Phalaenopsis Fusheng's Sweet Paradise 'Golden Leopard'

The color combination of the Phalaenopsis hybrid is very eye catching.  It used to be that flowers with these colors were small, this is not the case of this flower.  It may not be the size of a classical white Phalenopsis, but it is clear the hybridizers are well on their way to achieve this bold color combinations on large sized flowers.

Thanks to Irma Saldana, which provided the identification of this orchid.

Dendrobium helix P.J. Cribb 1980, some notes on its care

This species is from New Guinea, it grows in the coastal lowlands.  It has proven an easy species to grow under my local climatic conditions.  The largest canes of my plant have reached four feet tall but I am sure it has the potential to grow even larger.  It produces inflorescences intermittently during the year but flowers most realibly in late autumn.  The flowers of this particular clone are orange and have a purple lip.  Here are some observations on its growth and culture.

Light:  My plant grows best just under the sarah cloth where it is exposed to the strongest light short of full sunlight.  Unfortunately the canes grow right up to the shade cloth and inflorescences can grow into the cloth and become damaged or deformed if the plant is not lowered to allow them to develop normally.

Temperature:  It grows well under the local temperatures.

Watering:  Most of the year the local rainfall supplies all the water this plants needs, only in the driest months do this plant has to be watered.  Watering it once a week in the dry season is enough to keep the plant healthy.

Fertilizer:  This plant gets fertilized only when it is producing new canes.  In its growing season it get a high nitrogen fertilizer.

Potting:  It is growing in a wire basket that I made specially for this plant.  The media was bark, but it decayed away years ago.  The plant is growing on top of the remains of its own old root ball.  Every year a new flush of root growth from the new canes grows over the basket and the old roots.  I have also used plastic pots and they work well as long as they have plenty of holes and the media is open.  Clay pots also work well with the added bonus that their weight helps keep the plant upright when the mass of canes becomes too heavy.

Pests:  Thrips will damage the inflorescences and the flowers.  Slugs will eat the canes when they are young and tender.

Notes:  My plants grow best if they are in an open media that allows plenty of air to reach the roots.  The best media for this species in my garden is stones or very hard bark that decays slowly.

Bulbophyllum claptonense Rolfe 1905

This is one of a number of species that was classified as a variety of Bulb. lobbii.  

Bulbophyllum orthoglossum Krlz. 1896

A nice Bulbophyllum species with yellow flowers.  

Anolis curvieri eating a tarantula

In January of 2013, I noticed that there was a large lizard eating, with some difficulty, a tarantula it had caught.  Apparently, this normally canopy dwelling animal, saw the tarantula in the ground and decided that it was just a too tempting a prey to pass up.  I was able to take a number of photos before it headed back up to the canopy.  The color of this particular animal is unusual as it is rare to see brown adult individuals, it is even rarer that this form is photographed.  The normal color for adults of this species is green, inmature individuals are brown.  Note the very long tail, more than twice as long as the whole body.

Calanthe rubens Ridl. 1890, a deciduous terrestrial orchid

This Calanthe is probably one of the easiest terrestrial orchids that you can grow in Puerto Rico.  All it needs is to be repotted once a year on fresh media and regular watering.  Many years ago I was given a small rootless piece by a friend.  I had never grown a Calanthe so I gave particular attention to the plant.   The plant thrived and next year it bloomed.  When it was two years old I divided it.  This gave me two plants.  Next year I divided them again and then had four.  I repeated the process a few times until I had more plants than I really wanted.  I gave a few of them away.

Since all my plants were a single clone, they bloomed all at the same time.  I would group them all together and for months I would enjoy the massed display of flowers.   When the inflorescences would cease to produce flowers, I would cut them and repot the plants.  I did this for a number of years, but then I began to get lazy.  I neglected them and they started doing poorly.  However they kept flowering although with less vigor.  Unfortunately, I lost this orchid.  The culprit was a black rot that attacked the bulbs.    For those orchid growers that live in a tropical setting this small Calanthe is a good option.   One would think that given the ease of culturing this plant it would be common in local orchid collections, but the reverse is true.  Very, very few people grow Calanthe in Puerto Rico.    I think the main reason is that most people are unfamiliar with this genus and that sources that sell these plants are few and far between.