New Year's Eve Update!

   Ugh, I should rename this blog "Update Every Once in a Blue Moon". Once again, here I am, apologising to any human who may still be checking my blog every once in a while for an update. If you are one of those resilient few, today is your lucky day! So yes, I know I haven't updated since August, but, like, whatever, I am back once again, after a teary-eyed reunion with my moving day posts. In usual fashion, the exciting pictures after the break!

More Orchids!

   WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! My closet is finally starting to fill up again! Yesterday (technically Wednesday, I started writing this on Thursday, it's Saturday now) would have been a terrible day had it not started with being woken up by my dad dropping a giant box onto my bed as I was sleeping. Thankfully this was around the time that I usually get up anyways, but I had somehow unbelievably forgot about the fact that the plants I had ordered from Kingfisher Orchids were due to arrive. Usually, however, every time I have orchids on the way, they tend to wait until the last minute or while I'm not home to show up. Needless to say I was soon fully awake and unpacking the wonderful haul. Pictures and the rest of the story after the break!

Unflasking!

   Well, today is a day off work for me, so I decided to do something productive. I finally decided it was time to do something about the two flasks that I had bought from Ching Hua back in February, which required a lot of prerequisites before actually unflasking and potting the seedlings up. Once again, I am feeling pretty great knowing that I have (hopefully) nothing to fear. Now I hope I can get these seedlings growing before I have some of my own crosses to unflask. More after the break.

A Critical Satire.

   So, when I first made this blog, I kinda vowed to myself that I would keep the topics as close to orchid exclusive as possible. For those who actually read everything I ramble out, well, it's obvious I always have a lot to say. So, in lieu of this, I decided to make a second blog on which I plan on commenting on the things in life that happen every day. The common things that may pass many by as unimportant. This will truly be a place to get things off of my chest, but I don't want to exclude any visitors. I hope to make it a place where posted topics create a discussion, and cause people to consider a different viewpoint they may not have before. Without further hesitation, here is my second blog, A Critical Satire. Enjoy and please do share!

Satisfaction!

   Well, it's been a week since Rejuvenation, and I really think this whole process has done a lot of positive for me, more than one would think possible after loosing an entire collection of plants, and after giving the plants and closet another spray today, I'm feeling even better.
   Although I only have a few pictures, Blogger mobile still won't let me post anything that has a picture in it, so while I am typing (most of) this on my phone, I'll have to add the picture via a computer, which means I'll also follow regular suit and include the pictures after the the post break, something I consider good etiquette.

Chapter Three: Doomsday and Rejuvenation. . . July 17

   Well, as promised, here is part two of today's blog post, recounting the events of Chapter Two (moving into a new house), and the period of time and the catastrophic event (those that have followed this blog for a while may have a guess at what this catastrophe is and what caused it) that lead to today's Grand Rejuvenation and the start of Chapter Three. (Dear lord, I am dramatic, but I am sure you are all used to that by now). Pictures and story after the break!

Chapter Two: Paradise Lost. . . May 20, 2013

   Well, I don't even know if anyone semi regularly checks here for updates, but if so, I thank you for your dedication. It has been a long time since I have updated last, henceforth you will be receiving two posts today.
   This title seems dramatic, and rightly so. I may have mentioned at some point in the interwebs that we were moving, and as of today that date is long come and gone, but I thought it was a necessary post as a prelude to the next post. More of my drama after the break!

Some latest blooms!

   Wow. . . I don't even want to know how long it's been since I've made a post. . . I've been thinking about making a post here for the past couple of days, and finally the guilt has won, and I now feel obligated to make this for you. I don't have progress pictures, for if I did, I would be here making this for several hours. One day soon I'll post a few pictures here and there for some plant updates. A lot has happened since I last updated, such as new spikes, flowers, and deaths due to those cursed mites. However, shipping weather is pretty much upon us, and I'm totally itching to buy some new plants. Ahhh, I'm so excited for shipping season! Hehe, I just noticed that I think of the seasons of the year in two categories, winter, and shipping season. Anyways, pictures after the break!

