Horticultural Therapy: Round 3, A slipper Orchid Basket Case

[@marilynndavis2513]

Your videos are always beautifully shot. And they’re packed full of growing tips and helpful information. Thank you for teaching and entertaining us.

[@daisyflower4105]

Beautiful video! It’s wonderful having the opportunity to share your beautiful garden. The photography is amazing. I was in Japan a little over a year ago enjoying the wonderful cherry blossoms...and snow in Nikko.

[@openheart6113]

I live on 5 acres with dams and an orchid and stuck here for the time. but still love to see your stuff.

[@botanyboy1]

Thanks for watching! I glad you are still enjoying the videos. Your place doesn't sound like a bad place to be stuck - for now.

[@scentopink]

I am already in my 5th week of working from home! Thank good there‘s the internet

[@botanyboy1]

Yes, I don't know how much more of this any of us can take... at least I have my garden and the surrounding wooded hills.

[@flummoxedbeing]

Finally figured out what the pink growth is called! I got an armeniacum hybrid and was losing my mind trying to figure out what the growth was. Loving your videos!

[@OrchidsFynbos]

Thanks Botany Boy! Really enjoying the videos 😊

[@ross_spirou_photography]

During these crazy times we're all living in, your videos do help bring a bit of sanity to my day and loving those orchids!

[@karensicard7304]

You are indeed lucky to have a beautiful garden to get lost in.

[@NinjaOrchids]

Here we go again 👏🏼👏🏼😃 I have coffee 👍🏼

[@botanyboy1]

Coffee and a video = time well spent

[@jeromegagnon8335]

Love your vids, keep them coming 😎👍🏼

[@anndebaldo7381]

Loving watch the flow of your garden...thanks! Hope you are doing well now...trusting that this pandemic is easing although COVID is likely to become endemic, rather like influenza. Anyway, the garden is where I keep my "head on straight!" All the best and thanks!

[@botanyboy1]

Currently in Japan (December 2021) the number of new daily cases is only around 100-150 for the entire country. Of course the holiday season is upon us, so likely we'll be seeing a spike in coming weeks, but for now we're doing well. I keep balanced though gardening and lots of cycling in the surrounding mountains. Thanks for watching.

[@anndebaldo7381]

@@botanyboy1 Ahhh...sounds like you are in a better place pandemic-wise! Wishing you a wonderful happy holiday season...and stay safe!

[@avant-gardeningstudios]

I thought you were carrying a big porcupine until I realised it was some sort of Dendrobium!

[@botanyboy1]

Oh, that WAS a porcupine.

[@avant-gardeningstudios]

@@botanyboy1 😂🤣

[@viiiderekae]

That thumbnail. Its like that fern is growing out of your head 😂🤣 Nice Paph O.o Paphs are really hard to keep in lowland tropical conditions 😓 Tried and failed many times. Even with native species Had to do the same type of pruning for my carambola tree. Its a vigourous tree. And it over produced fruit

[@prometheusignitus116]

Konichiwa Tom, Arigato gozaimasu for you recent upload. As always, it’s wonderful to be in your garden witnessing the seasonal cycles. The Ebine reminds me of my grandfather who cultivated many classic Koten Engei subjects. The natural background noises in your videos remind me of time spent there as a ‘chibi’ - you can take the boy out of Fukuoka but you can’t take Fukuoka out of the boy...is that how that old adage goes? :) Looking forward you your next installment! Do you make umeboshi from the Prunus mume fruit or perhaps it’s a sterile cultivar? Take care. Best, John.

[@botanyboy1]

Ha! A Fukuoka native, just like my wife. Yes, sometimes I do make umeboshi, but they are so time consuming to make that it is easier just to by hand made one from a local person. I DO make umeshu every year though! Thanks for commenting.

[@prometheusignitus116]

botanyboy1 Umeshu, that’s hardcore! Kanpai! 🙃

[@XoroksComment]

You probably already know this but especially with fruit trees, sommer pruning results in less vigorous growth than dormant winter pruning. So it can be helpful to do the pruning in summer if possible if you want to keep the trees smaller. Also, do you have loquats in your garden? I know that you have a great post about them on your blog.

[@XoroksComment]

Just read the Ume post on your blog where you mention summer pruning :)

[@botanyboy1]

Indeed. I prune them usually in July after the fruits have ripened. They still grow like crazy! No loquats since they are so big and my yard is so small. Lots growing around though, including "wild" trees in the local woods.

