By Allan Watson

As an avid orchid hobbyist, I’m always interested in improving my growing techniques to improve the health, yield and size of blooms.  With over 1,000 plants in my collection, I have plenty of opportunity to experiment and compare.  My particular interest is in Miltoniopsis and having enough plants (including awarded ones) to reference against I feel like I have a pretty good baseline on what works and what doesn’t.  If I may take a moment – be it a humble one – to brag a bit, I grew the only 2 Miltoniopsis to receive awards from the Orchid Council of New Zealand in 2018 and 2019.

Miltoniopsis Breathless ‘From Love’ HCC/NZOC

Miltoniopsis Taranaki Pride AM/NZOC

Lucky for me I live in New Zealand, home to arguably the best quality tree fern on the planet.  How do I know?  Just 9 months into my planned 2 year growing trial I’m already seeing amazing results – but more on that in a bit.  My good friends at Fernwood NZ, Ltd have been harvesting and processing tree fern for over 3 decades.  I’ve historically grown in a bark-pumice mix – and like I said, achieved what I consider to be good results.  One day we got to talking about the successes other growers were reporting.  I’m not sure whose idea it was but we ended up agreeing that a semi-scientific trial would be both fun and educational.  One thing about all the orchid hobbyists I’ve met over the years – our number one goal is to help each other be better growers.  By bringing a bit of rigor to the comparison of growing mediums, I figured my experiences would be beneficial to the broader orchid community.

 

So I set off on my journey to compare growing in Fernwood tree fern fiber to growing in a bark-pumice mix.  I committed myself to a two-year trial starting with 15 Miltoniopsis growing in my standard bark-pumice mix next to 15 of the same cross growing in tree fern fiber.  To make the results as closely comparable as possible, both sets of plants were grown side-by-side under the same conditions with the same watering frequency and fertilizing regimen.

 

First Checkpoint – 4 months Both plants potted on the same day. At four months there was already a noticeable difference between plants in Fernwood tree fern fiber and those in the bark-pumice mix.  The plant on the left is in a 3-part bark, 1-part pumice mix.  The plant on the right is potted in 100% Fernwood tree fern fiber.  The plant in tree fern appeared to be darker and healthier.  The plant was better developed having more growths and denser foliage.  This was consistent across all 15 pairs.

Miltoniopsis Rene Komoda ‘Pacific Cloud’

Second Checkpoint – 6 months At six months the advanced development of the plants grown in Fernwood tree fern fiber encouraged me to remove one pair from their pots to compare root structure.  The plant on the right was grown in tree fern and exhibits a significantly denser, larger root mass – not unexpected considering the differences in overall growth.

Miltoniopsis Rene Komoda ‘Pacific Cloud’

Third Checkpoint – 9 months My third checkpoint afforded the opportunity to compare flowers as many of my trial pairs were in full spike.  Flowers of plants grown in Fernwood tree fern fiber are consistently larger with a higher number of inflorescences.  The flower on the left is from the plant in tree fern and the one on the right is from the plant in bark-pumice mix.  The difference is just over 10% increase in size.

Miltoniopsis Robert Jackson ‘Wild Thing’

As my trial has progressed, I’ve been compelled to move more of my Miltoniopsis collection to tree fern beyond those pairs dedicated to the trial.  Many of those are in bloom as well with similar results.  Whereas my past experience has observed flowers averaging 2-1/2” across, plants growing in Fernwood tree fern fiber as in the photos below have been delivering flowers as large as 4” across.

As my Miltoniopsis trial continues, I have expanded my use of tree fern fiber across my collection.  Specifically I now have Odontoglossum, Dendrobium, Promenaea and Cattleya all growing in the substrate.  Not surprisingly, early results have been encouraging and I hope to be able to report on those in the not too distant future.

While I have obviously been very pleased with my results and have expanded my adoption of tree fern as the growing substrate for much of my orchid collection it is worthwhile to remember that everyone’s growing conditions are different.  Coupled with individual tendencies around watering and fertilizing, results can vary from grower to grower.  If your current regimen is working – by all means continue what you are doing.  Hopefully my experiences will encourage you to experiment.  I’m certainly glad I did.  And if your current approach isn’t yielding the results you’d like to see, you may find tree fern fiber an exciting alternative.

