Meetings

The Palomar Orchid Society generally meets at 4:00 pm the FIRST WEDNESDAY of every month in the Gowland Meeting Room of the Carlsbad City Library. The George and Patricia Gowland Meeting Room is located in the Carlsbad City Library on Dove Lane, just off El Camino Real in southern Carlsbad. The address is 1775 Dove Lane, Carlsbad, CA 92011.

November 2020 – Ken Jacobson (online presentation)

Submitted by Helge W. on Wed, 10/28/2020 - 1:12pm

Our November 3rd Joint General POS/SDCOS Meeting will be at 7:30 pm. with our speaker, Ken Jacobson, who will talk about  the group of Brazilian orchids formerly known as the Oncidium crispum group and hybrids made from these orchids.  

The Onc. crispum complex includes Onc. praetextum, Onc. curtum and Onc. gravesianum and all are now referenced as synonyms of Onc. crispum, but are kept separate as the individuals have been know as separate species for years (Jay Pfahl, www.orchidspecies.com). 

To make matters even more complex, the genus of these species has been changed to Gomesa and Onc. crispum, itself, is now under the name Gomesa imperatoris-maximil- liani in the Orchid Wiz and Orchid Roots  databases.

In addition to the individual species and the direct descendants of those species, Ken will cover more complex hybrids derived from the species.  A fair amount of time will be spent discussing culture, and how these plants can be grown successfully in the California coastal areas.

Ken was first introduced to orchids by his uncle in the 1960’s and has been growing orchids for well over 50 years. His collection includes Cymbidiums, Oncidiums, Odontoglossums, Lycastes, Cattleyas, Laelias, Masdevallias and several other genera.

Ken and his wife, Amy, enjoy traveling to all areas of the world where orchids are grown, visiting the local growers, and seeing various species in the wild. Together, Amy and Ken have over 7000 orchids. Ken is a judge in the AOS judging program and the CSA judging program, and is currently an AOS trustee. Amy is a judge in the AOS judging program. This should be a very informative talk and we encourage all to join us. The Zoom link will be sent with the email announcing the newsletter and will be the same as last  month's link.

Date: 
Tue, 11/03/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Culture Class (online)

Submitted by Helge W. on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 12:45pm

We are going to continue Joint Zoom Culture Classes on the Wednesday following the Joint General Meeting, which is normally the day of our regular POS meetings. Our third class will be on Wednesday, October 7 at 7:30 pm. SDCOS member Peter Tobias will conduct a class on mounting orchids.   You can join this Zoom meeting using the same log in information as the previous meeting.

Date: 
Wed, 10/07/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

October 2020 – Lou Jost (online presentation)

Submitted by Helge W. on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 12:43pm

Lou JostLou JostThe speaker for our joint October 6th Zoom meeting will be Lou Jost, Director of EcoMinga Foundation, and recipient of a conservation grant from the San Diego County Orchid Society. The title of his presentation is "Discovering, documenting, and protecting hotspots of orchid endemism in Ecuador---the 2020 legacy of a 2000-2001 SDCOS grant". 

Lou is an internationally renowned expert in molecular phylogenices, who has made significant contributions to the protection of orchids and orchid habitat in the New World Tropics. Lou will tell the story of discovering new orchid species, learning to understand their local distribution patterns, and then starting a foundation in 2006 to protect the areas where these species grow. Along the way Lou will talk a bit about the pace of orchid evolution and the practical difficulties of maintaining orchid reserves in Latin America. The helping hand of the SDCOS and its members has been there for all of this since the beginning.   Read more »

Date: 
Tue, 10/06/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

September 2020 — Arnold Gum (online presentation)

