March 2017 – Culture Class Panel

Our great society has had an influx of new members over the past year and many of them have asked for a culture class session. Our senior members are more than willing to answer any questions and for the March meeting we will have a panel session with four of our more experienced members answering questions related to orchid culture. Members on the panel are Lisa Humphreys, Merle Robboy, Jerry Spencer, and Helge Weissig. Please write down any questions you might have and bring them to the March meeting.  The more questions we have, the more informative this session will be. As the saying goes: “There are no dumb questions in this world, never be afraid to ask”. 

Lisa Humphreys is co-owner of Lico Orchids & Flowers and has been growing orchids since 1994, with an emphasis on species.  She has been active in the orchid business since 1995, primarily selling hybrid orchids to florists. Lico Orchids specializes in orchids that are easy to grow and have long-lasting blooms.

Merle Robboy, MD, is a long-time member of our society with much experience in growing many plants of the orchid family.  Dr. Robboy regularly presents all of the blooming flowers brought in by our members in the monthly “show and tell” sessions.  His encyclopedic knowledge of most all of the plants and his detailed explanation of their geographical origin, culture needs, and genetic background make these sessions a favorite part of the meetings for many. 

Jerry Spencer, together with his wife Anita, cultivate a vast collection of  thousands of orchids and  many years of experience growing them.  We visited their greenhouses in 2016 during one of our caravans and learned much about orchid cultivation on a scale.  Jerry has a very scientific approach to raising orchids.  While we were there, he was running an experiment to find out which solution would hold a certain spray chemical in suspension the longest.  In three different containers he was testing alcohol, vodka and water. Jerry combines a wealth of knowledge, a great personality, and an enormous curiosity with a wonderful sense of humor.

Helge Weissig, PhD, produces the monthly POS newsletter and maintains both website and email services for our society.  Helge has been growing and photographing orchids for about 10 years and most of the pictures in the newsletter are taken by him. Helge was recently awarded the Member of the Year award for the second time for his contributions to the society, which included the design and implementation of the software we use for our annual auctions as well as his “IT support” during the meetings. Helge grows mostly species orchids and will be happy to share his knowledge about orchids, their culture, and photography. 

Again, please bring your questions to the March meeting, or if you like, send questions in advance to Tom Wisniewski at twisniewski1@cox.net.