The Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Show held at Longwood Gardens took place this last weekend. Our orchid society's exhibit (National Capitol) received third place ribbon amongst the orchid societies.
This was my first time attending the show, and it lived up to its reputation for being a beautiful location for hosting orchid exhibits. Below are pics of individual orchids that caught my eye.
Cymbidium Little Beauty 'Black Shower' (Cricket x canaliculatum), exhibited by Fishing Creek Orchids. Several exhibits had Cym. Little Black Sambo mericlones, which quickly became boring. I had never seen Cym. Little Beauty before, and the form and color is much better than the Cym. Little Black Sambo mericlones.
Cym. King Agate (Mad Magic x Miss Muffet), exhibited by Duffin's Orchids
Cymbidium Jim Duffin (madidum x bicolor), Longwood Garden collection. I know it's not a good picture, but Longwood had this hanging high in their Orchid room, so I did the best I could with my camera.
Cymbidium madidum, Longwood Garden collection
Cattleya schilleriana, exhibited by Pinelands Orchid Society
Cattleya intermedia var. Tipo, exhibited by Plantio La Orquidea
Cattleya Mildred Rives 'Orchidglade', FCC/AOS (Cattleya Rita Renee x Cattleya Bou Philippo), exhibited by National Capitol Orchid Society, grower Jeff Johnson
Rlc. Arabesque 'Golden Zebra', AM/AOS (Rlc. Golden Slippers x Rlc. Mamie's Treasures), exhibited by Waldor Orchids
(Lc. Trick or Treat x Schomburkia undulata), exhibited by Plantio La Orquidea. One fraction of a beautiful specimen plant.
Schombocattleya Dulatiaca (Laelia undulata x Guarianthe aurantiaca), exhibited by Plantio La Orquidea. One fraction of a beautiful specimen plant.
Cattleya Koolau Seagulls 'Volcano Queen', AM/AOS (Cattleya Wilbur Chang x Cattleya Seagulls Milarina), exhibited by Waldor Orchids
Maxillaria picta 'Estrella de Esperanza' AM/AOS, exhibited by Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society and Create A Scene. This is but a small fraction of a wonderful specimen plant fully loaded with flowers. An excellent example of what I might one day achieve with my little Max. picta seedling.
Paraphalaenopsis (Pps.) Eileen (Pph. labukensis x Pph. Boediardjo), exhibited by Fishing Creek Orchids. I had never seen a Pph. before, so both the flowers and the leaf habit caught my attention.
Cypripedium parviflorum var. pubescens (Large Yellow Lady's Slipper), exhibited by Mt. Cuba Center. This is my first season trying to grow two Cypripediums, so this exhibit provided examples of what to expect.
Cypripedium parviflorum var. parviflorum (Lesser Yellow Lady's Slipper), exhibited by Mt. Cuba Center
Cypripedium kentuckiense (Southern Lady's Slipper), exhibited by Mt. Cuba Center
Renanthera (un-named hybrid), Longwood Garden collection. I find Renantheras captivating, for both their color and flower form. But, they are too big for my growing space.
It’s been a busy week now that I’m back home, but I wanted to follow up on last week’s pictures from the Santa Barbara Orchid Show. Concurrent with show was the Cymbidium Society of America Congress. It was the 35th annual Congress, and everyone celebrated Ernest Hetherington’s 93rd birthday. My only regret was that I hadn’t attended the CSA Congress in previous years.
The day-long symposium included programs by Bob Harris, Bert Klein, Dr. Masahiro Saitoh, Mohan Pradhan, and Chuckie, a banquet, and an auction.
Bob Harris described the challenges of growing warmth- and cool-tolerant Cymbidiums on Hawaii, which he’s solved in part by utilizing two, separate growing facilities with distinctly different microclimates. Bob emphasizes warmth tolerant Cymbidium species, e.g. ensifolium, sinense, madidum, devonianum, and parishii because there is no strong season in Hawaii and the warmth-tolerant backgrounds yield multiple, often overlapping, flowerings throughout the year. Given the quantities of rainfall, Bob has learned to change the media formulations to respond to the difficulties in supply availability on the island and increased water acidity not normally experienced by others using ground, treated or tap water. Another consequence of the profuse rainfall is the development of huge pseudobulbs.