Submitted by Helge W. on Thu, 08/27/2020 - 7:53am

Arnold GumArnold GumWe are delighted to welcome Arnold Gum as speaker for our Tuesday, September 1st Joint SDCOS/POS Zoom meeting starting at 7:30 pm. Arnold will present a talk on Cattleya (Guarianthe) skinneri, the national flower of Costa Rica, also known as the Easter Orchid. Arnie was recently honored to be invited to judge a Cattleya skinneri show in Costa Rica. In his talk, Arnie will review the quality growth in recent C. skinneri line breeding and will look at one clone in particular: ‘Angela’ FCC. He says that the advancements in size, flower count, color, and form are amazing. He will present slides of some of the plants that were awarded at the show, as well as pictures of the C. skinneri habitat.   Read more »

Date: 
Tue, 09/01/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

August 2020 – Fred Clarke (online presentation)

Submitted by Helge W. on Fri, 07/24/2020 - 9:31am

Fred ClarkeFred ClarkeOne of our most favorite speakers, Fred Clarke, will be speaking on "Cattleya mossiae, the queen of Venezuelan Cattleyas" at our joint Zoom meeting on Tuesday, August 4th at 7:30 pm (details to follow via email). Fred will present a beautiful expose of C. mossiae in the wild with amazing pictures of thousands of flowers covering the trees. Once the most popular corsage flowers for Mother’s day, C. mossiae is now rarely seen in collections and cut flower trade. Fred’s PowerPoint presentation will feature magnificent pictures of C. mossiae in the wild as he discusses the habitat and the perils that await the future for the queen of Venezuelan Cattleyas.

As many of our members know, Fred Clarke is the owner of Sunset Valley Orchids in Vista. He has been growing orchids for over 42 years and has been hybridizing for 38 of those years. With over 34 years as a professional grower and manager in the horticultural industry, Fred applies these skills at his orchid nursery, Sunset Valley Orchids, located in Vista, California. He is a passionate orchid grower whose curiosity in orchids is broad and varied.  Although developing Cattleya hybrids has been his sustaining interest, he is also actively creating new Paphiopedilum and Aussie Dendrobium hybrids plus some others to be named if they work out!   Read more »

Date: 
Tue, 08/04/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm

July 2020 – Peter Lin (online presentation)

Submitted by Helge W. on Sat, 07/04/2020 - 4:38pm

Peter LinPeter LinPeter T. Lin will be presenting a fast paced PowerPoint presentation on the fascinating Dendrobium genus, which consist of over 1000 species! For details on how to attend this online presentation, please contact info@palomarorchid.org.

Dendrobiums are primarily found in Asia, New Guinea and Australia. There are many different classifications within the genus, with species ranging from tiny miniatures to huge giants. They grow in climates ranging from hot and steamy lowlands, cool and moist mountain ranges, to seasonally dry savannas. Many are quite temperature tolerant and can be grown outside in frost-free areas. Peter will review a few of the important species in each classification. He will provide some basic cultural advice for each species, and there will be time for questions at the end of the program.

Peter started growing orchids over 25 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 7 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr.   Read more »

Date: 
Tue, 07/07/2020 - 7:30pm - 9:00pm

March 2020 - Orchid Culture Meeting

Submitted by Helge W. on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 12:18pm

Our March meeting will be a continuation of last month’s culture meeting when we focused on cymbidiums. Since we are in the early stages of the orchid growing season, this month’s topic will concentrate on growing and repotting other types of orchids including members of the cattleya alliance, oncidiums, dendrobiums and phalaenopsis, the basics of which should be applicable to many other orchids that our members tend to grow. Our meeting will continue with two of our very experienced growers, Alex Nadzan and Ken Campbell.  Alex will demonstrate repotting and dividing of cattleyas and related orchids as well as phalaenopsis orchids, describing the similarities and differences among the common ones we grow. Alex also will briefly summarize the basics on general repotting that he did last month. For those of you who missed the February program, you may download the handouts provided at the last meeting by visiting the POS website (www.palomarorchid.org) and finding the speaker handouts under the meetings pull down menu. 

Ken Campbell, who has some experience and success with mounting cattleya and phalaenopsis orchids, will demonstrate how to mount them and provide some tips on how to grow them.  

