Disa Picture Gallery Idea

I have been frustrated over the past few months trying to find pictures of Disa species and hybrids to see colour/shape etc and thought it might be a good idea to produce a central Disa Gallery website for anyone interested to have free access. For this to happen I would need people to be generous and submit pics to be included, I could then put a gallery website online. If anyone reading this has registered (or unregistered) hybrids and species in their collection and would be prepared to send me digital pics please use the email address on the profile page. They will need to be copyright free for obvious reasons. I will contacting as many growers/enthusiasts as I can find on the web.

Other species seem to be well represented and galleried on the web it seems a shame there isn't a central site for just Disa pics for Disa enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy.

Disa Growlist

I have been increasing my stock of Disa plants over the winter months and now have the following species and hybrids:

uniflora red. carmine and orange, aurata, Veitchii Primula, Saffron, Kalahari Sunset, Kewensis,
Kewbett, Orangeade, Foam, Watsonii Bramley, Pride of Constantia, Reitte, Reheat, tripetoloides, Brides Dream, Unifoam, Sealord, African Sun, Table Mountain, Lady Siplovich, Unifoam Majestic, Kewdior, Oak Valley, Inca King x Kalahari Sands which I think is Thelma Kindred, African Gold coming. No doubt I will obtain more over the summer. I will be producing more selfings and crosses this year and may well have seed to swap.

My intention is to progress with hybridsation and to this end am trying to source as many species and primary hybrids as possible to end up with a stock of base mother plants to work with. If anyone has cardinalis I would be grateful to have/buy/swap some seed later this year.

I am hoping to try and find Alan Kindred Disa but it is difficult to source them. If anyone reading this Blog has some to spare or swap please get in touch - it would seem to me to be a shame if they all disappear after all the hard work and enthusiasm he put into Disa in the UK.

I am also keen to get pollen and seed swaps going so again if anyone is interested let me know.

Disa Seedlings

Last year's seed sowing has survived the winter in my heated greenhouse and are now beginning th accelerate in growth. I was disappointed with the results from Watsonii and Kewensis but the remaining crosses and selfings have produced good results.
As far as the sowing media is concerned best results seemed to be coming from the moss - sand follows next. The peat/perlite mix has produced germination as well but moss, algae and other green substances have also grown well in these pots and could cause problems. Next year I will drop away the peat mix and use sand and moss only. I will be trying some flasking experiments but that may be next year. My challenge now is to get the seedlings growing on and to build another greenhouse to house them.

Saffron Update

Disa Saffron which I treated last year with 10% bleach solution to cure rot has progressed with both shoots producing ample new growth this season. I'm hoping the signs are good to see some blooms.

Early Bloomer

Last week my first Disa came into full bloom, unusually early. Disa orangeade is a new variety from Alba Labs in South Africa. This plant was grown on and purchased from Germany. It is short and stubby in growth and like other early blooms I have seen before on the Net, has appeared peloric and upward facing. It will be interesting to see weather subsequent blooms are the same. Last year I had Orangeade and Safron showing the same growth pattern i.e. short and stubby Orangeade didn't survive but the offsets I saved from Safron seem to be growing normally this year. It will be interesting to see if the plants are mutant or weather it was the flasking/growing on methods that caused these problems. It would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had similar problems.

I have increased my Disa collection to 30+ varieties and hope to produce more seed this year.

Last years germinated seedlings are doing well and beginning to put on growth as the day length increases. Best results seem to have come from sowing on moss but sand and peat/perlite has worked as well. Moss growth and green jelly like growths on the peat have been a problem. There was a noticeable difference in the germination rates between those seeds sown immediately after harvesting and those sown a month later.

It would be nice if any other Disa growers are reading this Blog if they would get in touch via the e-mail link. Pollen swaps or seed swaps could be organised during this season.

Update

Phal. Firecracker Blue Martini

The hydroponics systems are all functioning well and so far the various orchids are still thriving in their new conditions. Phalaenopsis Blue Martini is in bloom. Several of the Dendrobiums are about to bloom.

The Disa Safron offshoots which I treated with a 10% bleach solution earlier this year to combat rot have survived and are doing well.

The various seed sowings have produced mixed results and I guess some of my crosses didn't produce viable seed. Those that did are currently germinating and producing small leaves. I have trialled various sowing media and conditions. Some sown in moss, some in sand, some in peat/perlite mix. One batch are in the same conditions as the mother plants, the rest are in conventional seed propogators. It will be interesting to see the results later in the year. Currently all methods are producing seedlings.

The Blue Phal seedlings have been transferred into the main hydroponics tray.

Three trial sowings in with the mother plants

Disa Safron survivor

Disa Seeds and Germination

The trials I started last month using moss and sand as sowing mediums seem to be working out OK. Some of the seeds from my first crosses and self pollinations have begun to germinate so it would seem that both methods may work. Several pots are not showing any signs of life yet but this may mean the seeds were not viable or they may need a longer time to get started.

The seed pod from a cross made with Riette has produced a large volume of seed. A cross made with Red Uniflora has also produced the same. I'll be sowing some of these today. As a first try at producing some of my own plants from seed I must admit a sense of satisfaction so far. I do realise however it is a long road from pollination/germination to mature plant we'll see how things go over the next few months.

A couple of other plants flowering this month are shown below, these are Zygonisia, Phal. Cornu-cervi Aurea and Aeranthes. A dendrobium transferred to hydroponics is flowering. Many of the phals have put up new spikes. The blue phal seedlings are still making good progress.