Malala 2012

Anyone know when the order deadline is?

I am having trouble resisting... even though it might be a bad financial move.. plants that I am thinking of are:

Jumellea pandurata
Aeranthes henrici
Neobathiea filicornu
Aerangis umbonata
Ang. breve
Ang. dollii
Ang. drouhardii
Ang urshianum

Are these among the survivors of anyone's order?

 

Deadline was 4/10, with money due by 4/17 and the order placed 4/19. If you want in I'd email Brenda ASAP, maybe she can still add some things at this point.

And I'd say it's pretty likely to be a bad financial move, even if they live they ain't cheap...

 

I've killed drouhardii, breve and dollii 2 years in a row now...urschianum was a quick rehabilitation for me, as was neobathiaea, but I know other people have had different experiences

 

Chris, maybe you take two clones of the one or the other especially when you plan to step into the field of propagation. Remember umbonata = fuscata
bye
Matthias

 

Thanks all the info! Email sent to Brenda.

Good point Matthias, I would love to propagate these. Maybe it would be better to concentrate on multiple plants of a couple species per year. Not that all would survive anyway..

Thanks for the link goods, I had read that one a while ago and forgot about it.

 

Well, I missed this order.. but looks like there might be enough interest for a fall order this year.

 

This guy's friend, it was me!!

As I've already told here, I was in Madagascar, I saw a lot of orchids but an every where deforestation too and I saw Malala's cultivation place because she's a friend of mine.
I have a lot of orchids coming from here and of course, I've lost some of them, but it is the "price to pay".

Even if Michelle would keep the orchids one or two years more, it would change nothing.
The conditions of cultivations are so "typical", and thesending conditions are really stressful for them, that even for a big plant, the risk of die exist after a sending!!

For exemple, the orchids I took directly with me the last time I saw here, are still all alive because they traveled only one day...

 

I totally agree Gilles. This is just the nature of importing plants. You have to be willing to take the risk of paying a lot for the plant only to have it die. That is just the reality of importing plants. It can be done successfully, however, as shown by a number of the growers here. It just isn't for the faint of heart.

 

Is Botanica/Brenda going to do another order? I thought she only did it in the Spring.

 

Lars Kurth (Gilles friend) who posted his results on the OB when using a Tricoderma treatment on his Malala order also posted on the UKOF. The discussion this produced resulted in a link to the following which I thought might be of interest.

The American Phytopathological Society
Symposium The Nature and Application of Biocontrol Microbes:
Overview of Mechanisms and Uses of Trichoderma spp.

Gary E. Harman

Cornel University, Geneva, NY 14456

Fungi in the genus Trichoderma have been known since at least the 1920s for their ability to act as biocontrol agents against plant pathogens. Until recently, the principal mechanisms for control have been assumed to be those primarily acting upon the pathogens and included mycoparasitism, antibiosis, and competition for resources and space. Recent advances demonstrate that the effects of Trichoderma on plants, including induced systemic or localized resistance, are also very important. These fungi colonize the root epidermis and outer cortical layers and release bioactive molecules that cause walling off of the Trichoderma thallus. At the same time, the transcriptome and the proteome of plants are substantially altered. As a consequence, in addition to induction of pathways for resistance in plants, increased plant growth and nutrient uptake occur. However, at least in maize, the increased growth response is genotype specific, and some maize inbreds respond negatively to some strains. Trichoderma spp. are beginning to be used in reasonably large quantities in plant agriculture, both for disease control and yield increases. The studies of mycoparasitism also have demonstrated that these fungi produce a rich mixture of antifungal enzymes, including chitinases and β-1,3 glucanases. These enzymes are synergistic with each other, with other antifungal enzymes, and with other materials. The genes encoding the enzymes appear useful for producing transgenic plants resistant to diseases and the enzymes themselves are beneficial for biological control and other processes.