In addition, Bill Wong will give a demo on using the virus test kits during the break for those members who want to see how they are used to detect the most common orchid viruses (CMV and ORSV).

Alex and Ken will address any questions you may have so bring your questions to the meeting or, if you prefer, provide them in advance to Alex at anadzan@mac.com or by phone at 760-529-5814.  This should be another very educational session for all who want to get a head start on the upcoming orchid growing and repotting season.

Finally, the plant table this month will be provided by one of our local growers.

Date: 
Wed, 03/04/2020 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

February 2020 – Orchid Culture Meeting

Submitted by Helge W. on Sat, 02/01/2020 - 3:28pm

We are now in the midst of the cymbidium flowering season and, thus, our first culture meeting of the year will be devoted to growing and dividing/repotting of these beautiful and easy to grow orchids that are ideally suited for our Southern California climate.  Our first culture meeting will feature two of our very experienced growers, Jerry Spencer and Alex Nadzan. Alex will begin the session with reviewing general information on getting ready for the upcoming growing and repotting season that should help both beginners and more seasoned growers prepare for the busiest part of our orchid growing season. He will provide some tips and valuable sources of information and supplies and also will share his experience in growing and blooming these easy to grow orchids. 

Anita and Jerry Spencer are renown for their award winning cymbidiums displayed at our local shows as well as at our meeting show-and-tells. They are expert growers of these popular plants and Jerry will share some of his methods for successful growing and blooming of cymbidiums.  He also will give a demo on dividing and repotting large cymbidiums that should aid all attendees in their efforts for maintaining and blooming cymbidiums. 

Alex and Jerry will address any questions you may have so bring your questions to the meeting or, if you prefer, provide them in advance to Alex at anadzan@mac.com or by phone at 760-529-5814.  This should be a very interesting and educational session for all who want to get a head start on the upcoming orchid growing season.  Orchid Culture Meeting II in March will concentrate on other popular classes of orchids including cattleyas, oncidiums, phalaenopsis and related orchids. 

Finally, Jerry and Anita will be providing the plant table this month.

Date: 
Wed, 02/05/2020 - 6:00pm - 9:30pm

January 2020 – Mary Gerritsen

Submitted by Helge W. on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 10:55am

Mary GerritsenMary GerritsenWe are delighted to welcome back Mary Gerritsen from the San Francisco Bay area who will speak to us on ‘Miniature Orchids and How to Grow Them’.  Mary defines miniatures as those species whose individual growths are smaller than 6 inches not including the inflorescence.  These compact orchids are a popular choice for orchid hobbyists with limited growing space. In contrast to many of their larger counterparts, many miniature orchids are attractive in or out of bloom. Mary’s lecture will cover many of her favorite species as well as discussing the challenges and rewards of growing miniature orchids. Mary is an expert on this topic and has co-authored “A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species” with San Francisco Bay area photographer and author, Ron Parsons.    Read more »

Date: 
Wed, 01/08/2020 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm

November 2019 – Peter Lin

Submitted by Helge W. on Thu, 10/24/2019 - 1:35pm

Peter LinPeter LinWe are very happy to welcome back one of our more popular speakers, Peter T. Lin. Peter will share with us a power point presentation on the Japan Grand Prix International Orchid Festival, also know as the Tokyo Dome Show. This annual orchid show, held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan, attracts over 300,000 visitors. With thousands of orchids featured, the show displays range from the very large displays to miniature dish gardens, to individual plants. Even the Vendor Sales area is like a Orchid show! One of the highlights of the show is the display of Asian Cymbidium species, featuring priceless Cymbidium goeringii varieties not seen in the US before. No need to travel….come and see a grand show from the comfort of our meeting room!

Peter started growing orchids over 25 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 7 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-cattleyas. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr.   Read more »

Date: 
Wed, 11/06/2019 - 6:30pm - 9:30pm