First flask!

   Well, my original intent was to leave all three flasks untouched for a week or so to allow them to settle down after their long travels, but my impatience was overwhelming, so I decided to unflask the oldest of the three, which is Hsinying Webber 'Happy' AM/AOS x Hsinying Sonata. I finally found a good picture if Hsinying Sonata, and it is a nice whitish colour with pink candy stripes, so I should get some neat purplish pinks with a mix of blushes and strips. In total, there were 27 seedlings, the three largest of which I am definitely keeping, which leaves me 24 to sell or trade!

Kingfisher's Princess update.

   Well, my Kingfisher's Princess has opened up some more, except the problem is that I don't know if it is even going to fully open. I remember when I first got it, the two open flowers it had weren't fully opened, but I thought it could have been because it was shipped as the flowers were opening. However, these flowers appear to not want to fully open at all. For others, this wouldn't be too much of an issue, but for a breeder, some consider cupping to be undesirable. Personally, I prefer cupping (flowers not opening all the way) over reflexing (petals opening too far), but the colour on this is also a bit muddy. I think I may sell this at my next orchid society meeting and buy a different seedling from Patrick.

Three Phalaenopsis flasks!

   Sooooooooooo excited right now! My orchid society went to a show in Edmonton, Alberta this weekend, and although I couldn't go, I was able to preorder from a few vendors. I was going to get some mature plants, but when I saw that Ching Hua had a list of flasks for sale that could be brought to the show, I decided to take a look at the list. At first I stared in awe as dozens of unfamiliar names appeared. After a few minutes of Googling names, I found three flasks that suited my fancy and wants. Going left to right in the picture below, I bought: Dtps. (Hsinying Webber 'Happy' AM/AOS x Hsinying Sonata),  Dtps. Hsinying Pink Mount x sib, and Phal. (Sogo Yukidian 'F4' x Join Grace 'TH288-4').
   The first cross is sorta a gamble; I found a few excellent pictures of Hsinying Webber 'Happy', yet I could only find one, low quality picture of Hsinying Sonata, and none of Hsinying Sonata's parents. From the pictures I've seen, this cross should yield some great, large purples with some veining on the flowers.
   The next cross is pretty safe, as it is a sibling cross between a semi alba hybrid, so I think this will mainly be semialbas, with some potentially having a blush, depending on the genetics.
   The last cross, Sogo Yukidian 'F4' x Join Grace 'TH288-4' is the one I'm looking forward to the most! For those who don't know, Sogo Yukidian is one of the cutting edge, huge standard whites with fabulous form. The specific Join Grace cultivar used in this cross is another great white that can have flowers up to six inches across. I can't wait to have I've of these give me a two to three foot long inflorescence with fifteen or more flowers that are five and a half inches or more wide. It is guaranteed to be high quality, and something I use in breeding a lot!

02/19/13 Update!

   Well, it's been a little while since my last update, mostly because of the sprain to my left thumb I incurred while skiing last month. One of the suckiest things this injury has caused would be inability for me to work, and the reduced amount of money has forced me to drop an order of plants I was going to get from a show next month. Oh well, I think I'll be healed up enough to get back to work next week or so.

   As I mentioned in my last update, I recently upgraded to a much nicer and newer phone, so Blogger mobile is now once again of use to me. One thing that I don't quite like is that if I upload multiple images to a post, there is no way for me to arrange them into the usual format I have, were I talk about an image and then show it, and then follow with more text and another image, so I'm still having to use the laptop for these larger posts. However, I may soon start doing single picture updates more often and as they come instead of doing several plants in a huge post.