Bert Klein provided a humorous presentation on cultural practices for growing Cymbidium in large-scale for the cut flower market in the Netherlands.
Dr. Saitoh gave a nice program for successfully improving color saturation, color patterning, flower shape and/or size in Paphiopedilum godefroyae by interspecific line breeding. This was a rare opportunity to see how one can achieve desired results over a course of successive generations. I am unaware of any Cymbidium growers who are engaged in a similar strategy for any particular Cymbidium species. Rather, one is more likely to find an “improved” species achieved through genome duplication—from diploid to tetraploid. Dr. Saitoh did not reveal how many [denominator] seedlings he had to evaluate at each generation before he found the most desirable plant(s) to become the parent(s) for the next generation, so the efficiency of this selection scheme is unclear. However, the pictures of his results were impressive. Dr. Saitoh intimated that the Japanese have a flasking formulation/method that increases the growth rate of seedlings that decreases the time to flower. Combined with the optimized out-of-flask culture conditions, the overall generation time is reduced, and he can select for desirable cultivars relatively quickly.
Chuckie performed double-duty! One of the speakers experienced technical difficulties, so Chuckie was asked to lead a discussion on short notice (coffee break) to fill in the time. His programs emphasized the use of species in historical and modern Cymbidium hybridization.
Chuckie discussed the practice of remaking historical grexes using new cultivars of a species, e.g. Cym. Little Black Sambo remade with different color forms of canaliculatum. I don’t recall if he mentioned whether the LBS remakes are from “improved”, line-bred canliculatum cultivars, as per Dr. Saitoh’s demonstration. Cym. canaliculatum has a reputation here in the U.S. for being a large plant and difficult to bloom because of its sensitivity to water during the Winter. Are the Aussies line breeding canaliculatum to select for smaller habit plants that are easier to flower? Or is that a non-issue for them?
Chuckie also proposed that the color range, e.g. oranges, in Cymbidium hybrids we presently enjoy were available back in the early 1900’s. The comparison between historical hybridization and modern day hybridization sequed onto whether conversion from diploid to tetraploid is really the direction Cymbidium hybridization should go. Tetraploidy is useful to overcome sterility issues with certain species, e.g. primary ensifolium and floribundum hybrids, and thereby expanding the range of potential hybrids, as well as increase flower size. However, diploids provide a greater base of genetic diversity in that there are simply more diploids extant in the world, and the tetraploid forms represent only a select few genomes. It was further asserted that diploids also yield an increased flower count, provide a wider color range and greater vigor than tetraploids.
Lastly, Chuckie was instructional for demonstrating appreciation for flower details, and how this contributes to a hybrid’s desirability. For almost every hybrid photo he displayed, he pointed out small color patterns, intensities, art-shades, etc… that could easily be overlooked or brushed aside if one’s attention was directed solely to first impressions to overall form, color and flower count.
Chuckie: “I’ve never been bored in front of this flower.” (Unfortunately, I did not note the flower to which his comment refers. Perhaps that is unimportant…)
Mohan discussed habitat and orchid conservation efforts in Sikkim, as it appears that Sikkim is experiencing pressure to develop land to accommodate immigration from India. Some of the conservation efforts include working with schoolchildren to teach them how to grow orchids in vitro and potentially re-introduce endangered orchid species, e.g. Cym. whiteae, into their natural range. Mohan discussed that Sikkim is trying to develop orchid industries for cut flower to accommodate the huge demand for orchids for Indian weddings, which is presently being met via importation of cut flowers from Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. And lastly, Mohan advocated for eco-tourism, encouraging us to come visit so that we could tour the nature preserves and see blooming [Cymbidium] orchids in situ. I have a passport itching to be used…
During the speaker panel/question and answer session, someone from the audience asked if fragrance was a trait that was intentionally bred and selected for in modern hybridization programs. The reply was generally “No” because fragrance is subjective (pleasant/unpleasant/no fragrance perceived) and the genetics behind fragrance appears to be poorly understood. In a conversation with Chuckie afterwards, he mentioned to me that the Indian eburneum subspecies is more fragrant than the Burmese subspecies (now in bloom for me, below).
