Disa orchid?

[Buttercup]

Hi again,

When I was at the SB orchid show I saw an orchid I've never seen or heard of. It was gorgeous! The grower told me it was a South African orchid that lives near streams and requires consistent moisture. I stepped away for 5 minutes and it was sold. I have never heard of this orchid and tried googling it but my spelling must be wrong. It was really unlike any orchid I've seen. Bright pink, large flowers, only two on a stem. Just wondering if anyone has heard of it. It was gorgeous. Of course now I am wishing I had followed my instincts and grabbed it before someone else did.

Thanks,
Lucy

[brookn]

I think it is Disa, but I am not sure much else, maybe that it is short for something else. I bet Kevin knows.

[gore42]

Yes, I've grown them... they're not especially easy to grow, you've got a good challenge on your hands if you find one. Make sure that you give it pure water and keep it wet all the time. Here's one that I bloomed...



This one is Disa uniflora, although they frequently bloom with two flowers. I'm not selling them anymore, but I'm sure you'll be able to find someone. They need cool temps, and pure water... otherwise, they're not too tough.

- Matthew Gore

[brookn]

Matthew, that is a beautiful plant. I am not sure I want to attempt one yet, but I think I will put it on my wish list.

[tom499]

A plant for those who can keep the day temp under 25 celsius and the night temp around 10 celsius (i believe). i would like one but they seem rarer and more expensive than most other orchids.

They also seem to be one of the few orchids you can sit in a tray of water, a technique used by a grower i saw on the chelsea flower show, he had maybe 10,000 disa's all in shallow trays of water.

[fred]

just a little tip
I know a bloke that grows hundreds of Disa each one is grown in sphagnum moss.

kept moist at all times

[arleneg]

Hi Buttercup,

I have a few Disas (bought two to try and won two from raffle at an orchid show) that are doing fine since I acquired them in early June. I live in a warm and dry area and am surprised they've survived! So far, all I've done is keep them in a tray with about an inch or so water (RO water) and replace the water of the two I have outdoors every few days (to keep mosquitoes from using it as a breeding place). The two I have indoors and under supplemental lights I replace the water once a week...of course, adding water if it gets low before replacing with fresh RO water. I guess, I'll find out later this year, or early next year, if they're producing new growths underneath.

My Disas are in a sphag moss and perlite mix. The grower whom I bought it from uses a sphag moss and Japanese pumice mix.

[Buttercup]

Wow, does sound like a challenge! Matthew, that is a beautiful picture and is definitely what I saw. The one that I saw looked just like that but bright pink. It was really unusual. I only saw one and then poof it was gone. Happy Friday everyone.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

I saw them for sale too at the Santa Barbara Orchid Fair. I talked to the seller, and he said cool and very bright. Well, I can do cool on the floor of my GH in front of the cooler, but it is not very bright down there, so I passed on the Disas as ungrowable for me at this time. RO/pure water is necessary, and I talked my sister in law out of buying one when I assured her she would have to buy distilled or RO water to use on it with if she tried to grow one.

[PhalPal]

Beautiful flower! Sometimes it is hard to resist a beautiful plant, but I have learned to pass on them and hope I find another at the next show. I will write down the name of it (as well as the grower) and do some research on it. Usually it is not compatible with my climate and lifestyle at this time.

I love my orchids but am trying not to be a complete slave to them, my pets already have the market cornered on that one!

[NancyG]

Beautiful! The photo too. What kind of camera and lens are you using?

NancyG

[charleyismydog]

Hi Buttercup. I love Disas too but don't own one. You can find them online at www.goreorchidconservatory.com. The owner is a member here too.

[Buttercup]

Wow, they must be popular, I went to the website:

Unfortunately, ALL DISAS ARE SOLD OUT . My breeding plans have been interrupted, and it appears that I won't have any Disas for the coming year. I'll update this page as soon as they are available again.

This will go on my neverending "wish" list.

So far, knock wood, I haven't killed any of my orchids. That's why I love them so much, even I, can remember to water once a week.

[gore42]

Nancy, my photos are all taken with a point and shoot Nikon Coolpix 7600, except for a few older ones that I took with an Olympus point and shoot. I would not recommend the Nikon camera, though. One of these days I'll get a digital SLR to replace my film equipment, but I have too many orchids to buy first Like so many things, the camera itself isn't that important in taking a good photo... it's knowing how to use it, and I'm getting by with what I have for now.

Anyway, here's another Disa photo that you might like. This is the same plant as the photo above, but the photo was taken a week or so later, when the second bloom was opening.




For those of you who visited my website and saw the "All Disas Are Sold Out" message, ignore it... I'll be updating the Disa page shortly.

- Matthew Gore

[pikevi]

Lovely flower and an excellent photo.

I am just curious: why would you not recommend a Nikon?

[gore42]

Don't get me wrong... it's not that I wouldn't recommend ANY Nikon camera, it's just that I wouldn't recommend this one. Granted, my film equipment was Canon EOS, and I have a bit of a Canon-user-bias against Nikon, so take all of this with a grain of salt. My understanding is that the new Nikons D SLRs are excellent cameras.

That said, these are the major flaws (as I see them) with the D7600 that I use.

1. The auto-focus is awful. Doesn't work well in low contrast lighting situations, in low light situations, and works poorly with macro work. I know, these are problems with all AF systems, but this is compared to my EOS A2, an AF system that is 12 years or more older than this Nikon. If I don't have the choice of manual focus, the AF needs to be good.

2. The CCD doesn't handle purples very well. Sure, any camera has some color that it doesn't represent very well, but since I need to capture the pigments in Paphs, purple is important.

3. There's no Aperture or Shutter Priority mode, both of which would be really useful. I guess they're not that common on Point and Shoots, but some of the Canons have them... and for a 7 Megapixel camera, I expect some features like that.

4. The buttons periodically stop working. Well, just one, really... the flash button on the back. Might just be mine, but seems like not the greatest quality piece of work.

Anyway, I do like some other things about this camera... it was cheap, and its 7 Mpixels, and the lens quality is pretty good, and the exposure compensation is pretty easy to use. It's only in 1/3rd stops, (and I prefer half stops) but that's not a big deal.

- Matt

[arleneg]

Matthew,

That's a beautiful shot of a Disa. I have one that's orange-red (more on the orange side). My other one is peach colored, which I have yet to take a pic of.

Thanks for sharing your Disa pics.

[charleyismydog]

Matthew, that second photo is truly jaw-dropping. Wow! You've definitely got the knack for photographing the babies!

[Buttercup]

Hi Matthew,

That picture is AMAZING. Thanks for the update on your website. I looked through a lot of your flowers and my want list is very long. Do you have any Paph. fairrieanum? What colors are the Disa that you have?

Thank you!
Lucy

[gore42]

Thanks! I'm glad you like the photos!

This really probably isn't the place to discuss business, so if you're interested in any of the plants that I have or might have, please just send me an email or PM

- Matt

[Buttercup]

My fault, I apologize. I have sent you a private message. Thanks for putting up with a newbie.