[@MickaelValli]

you are a genius

[@MickaelValli]

ingénieux

[@christopherbollinger4180]

So, I am new to a lot of aspects of gardening, I really wanna learn more. I noticed with the first plant that you were repotting there was not much, if any, soil. What did you put into the pot to help retain water for the plant. Is that plant something that does not require a bunch of water in the first place?

[@botanyboy1]

That plant is an orchid that grows on mats of moss and humus over limestone rock in the wild therefore doesn't need soil. In summer it is watered daily, either by me or the rains. In winter it is kept more dry but the humidity is high. Many orchids grow in trees, and so they cannot handle any soil at all. This one is in between - not growing in the trees or in the ground. It is Paphiopedium armeniacum, from SW China BTW.

[@peterj1823]

great videos! Have you tried growing Coelogyne's outdoors in your climate?

[@botanyboy1]

I have only C. cristata and so far have been unwilling to commit one to a permanent place in the garden. Every few years we get a killing frost here that have taken many plants. One day I'd like to try some of the cooler growing species, especially from SW China.

[@peterj1823]

@@botanyboy1 My impression was that cristata was frost hardy and one of the coldest growing species. What are the hardier ones from SW china?

[@botanyboy1]

@@peterj1823 Indeed C. cristata probably can withstand frost to some degree, but there are a slew of species from higher elevations around the Himalaya/W China area. Here's a few listed from efloras China: Coelogyne ovalis 1200-3200 m. SE Xizang, W Yunnan Coelogyne fimbriata 500-2300 m. N Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, S Jiangxi, SE Xizang, Yunnan Coelogyne longipes 1000-2600 m. SE Xizang, W to SE Yunnan Coelogyne zhenkangensis On tree trunks; ca. 2500 m. SW Yunnan Coelogyne barbata 1100-2900 m. SW Sichuan, SE Xizang, W to SE Yunnan Coelogyne leucantha 1500-2600 m. SW Sichuan, NW, S, and W Yunnan Coelogyne occultata 1300-3000 m. S and SE Xizang, W Yunnan Coelogyne punctulata 1300-2900 m. S and SE Xizang, W Yunnan Coelogyne nitida 3100 m. NW, S, and W Yunnan Coelogyne weixiensis 2600-3000 m. W Yunnan Coelogyne corymbosa 1300-3500 m. S and SE Xizang, S and W Yunnan Coelogyne gongshanensis 2800-3200 m. NW Yunnan

[@peterj1823]

@@botanyboy1 awesome, thanks! Do you think Neofineta falcata and Den molliniforme are the hardiest epiphytic orchids ?

[@botanyboy1]

@@peterj1823 Hard to say. I've tried epiphytic orchids from east Asia, Australia and the southeastern coast of Brazil. Of those the native species in Japan have been the most resistant to cold, followed by the Australian species and the Brazilian the least. Dendrobium moniliforme has proven to be quite stout, and lives at elevations up to at least 1000 meters (3250 feet) here where temperatures in winter get below freezing often. So, I'd call it one of the better candidates for cold resistant epiphytic orchids. N. falcata is less hardy IMO, but still can take it to freezing or even below.

[@thomas1918]

Your channel might grow much faster with an instagram account, people will go crazy for the pictures of those huge, beautiful plants behind you like the stag horn fern. You need to use common plants in your titles to pull amateurs in, the younger generation is starting to show huge interest in plants but they only know beginner plants

[@botanyboy1]

I have no doubt you are right. Thanks for the comment.

[@LinusCello75]

Why not divide the D. moniliforme? And how do you overwinter the Calanthes?

[@botanyboy1]

I have always liked "specimen" size plants, so I try not to divide unless I really want to propagate more. When large D. moniliforme puts on an impressive display and this one should quite beautiful in the common week or so. The Calanthe are left outside all winter with no special protection. Winters are mild here, so the soil never freezes, therefore the plants are safe from mechanical damage due to frost heave, etc.

[@LinusCello75]

Thanks. It looks like your C. Takane is in a pot? Do you heel it in for winter?

[@botanyboy1]

@@LinusCello75 It just stays in that pot under an azalea bush. No special treatment. We rarely see any temperature below 28 F here usually.