So, depending upon the parents, a given hybrid may be more or less fragrant. I also noticed that Cym. White Rabbit (below 1) in George Hatfield’s greenhouse, and Cym. (lowio-mastersii x Summer Sands), an Andy Easton cross (below 2), are strongly fragrant.
However, the Cym. mastersii that I have is not nearly as fragrant as these mastersii hybrids. Perhaps this difference is also attributable to variants within the species.
In addition to the CSA Congress, the Santa Barbara Show provided a multitude of socializing opportunities. It was a real pleasure to meet Chuckie in person! While at George Hatfield’s greenhouse, I asked Chuckie a question about flower colors and pigmentation. Chuckie then proceeded to give me a condensed lecture on the basic colors (green, white, yellow and red), on leaf and flower structure (palisade, mesophyll and epidermal layers) and where pigments are located (cytoplasmic vs organelle/granule). Best of all, he retrieved his hand lens from the car and then showed me how to look for pigment cells on the flowers to distinguish how the overall flower color we see is actually obtained from different, overlapping pigmentation patterns across the flower tissue.
The combination of renewing friendships, sharing breakfasts and/or dinners with Torrance CSA members Everett, Stan, Richard and Dave, visiting with Alice and Wayne at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate, clerking for show ribbon and AOS judging, and spending time in George’s greenhouse, in addition to the events discussed above, made for a great vacation!
Below are some pics from last week's Santa Barbara Orchid Show.
Cymbidium (Fancy Free x Via Spring Snow 'Patricia')
Cymbidium Rhode Island Red 'Tristan', exhibited by Gallup and Stribling This clone was screened by AOS, but was not scored for an award because the flowers were considered too closely bunched along the inflorescence. However, I thought this clone has the darkest saturation and best form of all the ten seedlings displayed in the exhibit.
Cymbidium (Solana Beach 'St. Francis' x Pinata 'Blacklake')
Best Pink Cymbidium of Show Unregistered Cymbidium 'Nancy' (Enchanted Profile x Helen Tangcay) first bloom seedling
Cymbidium (Rosemary Goode x Pywacket 'Royale')
Cymbidium First Dance 'Cha Cha' (Last Tango x Tethys)
Cymbidium (Sidney Harbor x devonianum)
Cymbidium Nancy Miyamoto 'New Horizon' (George Formby x Vogelsang), exhibited by Hatfield Orchids
Best Novelty Cymbidium Cymbidium Dotz 'Cutie' (Arts x Splatters), first bloom seedling, exhibited by Casa de las Orquideas (who also won CSA Gold Medal Outstanding Cymbidium Display)
Cymbidium Mimi 'SanBar Feathered'
Cymbidium goeringii 'Setsuzan', exhibited by Seed Engei
Cymbidium goeringii 'Mebina', exhibited by Seed Engei
Best Oriental Cymbidium/Jensoa Enthusiasts Cymbidium tortisepalum var. longibracteatum
I first became aware of orchid viruses in the Summer of 2005 while attending a meeting at the Golden Gate branch of the Cymbidium Society of America. I remember Paul Chim discussing/demonstrating how to divide and re-pot Cyms to prevent infection and spread of orchid viruses, in particular, the two most common orchid viruses Cymbidium Mosaic Virus (CyMV) and Odontoglossum Ringspot Virus (ORSV). I had never heard of orchid viruses, so this caught my attention. A month or so after the meeting, I sent off leaf cuttings to Critter Creek Laboratory to test my Cym collection (at that time, it was only 15 plants or so) for CyMV and ORSV. The test results stated that some of the Cyms were infected, so I then realized that learning to how to manage orchid virus pathogens, in addition to other pathogens such as mites, scale, mealybugs, thrips, etc…, was going to be a real issue for me if I wanted to continue growing orchids.
