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Robert Culver, began the meeting by welcoming our new members. Our speaker, Tennis Maynard, joined via Zoom from Ohio so we moved directly into our Speaker Presentation at that point in deference to the time in his time zone.

Tennis spoke on Trichopilias, a genus which is rarely seen in cultivation. He covered many of the species, their cultural needs and some of the primary hybrids produced by these plants. At the end of his presentation he took a number of questions from the audience.

The speaker for the October Meeting is Tyler Albrecht, he was born and raised in Silicon Valley but currently resides in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with his wife Dana and two children Reece and Reagan. Between running Reagan to her horse riding lessons 5 days a week and taking Reece to the Taekwondo studio three days a week. Not forgetting the multiple day competitions for both, Tyler is able to mix in dates with Dana and repotting orchids. 

The speaker for the September Meeting is Tom Etheridge, he has been growing orchids for about 45 years, having first started out with Vandas and Cattleyas while growing up in Florida. Since the mid-1990s he has lived in Oregon where he now specializes in orchids that thrive in the cool Pacific Northwest – Odontoglossums, Masdevallias, and Draculas. He is an Accredited Judge in, and chair of, the Pacific Northwest Judging Center and is a past Vice-President and Board Member of the AOS. Professionally, he holds a PhD in chemistry and retired last year from a 25+ year career at HP where he was the company’s Carbon Footprint Program Manager.

We had a little over 50 people enjoy a lovely meal brought to us by El Gran Taco who was our caterer for the evening. It was wonderful to have plenty of time to socialize and enjoy dinner.

Our Speaker for the month of May was Bill Goldner from Woodstream Orchids. Hist topic was “New Looks for Miniature Phragmipedium Hybrids and Other New Lines of Breeding”. He compared many crosses and their parents and showed the outcomes of the various breeding attempts. He showed many breakthroughs in breeding and in particular with mini phragmipediums. Some of the results included amazing new colors.

Our Speaker for the month of April, Kelly McCracken from High Desert Orchids. Her topic was “Artificial Lighting”. She uses lights in her growing areas. Her talk was very detailed about the various characteristics of light and how plants use all wavelengths of light.

The speaker for April is Kelly McCracken of High Desert Orchids. Kelly will be speaking to us about artificial lighting. Many of us have discovered that as our hobby grows sometimes, we run out of window spaces, or we don’t have a good window to begin with. Artificial lighting can provide our plants with the light they need to thrive. Many growers have discovered the opportunities that the recent drop in price and increase in availability of LED lights has provided. But there is relatively little information about how much artificial light orchids need and what kinds of lights are best.

February was our culture clinic month. Our member, Andy Wright, presented us with the important points of good orchid growing. Andy started by asking us to understand what our specific plants need and what we can provide for them. He encouraged us to know what the natural growing conditions are for the various genera as well as for more complex hybrids. He also gave us an understanding of the basics of Orchid Culture: potting media, water, light, blooming, roots, growing container, fertilizer and pests. It was a well presented, enjoyable, and thorough review of all the best points for good growing and blooming. After his talk, Andy took many questions from the audience. He reminded us that our Library is a great resource. The conversation included a general chat about culture as well as specific issues and problems.

Our speaker for the month of January was Theresa Hill she reviewed Paphiopedlium charlesworthii. She covered its natural history, it’s cultivation as well as its multiple forms. Culture was covered along with the contributions this species provides in its hybrids.