Newbie Calypso Orchid Geek joins up....

[calypsogrower]

Today is my first post here as I just joined moments ago. I produce and sell Calypso orchid seed from deep forest in northern California. This is a brand new venture for me and I am having fun! I am in touch with people all around the world who are working to make Calypso plants available to the public through seed grown plants. Education and research are vital for the preservation of species that are still mysterious and elusive and outside of cultivation, especially those showing signs of being endangered. I have teamed up with Calypso and we want to stop the digging and harvesting of wild irreplaceable plants and move ahead on creating seed grown Calypso orchids for research and naturalizing back into the forests. We are doing the seed part and finding out there are many people ready to accept this challenge both in vitro and in situ! Thanks for having me here, I am going to go have a look around and see where I want to jump in to this new found friendly forum!
Saludos,
Calypsogrower

[mayres]

Welcome Calypsogrower!
I was first introduced to calypso orchids this spring by a friend at work. He lives out in the hills near Falls City, Oregon and told me he had a lot of them next to his property. I went out there with a friend and we photographed them for a few hours just before sunset. Weyerhauser owned the area where they were growing and they logged it all off near the end of their bloom cycle. There were many other wild orchids in the area too. It was a fascinating ecosystem underneath the fir trees and it was sad to see it all decimated by the logging - I suppose none of them survived???? mike

[calypsogrower]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the hearty welcome. That was a sad story but perhaps not all was lost. If it was a clearcut then adios calypso, but where there are still old trees standing the orchids will return. My neighbor logged their property selectively but very thoroughly to get rid of a lot of pines that had been sown here years ago. The pines are/were huge and worse than coconuts with the big, sometimes 8 pound pinecones and rotten branches falling out of the sky. They logged and then ran a big sheepsfoot roller all over the openings to mulch in the debris from the chipping of the pine waste after the logs went to make pallets. Last year, in a clearing left by the roller there were calypso! I have a very strange picture from this scene that I will send asap. Looks like I need the picture on the web....I shall return.
Calypsogrower

[calypsogrower]

Here I try my hand at posting an image, we'll see![IMG][/IMG]

The forum wizard is telling me I can't post links...drat. Sorry

[mayres]

Bummer - I think you just have to have a minimum of 5-10 posts or something? Here is a simple shot I took of some calpyso's this spring! Will look forward to seeing some pics from you soon! mike

Here is a photo of the ground cover that they were growing in

[calypsogrower]

Well, here is how it went with trying to post the image. Without any warning having gone through the sign up and sketching in my profile I checked out how to post and it needed a url to the pic on the web. So I went to my photo album on my computer and opened my blog and my picture sharing program, minimized all those and opened paint shop pro, resized the photo because that is usually a good idea, loaded it up into Hello, saved it to my blog with a new caption and then, finally, put the url from my blog into this forum's image selector. That is when I found out I need 15 posts before I can post pictures. Yup, 15! This is the highest number I have ever seen required...it is going to be a while before I can post pictures here.

[atcrosby]

actually, it's fairly quick especially if you participate in the discussions. There are a lot of introductions on here .. just say "Hello" and you'll be there quickly with the 15

I am over 100 and that was fairly quickly done.

[calypsogrower]

Thanks for the encouragement. Those Calypso pics are really great!

[calypsogrower]

Now that I take a closer look at those Calypso pictures...they are really perfect! I have read elsewhere that the best shots of this orchid are with back lighting. This proves that! What kind of camera please tell?

[calypsogrower]

Well, it's me again. I just went and did a full search of this forum for Calypso information and came up with 0 results. I am just full of it today! I am wondering-what would be a good thread for me to jump into? My main interest is in seed propagation of Calypso which involves hand pollination and capture of seed and I have just in the last couple of days decided to look into tissue and lab culture as possible means of producing lots of plants for market. What are my chances, trying this with Calypso? I guess stuff is just scattered around all over here on this forum, no one place for species or terrestrials. Ok, I still want to play! It is so interesting the way the index's are creatively arranged from one forum to the next. I am wondering what type of format is this forum? Perhaps I should bite the bullet and start a Calypso forum on my website. Sometimes I feel like I am running in circles with passwords and threads and such great information! Better than the alternative though. I am glad this forum is here and happy to have found it. Calypsogrower

