be able to get down to San Ramón this weekend, but I sure would like to make it to one of these orchid expos one of these days.

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Sam

[Joe Harrison]

How do you learn about this stuff Sam?  It hasn't been posted on the SR events FB page, so I'm trying to double confirm w/ friends.  If it's on for sure, I'll go.  It's timely, since I'm looking for a new centerpiece for our dining table for our family dinner to celebrate the 8th anniversary of mi relacion con Fernanda el 11 de julio.  Maybe I'll even plant 1 or 2 out back, but I never had much luck with orchids in the past.  Maybe I'll do better in CR.  Also thinking about a camelia bush but I don't know how well they would do here.

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[gene]

maria and gene met july 11 2017...

never left except to get her clothes...

small world...

pura vida...

gene

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[Joe Harrison]

Yeah, the world sure is small Gene!  We are exactly 2 years ahead of you, it was July 11, 2015.  And Fernanda's first name is actually Maria.  She uses her middle name b/c her older sister is named Maria Jose and lays claim in the family to the use of Maria. 🤔  We formalized the relationship with marriage 3 years ago, very happy!!!

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[gene]

congratulations!!!

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[Joe Harrison]

And congrats to you, too!  Really is Pura Vida here.  I'll never go back😀

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[gene]

neither will i...not even in a box...

gonna buy graves soon...

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[Joe Harrison]

I opted for a cremation contract here several years ago.  All paid for!

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[Don Hickman]

Sorry I've not been able to contribute to the conversation.  (Or harass Joe!). My friend Tony passed away this morning at 5:00 and I've been a little busy.  His wife is in the hospital so I had to go there today also.  Anyway, now that death has come up, Tony donated his body to the med school in San José.  No cost.  I called them this morning and they came at 10:00 to retrieve the body.

Don 

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[Joe Harrison]

Don, condolences on the loss of a friend -- always difficult.  Yeah, nobody around today to harass me, not even my dear wife who went to el hospital to see if they could get rid of the virus that's been pursuing her the past few days.  Go ahead, have at it; I'm used to harassment .....

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[gene]

my condolences...

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[Sam Wilson]

Hi Joe,

Someone who knows I've been playing around trying to propagate orchids sent that to me.  I'm sure they know that once I get it figured out that they'll be getting free orchids... jajaja. If you hadn't heard about it, then I wonder how well it has been marketed.  I did find this expo mentioned on the Facebook page of Ajocori (La Asociación de Jueces de Orquídeas de Costa Rica.)

La Asociación de Jueces de Orquídeas de Costa Rica

https://www.facebook.com/Ajocori.CR/

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Sam

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[Don Hickman]

Thanks Gene and Joe.  I appreciate it.  Joe, this is your lucky evening as I'm too tired to harass you.  Lol.  Time for a bottle of good wine (the entire bottle) and bed.  I'll read about orchids tomorrow.  Wait!  No.  No I won't.  If I do, the missus will come up with a new project.  She's already wanting to go to the vivero tomorrow.  😟

Don

who just opened a Merlot

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[gene]

my condolences to the merlot...

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[Joe Harrison]

Hi Sam:  You're right about the lack of marketing for this exposition here in SR, where we have no newspaper, just FB and local gossip.  Maybe some of the latter, but nothing on our SR FB group pages that I can find.  So, I don't think many locals will attend, plus it's out in the boonies, not close to the city.  But I'll plan to go anyway now that I'm sure it is a "go."  

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[Sam Wilson]

Hi Joe,

I sure wish I could get over there to visit with you guys and to see the orchids.  I'm trying to figure out how those orchid experts are propagating their babies... jejeje.  There is also one of the biggest orchid exporter operations in North America right down the road from you:

Agro Orchids Costa Rica

http://www.agroorchids.com/

If you happen to talk to any growers who sound like they might know where to buy Keiki (KAY-kee) Paste in Costa Rica, please ask them for contact info for me.  I've been looking for a while and have not been able to find it locally.  Keiki paste is kind of the opposite of rooting hormones.  Rooting compound encourages a plant to focus on root growth rather than leaves and flowers, keiki paste is a synthetic growth hormone (cytokinin) that encourages plant growth rather than roots and orchid propagators use it a lot to get little baby orchids (roots & all) to start growing off a mother plant's nodes.