Most of this is way above my pay grade and level of growing experience. The references to to Trichoderma producing anti fungal enzymes as well as increased plant growth and nutition uptake sound promising. The possibility of a negative outcome is I would suggest worth considering.

If anyone has any direct experience with Trichoderma products or has come across further information it would be great to hear more.

 

She said that there might be enough interest for a fall order as well this year.

 

I just received my order from Malala, courtesey of Botanica ltd. This was my first year ordering, here's what came in the mail:

Angraecum falcifolium - The plant looks reasonably healthy, even has some buds in tact. The roots look okay, not great shape, but a few reasonably happy roots are available.

Angraecum humbertii - I ordered two of these, one looks better than a few Angs I've gotten from ebay, the other has some pretty heavy structural damage to the few leaves on it, but the roots appear to be in good shape, big thick roots like didieri - I feel like these guys have a shot.

Angraecum mahavavense - good looking leaves, good looking roots, one of the strongest of the bunch.

Angraecum mauritianum - 3.5 leaves, 20cm of stick, 4 brown things that resemble the shape and texture of roots - I think prayer is all I can offer this guy.

Angraecum peyrotii - The leaves look good, the roots, though plentiful, don't look so hot, some portions still turn a little green with water, so there's hope.

Angraecum popowii - 4 green blades of grass, it came with a few roots, not great roots, but we'll see what happens.

 

Thanks goods! For sure... I've used a product called "Great White" (from my local hydroponics store) for about a year now. It is primarily a mycorrhizae greatest hits collection, but also has Trichderma (Trichoderma harzianum and Trichoderma koningii).

I know that the mycorrhizae in this solution aren't supposed to interact with the orchids directly (I didn't know that when I first got the stuff), but they may do something for the overall mychology of the growing media and the Trichoderma may be doing some good. I can't offer any empirical evidence to say that my plants run faster or jump higher, but I think I have better root growth.

After reading the note and related link above, I picked up Fox Farms - Kangaroots which has a similar list of ingredients as Great White but in a liquid form with some mild fertilizer added.

Anywho... here's hoping

 

As a newcomer here just reading this thread, in February of 2012 I was one of those who in France had ordered a few plants from Malala. As it turned out I was the good dude that drove to Roissy airport, waited for a 10 hour delayed plane , collected a big cardboard of plants for the group of aficionados who had ordered then then drove Michelle Andriamanihaja's son and family to Montparnasse train station...then dispatched the rest of the plants to the main organizer of this import.

I had ordered 6 plants; four are still alive with new roots.. it is true the quality of plants is not up to what would be expected from a regular grower here in Europe but it is for many the only chance to get rare angreacoids. The economic situation in Madagascar is worsening and disappearing plants are not really a priority, a great many goods on the island are been illegally exported, it is not a secret that Taiwanese ships dock at large and load rare precious wood and semi precious stones as well as fauna.

It is true that Michelle Andriamanihaja sells her plants at what may be seen an expensive price (and uses the money to build a house for herself) but she is also a true lover of the plants...she is not that young anymore and she has taken pains to collect many angreacoids from different regions of the Island before the forest are been felled as well as raising her own plants. Above all she has always done this as legally as possible ( in a Island that cares little for the law) she has an authorization to secure the plants and she always works with Cites documents when she exports.

She keeps the plants on mats of synthetic moss. Her son tells me it works well under her conditions of culture, the one thing to do when you get the plants is to remove that yellow mat as it doesn't work well in a greenhouse or in a terrarium and the roots quickly rot and deteriorate ( provided you got some good roots to start).

If the plants survive, adapt to their new surrounding and conditions of culture, and grow new roots, most tend to be rather healthy and vigorous plants.

At the end of 2011 the nursery of Marcel Lecoufle , the legendary and almost centenarian expert on those plants closed it's door for good.. So we are left here in France with very few sources for the rare angreacoids. We can only hope Malala will stay in business and that we can organize ourselves to better grow those plants.