[mayres]

Good to have you here too! You are already almost up to the magic "15"! :-) Soon you can post that pic(s)! The picture I shared was actually just taken with an inexpensive pocket digital camera - Olympus C-60. It has been a frustration trying to obtain quality photos with all its limitations. I used to be into 35mm photography in a big way, but have not been in a position financially yet to obtain a quality digital replacement(s). The ground cover was very thick with needles, small branches, leaves, etc. with a canopy of tall fir trees and I'm curious if you could actually grow these calypso's if you didn't have a like environment (which not many of us do)? To share a little more of the environment and challenges - here is a pic of my best friend Wally also trying to get a few good pics of these intriguing beauties!

[calypsogrower]

yes, I am about half way to posting some pictures! Are you doing all this beautiful picture posting to tease me? It is working!

I haven't any idea how to grow Calypso outside of Calypso habitat. I am trying different levels of separation from native soil, boxes etc. Lots of people buying my seed are in vitro sowers. This orchid is still in the trying to understand for cultivation phase. How many posts to go?

Cameras can be very frustrating. I think with digital it is better to have a few specialized and cheap ones than one mega-techie monster with more bells and whistles than a person could ever need! cheers, deb

ps, nice cat, what's it's name?

[calypsogrower]

Wally looks like he is taking the picture you posted earlier! Is Wally the same as Wally O? Probably should pm this but pms don't count!

[mayres]

Only six more to go!
The picture Wally is taking is not the one I posted - I took that one!
He does nice work however - using a Canon G6 in this photo and has recently graduated to a Canon XTi. Now trying to decide what peripheral lenses to purchase. I'm the cheap on-the-side consultant! Unfortunately for him he gets what he pays for!
Our cat is a seven toed cat that my daughters got for my wife for empty nest syndrome. He was a little kitten when we first acquired him and my wife for some reason named him "Little Guy". This is now 4-5 years later and he is not so "little". I call him by his first initials - "LG" because I am un-fond of his wife-given name.
Here is a pic of LG along with our latest addition - she is a feral cat rescue that my wife adopted from outside as a kitten - initially she put baby powder on her to make her smell better (sheesh) so that became her name - ever hear of anything crazier? She doesn't meow like normal cats. When she opens her mouth to say something only a tiny squeek comes out, so I call her Squeeker. She knows who is boss (LG) and accepts the subserviant roll.

[calypsogrower]

This will be the big ten...
I know a few cats named squeeker, it isn't uncommon unfortunately. I think it comes from being rundown and contracting giardiasis as a kitten. I hope by now you have taken her to the vet and done all you can for her. Animals are so expensive! I am very much on the verge of a new critter. I sure could use a pair of cats the mice and other rodent types are taking over and need to learn some boundary lessons. You have very nice cats. I have a special place in my heart for Sylvester black and white types in tuxedos. They seem to use there paws like hands more than other cats, I call them grabber cats. Wait, this is an orchid forum....Has anyone tissue cultured, grown from seed or flasked Calypso out there? I would love to hear about it!
cheers,
Calypsogrower

[calypsogrower]

I am taking a closer look around the new digs here...this forum. What is the yen yang symbol and the reputation link all about please?

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Hay, calypsogrower, I just checked. You have 15 posts ("Miracle happens here").

[prisana]

Hi Calypsogrower, Welcome to the most friendly forum ..
I wonder, do I have a chance at a terrestrial like your calypso in Fl ? What is the best spot to plant them if I can get my hands on one. Do they really grow in humus and not actually soil ?

[calypsogrower]

Yeah! I made the grade in total verbage! I am thrilled and thank you to whomsoever notices and now I can post! Here first must be the weird photo I mentioned earlier of the Calypso and the D8 Catapillar tractor with tracks and a big sheepsfoot roller. I am in the midst of our first big wet storm up here and on solar so must conserve....back soon!

[calypsogrower]

I think the emerging buds
look a little surprised! I can anthropomorphize
because I am not a scientist!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Calypsog, what is roughly the altitude where these are growing? Here in Arizona, tho I have not seen them yet, they grow at 8,000 ft, plus or minus some. I have also heard that they are very short lived plants.