The AOS has been regularly publishing articles about orchid viruses about once a year since 1987, so this topic isn’t new to the orchid community as a whole—only to me. I later found copies of Roger Lawson’s article “Orchid Viruses and Their Control” (AOS Handbook on Orchid Pests and Diseases, pgs 66-101, revised edition, 1990) and Gail Wisler’s book How to Control Orchid Viruses: The Complete Guidebook (Maupin House Publishers, 1989). There are plenty of other resources to be found on the internet discussing how to control orchid viruses.
Why should one be concerned with orchid viruses? Well, virus-infected plants may present with undesirable features such as necrotic spots along the leaves, decreased flowering capacity, smaller than expected flowers and/or color breaks. Most people are familiar with harmful orchid pathogens such as insects, fungi and bacteria, and there is an abundance of products on the market to control or eradicate these disease vectors. However, no such technology yet exists to eradicate virus infection in orchids (or humans). Therefore, the existence of a virus-infected orchid in one’s collection presents a never-ending risk of spreading the incurable pathogen to non-infected plants
Improving my orchid husbandry had to take a backseat for over a year because I changed careers, moving twice within six months, including across the country. Once I got settled into the new house and on top of my workload at the office, I could then afford more attention to the Cym collection, which was growing in size from having purchased seedlings and mature plants from various persons. While surfing the internet, I had found a company, Agdia Inc., that sells test strips in kit form so that one can test one’s orchids at home for CyMV and ORSV infection. It was near the end of the calendar year, so New Year’s resolutions were in order, and mine was to re-visit CyMV/ORSV infections and test my orchid collection.
Below is a pic of two samples doubly infected with CyMV and ORSV (the top red bar is the control line to let you know that the test is working; the middle red bar indicates ORSV infection; the lower red bar indicates CyMV infection).
The results were not good. I had, unfortunately, achieved a CyMV and/or ORSV infection rate of 35%! I was stunned, upset and disappointed with myself. Nothing to be proud about here. The infected plants were immediately thrown away, including a number of my favorite Cym hybrids in bloom with gorgeous flowers. The economic loss was also jarring. I needed to seriously reconsider how I was growing my Cyms.
One of my colleagues at our local orchid society consoled me with the following: “I believe that the U of [name deleted] tested their entire crop of orchids, found a 94% infection rate. Discarded the bunch and restarted with fresh plants tested on the way in. Found a 6% infection rate in the crop the next year, discarded them and from my reading the results of their virus free orchid collection is apparently very apparent in robust plant growth and inflorescence production flower counts.”
From this hopeful anecdote, I embarked upon the following practice: i) test all stock annually to detect infected orchids that had converted over the previous year, and ii) test all incoming orchids to prevent the introduction of diseased stock. Within three years, per the previously observed 94% to 6% to 0% rate, I should hope to obtain a CyMV/ORSV-free collection.
With this in mind, I paid closer attention to how I handled the orchids at all stages and how I might be promoting the transmission of virus from one orchid to another. In hindsight, I think a significant reason for the high infection rate was because I had placed multiple Cyms in the same water catchtrays as a matter of expediency when packing, moving, unpacking, packing, moving, etc… This was a fatal error because the runoff of an infected plant could easily expose another plant to the viruses. So, I now have each Cym with its own catchtray. Other changes include: i) use virgin razor blades when grooming and/or dividing each orchid, ii) use virgin flower stakes (bamboo is cheap), iii) use virgin latex or nitrile gloves and newspaper when dividing and re-potting each orchid, and iv) pay attention to insect control to mitigate this potential vector from spreading virus from one plant to another. I still re-use some plastic pots and plastic catchtrays. I clean them off with a scrub pad, soak them in bleach (1 cup bleach per gallon water) for at least 24 hours (a matter of arbitrary convenience), and then rinse off the residual bleach. While this practice provides a source of vulnerability, I have not yet observed this to be a causal agent for virus infection. I know that some in the trade never re-use plastic and simply buy virgin pots, and I may well be converting over to that practice soon enough.