   In other related news, my parents have been planning on selling our current house in order to downsize and all that other stuff I don't want to care about until I have to, and the house plan they are most likely to get is absolutely wonderful for several reasons. One is that in many of the houses we looked at, the upstairs bedrooms had half closets, only 2.5' long, which means my current in-closet stand would have to be adapted to being out of a closet, which I didn't want to do. Thankfully this house has the normal 5' wide closets in the upstairs bedrooms. Since my brother will most likely be moving to Ontario for school this spring/summer, that means I will eventually be getting a bedroom in the basement, which won't be developed when we move into the house. So, this will mean that I will also have the closet in my basement bedroom to use for plants, plus the room upstairs (which will probably be converted into an office. Oh, and like I do now, I may also have an out of closet stand in both the basement and the upstairs office. So, for those doing the math, that means I will have double the space that I have now. But guess what, there's more! My Dad was saying there is a corner in the basement that, due to it's location, is somewhat useless. Now, if you know me, (and my Dad does), you know that if there is any empty space, it is claimed by me for my plants. SO, my Dad had said that they will be able to make that into a room solely for orchids!!!!!! This is a whole, huge, approx 8' x 8' room that I'll have for growing orchids!!!! Since my parents have almost always wanted to sell this current house in order to downsize, I haven't been able to do much tweaking and customizing. However, I have a feeling that they will be staying in this next house for a loooong time, so I think I may be able to have things such as a RO system installed and maybe a drain right in the floor so I don't have to deal with hauling tubs of waste water to a toilet to dump it! I AM EXCITED!!!! Now, to the pictures!!!! Oh, and and I thought I'd mention that the reason this is dated for the 19th is because that is when I had taken the pictures and uploaded them to Blogger. I just happened to finally get around to finishing up this post today.

 

Kingfisher's Princess

Well, I just got a new Galaxy S III, SOOO, if you see this post, you'll finally learn of the issues I had with my old phone and Blogger mobile. If not you'll never see this post and this will pretty much just be me talking to myself.

Anyways, here is a pic of a bud on my Kingfisher's Princess that's going to open soon.

01/21/13 Update!

   Wow, I guess it's a little obvious that my plans for a New Year's post fell through, although there is still lots of exciting stuff to talk about, plus another huge, overdue update, which will probably be longer than my last. Actually, after just reviewing the post before my last post, I realise this will be much longer, as I have 15 phone pictures plus some new DSLR pictures! As I alluded to in the past, the teachers did in fact buy a new camera, and the quality of the pictures were quite amazing for only having about 10 minutes to learn it before snapping the pictures!

   I doesn't appear that I've talked about it in the past, so I'll bring this up now. Patrick Adrichem, the owner of Kingfisher Orchids, and the great man who has provided me with a great majority of my Phalaenopsis, now has his own website! As you probably guessed, it's called Kingfisher Orchids. It is still in the working phase, but it will get better as time passes. Currently he has a bunch of info about things such as flasking, stem propping, and preparing media, and he has pictures of several of his own crosses (with one of my pictures in there!), plus many miscellaneous pictures from his greenhouse. Come spring he plans on keeping a much more regularly updated list of what he has for sale, with something special planned for the early spring, something that all Canadian Phal connoisseurs should look forward to! (Since I am so darn talkative, I am his main mouthpiece to the internet, but I'll seal my lips with that little morsel)

   Another great thing is that I am started to get connected with other novelty Phal growers who have some of the same great breeding ideas I do. So, for all of you lucky Canadians, there is potential that I will be regularly receiving stem props and potentially flasks from some friends, so I will be able to grow them out and share a few select seedlings with you! Another exciting thing is that there is great potential that I will soon be moving into colchicine treating my seedlings, hoping to get some great tetraploid novelties to breed with. Depending on how everything works out, one of my currently growing pods could be my first colchicine treated cross. I do plan on treating about 3/4 of each flask with colchicine, and then having the other 1/4 being an untreated, control flask, giving me plants I can be sure are diploid.

   Wow, I sure hope everyone enjoys reading, as I wrote quite a lot before even inserting the page break and getting to the pictures!