February Message from the President

I hope those who attended the meeting this past Sunday enjoyed our speaker, Kim Feddersen and perhaps picked up a few more plants for your collection, whether from Kim or from yet another great fundraiser table!  Thank you Jeanne as always for organizing.

A reminder, we are in show season now so it's important to pay attention to your spiking and budding plants.  

If you have plants beginning to spike, remember to not move them relative to their light source once buds begin forming.  Also, as a spike is developing, if you are going to stake that spike, begin doing it early.  If you wait until buds are fattening up or flowers opening up you may change the direction of the flowers, and not necessarily in a good way!  Stake them early and loosely clip them so the spike can continue to mature.

AND SPEAKING OF SHOWS......no doubt you heard from Mark that our show is coming up in a little over 6 weeks.  Between now and then we'll be reaching out to you to volunteer some of your time to help make our show the success it has been every year.  Your participation is critical to that success.   Please, if you have not done so already, mark your calendars for March 21-23 so you have it in your mind.  If you have any questions about the show, or specific jobs to be filled, don't hesitate to reach out to any board member.

We also have the Amherst Orchid Society show coming up later this month.  Set up will be Feb 20th, with the show open Feb 22 & 23.  We will be looking for your plants to help fill our display so keep whispering those sweet nothings to your spiking plants!

Ginna Plude

President - Nutmeg State Orchid Society (NSOS)

Kudos to Rob Dudley and Barb Putko on their CAIOS awards!

NSOS had a very successful weekend at the CAIOS (Cape and Islands) Show. Our table is in the image below on the left.

NSOS Show Table at CAIOS

Paph. villosum ‘Chucks Warrior’

Phrag kovachii

Rob Dudley entered his Phrag kovachii (image on the right) and was awarded:

           Blue Ribbon – Phragmipedium Species

           Blue Ribbon – Phragmipedium Home Grown or Under Lights

           Rosette – Best in Class Phragmipedium

           Rosette – John Balog Memorial Award – Best in Paphiopedilum Alliance

Barb Putko entered her Paph. villosum ‘Chucks Warrior’ (middle image) and was awarded:

           Blue Ribbon – Paph Species – Multiflorals – 3 flowers or more out at once

           Blue Ribbon – Paphiopedilum Home Grown or Under Lights

           Rosette – Best in Class Paphiopedilum

Congratulations to both and thanks to all who participated by providing orchids to display.

Message from the President - January 2025

Happy New Year all!   I apologize for not getting this out a little sooner but it's been a bit hectic the last several weeks.

If you weren't at the January meeting this past Sunday you missed a great opportunity for information sharing.  Mark gave a very informative opening presentation on orchid culture and then we had an open Q & A session for orchid culture & care.  Lots of useful tips shared by multiple members.  We will look to add a section to our website for member tips in addition to other reference links we have already. As always, if you have a question about culture, or plant pests, or whatever you shouldn't hesitate to reach out to fellow members.   

It's gotten mighty cold and very dry the past several weeks.  While many of your plants may be in a winter rest period, keep an eye on shriveling pseudobulbs if you haven't watered in a while.  Humidity trays under your plants can help keep the humidity up a bit, but unless you run a humidifier in your home it's still going to be very dry.

If you have plants beginning to spike, remember to not move them relative to their light source once buds begin forming.  Otherwise you may end up with flowers pointing in multiple directions.  Orchids can be very persnickety that way!  And as buds fatten up make sure you are watering sufficiently so flowers open up fully.

Stay warm and whisper sweet nothings to your budding/flowering orchids so they may help us put on a great display at the upcoming Cape & Islands Orchid Show coming the weekend of Jan 25 (with display set up on Thu Jan 23rd).  More to come on that soon from Sandy and Barb, our away show dynamic duo!

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Ginna Plude

President - Nutmeg State Orchid Society (NSOS)