Sphagnum moss and sphagnum peat moss (frequently known simply as “peat moss”) are often confused for the same growing material. In truth, they’re two different parts of the same plant but the impact of their use is wildly different. Sphagnum moss is a plant that grows on the surface of soil or a swamp. It thrives in New Zealand and other wet climates. It is carefully harvested to ensure regeneration of bogs – a cycle which typically takes 5-6 years. Peat moss, on the other hand, is the layer of decaying, water-saturated sphagnum moss that has sunk below the surface. It is the basis of swamp land, forming over thousands of years. Although peat moss can be found in potting soils in nearly every garden center in the world, harvesting peat moss is not a sustainable practice. It takes thousands of years for peat moss to develop, and harvesting it requires digging up bogs, which destroys the potential for regeneration of the swamp.

The properties of sphagnum moss include:

• Neutral pH
• Natural water retention
• Pliable and soft handling as a growing material
• Long-fibered
• Pure moss (no other plant material)
• Used as a seed-starter, to line baskets, for growing orchids, and as additional growing material in potting soils

 

Sphagnum peat moss:

• Is acidic and high in tannins
• Can be up to 70% water
• Is naturally compacted and sold compressed into bales
• Contains a mixture of organic materials, including moss, decaying plant matter, and dead insects
• Is used in potting and garden soils

 

For over 30 years, Besgrow has been sustainably harvesting and processing its Spagmoss line of New Zealand sphagnum moss.  Spagmoss is used the world over by hobbyists and commercial growers of orchids, carnivorous plants and general moisture loving plants.

What’s the best way to reinforce the message that Fernwood’s New Zealand tree fern is an outstanding substrate for growing orchids? By asking the experts to give it a try! Award-winning orchid grower Allan Watson from Taranaki, New Zealand has agreed to do a two year growing trial using Fernwood Tree Fern substrate.

Allan Watson is an avid orchid grower specializing in growing Miltoniopsis as well as having other mixed genera in his collection of more than 1000 plants. Allan is a longstanding member of the Taranaki Orchid Society, the largest single society membership within the New Zealand Orchid Council structure, with 75 current members.

 

Miltoniopsis breathless ‘from love’

He became serious about collecting orchids twelve years ago, when he moved back to New Plymouth with his wife Jenny. Being part of the local society was a quick way to build up his collection of plants, as members are all collectors who are always keen to expand and share with others.

Allan has agreed to take part in a two-year trial growing a selection of plants in Fernwood NZ Tree Fern substrate. “There’s immense satisfaction in coaxing a stubborn plant to finally flower, because some orchids can be difficult to grow successfully,” he says. “Having the largest private collection of Miltoniopsis in terms of variety, some 42 Hybrids and one species in a collection of 100 plants, an “apples to apples” approach could be applied to a controlled trial. It seemed too good an opportunity to turn down,” Allan says.

He is quite proud of the fact that two of the Miltoniopsis he has grown were the only ones in New Zealand to receive an award in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Mps Taranaki Pride AM/NZOC 2018 and Mps. Breathless ‘From Love’ HCC/ NZOC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miltoniopsis Taranaki Pride

“If you want to grow plants that are worthy of an award, you need to find the best conditions in which they will grow and develop.” As Allan is retired, he says he has the time to focus on this project, and provide some meaningful data and outcomes. This trial dovetails into a couple of other orchid projects that Allan has on the go involving the testing of fertilizer systems and the promotion of Miltoniopsis culture in New Zealand.

“I am approaching this project with an open mind, as I understand other hobby growers have used the product with success. It will be good to post some conformation fact,” he says. The initial trial will involve 20 Miltoniopsis being grown in Bark pumice mix, along with 20 of the same cross Miltoniopsis being grown in the Tree Fern Orchid Substrate. Other genera will be introduced to the trial as the plants are being divided. Allan says that any trial needs to have measurements of success or failure recorded, otherwise the value of end results can become hearsay. To achieve this, he has developed an excel spreadsheet tool to monitor the results. Watch this space for further info on the trial as it progresses.