One year after the first cull of CyMV/ORSV infected plants, I re-tested those that had previously tested clean. 7% had converted positive. While not great, the good news was that not ALL of my Cyms from the previous year’s testing had become infected. Furthermore, the orchids that I had acquired during the year that had tested clean upon receipt did not re-test as infected. Re-testing is important because it may take as many as 30-90 days for a newly infected plant to culture enough virus particles to be detected using the kit. The infected plants were thrown away, of course.
This weekend, two years after the first cull of CyMV/ORSV infected plants, I re-tested all of my orchids, including those that had tested clean the previous year. I was pleased to find that 0% tested CyMV/ORSV positive. Furthermore, the orchids that I had acquired during this last year that had tested clean upon receipt did not re-test as infected. It appears that by practicing steps (i) and (ii) per the University’s example, I have achieved a 35% to 7% to 0% infection rate.
Notes on Agdia Immunostrips
I’ve observed sometimes that the Immunostrips may yield VERY WEAK, double-positive signals, almost like “ghosts”. I don’t have a firm explanation for such a result. I would post a picture of such ghosts, but they’re too faint and difficult to photograph without a macro lens (which I don’t have). If you see these ghosts appear on the Immunostrip, then do NOT throw the plant away outright. I found that when I re-tested the plant(s) (nonetheless quarantined from the rest of my collection) at one, three and/or six months after seeing the ghosts, they tested negative. If the cause of the ghosts were an early stage of infection, then I would expect to see stronger signals at the later timepoints. But this was not observed. Instead, an alternative explanation may be that the test strips that yielded ghosts were past their expiration date. My orchid society colleague had noticed that ghosts appeared if the tissue sample was too large, implying that too much plant tissue adversely affects the performance of the test. His experience is also that for Bulbophyllums, one should use root tissue instead of leaf tissue because it appears there is too high of a polysaccharide content in Bubo's leaves which will cause the test to fail.
Elliot et al (AGRIS record 80(10):1160-1164, 1996, excerpted from Abstract) teaches that “Several orchid plants gave ELISA reactions greater than three times the negative control with all the virus antisera tested. Other methods did not confirm the presence of virus in these plants, however. Indeed, several preimmune sera also reacted with some of these plants. Caution must be used in interpretation of low ELISA values even when these reactions are clearly greater than those of uninfected controls. These results illustrate the need to utilize more than one diagnostic technique before discarding a valuable orchid plant.”
One can, for example, send a leaf sample to Agdia for direct testing of CyMV/ORSV and other orchid viruses via their in-house immunological and/or nucleic acid testing means. My colleague’s orchids that yielded “ghosts” in the home environment tested negative via Agdia’s in-house services.
“Constant Vigilance”
(Captain Jean Luc Picard, The Drumhead, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episode 21)
Do I think I have an orchid collection free [emphasis added] of CyMV/ORSV? Absolutely not. I’ve been a scientist for too long to be deceived by this value. Viruses are microscopic pathogens, so they could well be lurking in and around my growing areas without my knowledge, some place I’ve missed, etc… There may also be an infected plant that is producing too few virus particles to be detected by the Immunostrips, but at a later point in time, due to one stressor or another, will develop a robust infection and virus particle production. However, I do think that the overall health of my orchid collection is improving because of these efforts to eradicate the clearly infected plants and to prevent virus spread between plants. So, I’ll still continue to test each orchid for CyMV/ORSV infection before it enters my collection, as well as before I re-pot and/or divide it.
Time to enjoy a glass of wine to celebrate the minor victory…
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