Anyway, those guys at the orchid expo surely know the tricks!

Have fun and take plenty of pics!

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Sam

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[gene]

no pics...didnt happen...

pura vida...

gene

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[Joe Harrison]

Ill do what I can, probably Sunday Sam.

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[Sam Wilson]

LiCR,

A super big H/T (Hat Tip) to forum member bevjls for sending me the first DIY recipe for making keiki paste that called for ingredients I can actually find!

Balcony Garden Web - DIY Keiki Paste Recipe

https://balconygardenweb.com/diy-keiki-paste-recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of organic coconut water (can be found in health food stores or supermarkets) [or my backyard!]
1 teaspoon of organic honey
1 teaspoon of organic cinnamon powder
Small container for mixing

Instructions:

1. In the small container, combine the organic coconut water, organic honey, and organic cinnamon powder.
2. Mix the ingredients thoroughly until they form a smooth paste.
3. Adjust the consistency if needed by adding a bit more coconut water or cinnamon powder. The paste should be thick enough to adhere to the orchid’s nodes or aerial roots.
4. Once the paste is ready, apply a small amount to the desired nodes or aerial roots of the orchid plant using a clean brush or cotton swab.
5. Reapply the paste every few weeks or as directed, depending on the growth rate of your orchid.

Of course DIY is 2nd nature to anyone living in Costa Rica, but especially for those of us off the beaten path.  I had seen coconut water mentioned as a natural source of cytokinin growth hormone and had considered soaking some moss in it and affixing it to an orchid flower spike, but this DIY keiki paste recipe is the 1st one I've seen that called for ingredients I can actually find.  I've got every ingredient either in my backyard or in that of a cuñado/a (including cinnamon trees and honey bees!) Every other recipe I've seen for keiki paste called for 6-BenzylAminoPurine (BAP) for which I have been fruitlessly searching sites of CR chemical distributors.  I've got plenty of pipas to experiment with, I'll give this a try and report back my results.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, bevjls.  This is a great community of helpful folks and I am honored to be a part of it.  👍

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Sam

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[Joe Harrison]

Hi Sam,  glad you at least got a recipe for pasta keiki; I didn't see much of anyone to ask at the so-called Exposicion today.  On a scale of 1-10, I give it a minus 5 😠  It was held in one room about the size of a large living room, 7 booths, one of which had an attendant.  The exhibits were mas o menos, lots of varieties but the problem for me was that they were roped off so that one could see the labels of the specimens only on the first row.  The lighting was terrible.  I only spent about 10 minutes in this part of the venue, which was upstairs.  About 5 other visitors at 11 am today.

Downstairs, orchids were for sale.  One attendant, who was knowledgeable and spoke good English, making my life a bit easier.  I ended up buying a large purple Cattelya (c.25.000 probably too much)  Didn't consider baby plants cuz I want a centerpiece right now for our dining table, and this will be fine.  I'd estimate the total # of plants for sale at 75, not much selection.  In summary, the show was a complete bust and wouldn't have been worth a trip on your part.  Not much by way of fotos but I think you can see how dismal the lighting was (except in one exhibit which was adjacent to a window where the sun was beaming through with such intensity that it, too, was nearly impossible to view😥)

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[Sam Wilson]

Hi Joe,

Thanks for taking one for the team!

Those Cattelya orchids are extra gorgeous and pretty easy going with maintenance.

I've got 2 tricks I'm gonna try with my next two attempts... might be able to try 4 different things with 2 orchids in the process of losing their blooms and multiple flower spikes. More branches = more chances!  jajaja.  My current orchid propagation experiment started with 16 node specimens 3 weeks ago and I've tossed at least 5 of them for wither or mold. Some may yet pan out, but I would like to see a sign!  ;-)

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Sam

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