This is looking like a really great site to get some substantive discussion about the 'prickly issues'. We spent an hour at judging on Saturday hashing through some good ones. I just got my own laptop so it was really cool to be able to call up and share award photographs from AQ Plus of plants that happened to come up in the course of discussion.
About me, I have about 50% Catts, lots of Dendrobiums, just got my first Paph award in January. I enjoy judging at our center (Carolinas) and seeing plants in shows. It is still exciting to see a new species or hybrid and watch new trends develop. I think that digital photography and having rapid access to pictures has greatly advanced our judging process. Some time soon I will be doing a training session on AQ Plus in our center just to make sure we are all up to speed on all the features.
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Speaking of laptops my advice to anyone is to buy the lightest one you can afford. After you haul a 9 or 10 lb laptop *plus* your luggage through an airport a few times you really want that pound or two back. Heck even hauling it across the car seat can be trying - let face it, I'm not as young or as fit as I used to be!!
ReplyDeleteMake sure the people you give your presentation to know that the AQ+ team is very willing to correct any errors you may find, you merely have to email them. Or that's been my experience.
I too have a mixed collection, mostly catts but a smattering of just about everything else. I've been trying my hand at hybridizing. First pod that took was C. dormaniana x B. cucullata. Now how's *that' gonna be for a lip?
Ditto on the laptop; light = good. Try being a photographer and having one shoulder loaded with 18-lbs of camera gear and the other with a ten-pound laptop!
ReplyDeleteWell now that sounds like a weird nybrid...but who knows? I consider C. dormaniana to be the "ugly duckling" of the Brazilian bifoliates yet it has yielded at least one hybrid that I find an improvement over Bc. Binosa. Have a look at Bc. Carnival Kids - http://tinyurl.com/cmh64h
SOrry for the cut+pate, the comment box does not take html :-(
And here's an oddball B. cucullata hybrid that I find quite stunning....flowers were large too - http://tinyurl.com/cj8uqf
Kathy, i'm actually intrigued by your cross. It is very novel and sure to produce some unusual flowers! What stage are you in? flasks, compots, etc?
ReplyDeleteKB is absolutely correct--lighter is better. There are a flush of newer small computers that have external CD/ROM drives that make them even smaller.
ReplyDeleteMake sure when you go small, the display pixels are enough for the judging programs. AQ plus needs a minimum size to display the entire program. For instance, the Dell 9" isn't big enough, the Dell 12" is perfect. Light, easy to use, perfect for walking around and looking things up while judging.
It's also much better to go through airports, etc. Those big laptops are good for home, but they are tough to judge with and still walk around.
Peter, its in the first round of flasking. My second one is L lundii x Soph cernua - still in the pod. Hetherington says lundii is dominant over just about everything, but I was hoping some of the soph color might come through. The third one is C dormaniana x Soph cernua, the pod dehisced before I could get to it.
ReplyDeleteGreg! Those orchids are great! Very cool! I hope mine turns out like those!
ReplyDeleteI think you and I are thinking along the same lines Kathy! I have seedlings of C. aclandiae x S. cernua that I have high hopes for. Unfortunately I am sucha heavy-handed out-of-flask grower I only have a few seedlings:-(
ReplyDeleteMaybe the solution with L. lundii is to start with 2nd generation, like Lc. Button Top, which has the lundii lip we all die for. Here is a shot of that hybrid - http://tinyurl.com/d9ehw9
One of my two best hybrids that survived in any numbers is Lc. Heyitsred here - http://tinyurl.com/cgl86v
these are in bloom now and make a nice red midicatt without Sophronitis that grows well in warm climates