A very quiet Forum.....

[MrCym]

Hopefully I can get my helper to assist with a posting later this coming week. Her Sister has just had a baby daughter so things are a little scrambled. I keep realizing that we are transiting further and further away from the hobbyist type Cyms particularly in Standards. Standards for us are now just a few cut flower types for the Colombia and China market. Our pendulous demand is fortunately insatiable and gradually our new WT lines are gaining traction. I'm still cautious about Grammatocymbidiums in El Retiro, we don't really get hot enough but if we get germination on the 8-10 pods off the 4n Grcym Pakkret Adventure 4n, the 75% Cym-25% Grammatophyllum combo might work the oracle!

Despite the naysayers, our 6n X 2n offspring seem to be growing along evenly, like 4n X 4n crossings so as they start to approach blooming, the excitement builds. I realized today that we have too many seedlings for available space so the culling gets more severe. In bloom is the first white intermediate from Keshab Pradhan 4n and it is carrying two spikes on the second bulb, exactly as hoped for. Can't put but one crossing on this tiny plant but its pollen will not be wasted.

[jjurlina]

You tease us with info on new crosses, pity that for some of us access will always remain an issue.
However you are continuing to develop m new lines, long may this continue.

[MrCym]

Jeff, I don't make the Plant Quarantine laws for NZ or Australia, stupid as they are. When I was young in NZ, we could import orchids by mail, no quarantine or even inspection. The whole quarantine system in Australia is a total rort with even domestic (Interstate) restrictions. Before I talked to someone on the WOC Trust, they were planning a World Orchid Conference in Perth when W. Australia doesn't allow in orchids from the other states. Stupid crazy but that's how it is.

Sterile flasks of orchids should be accepted anywhere in the world, without even a Phytosanitary Certificate. But that solution would require common sense which is totally lacking in the Biosecurity bureaucracy!

[jjurlina]

I was not pointing the finger at you, just highlighting the difficulties that hobby growers face when it comes to flasks.
The only way would be to place an order with an approved nursery and get someone here with an import license to placer a combined order, the costs could then be shared across a number of flasks, I understand this has been done in the past but an minimum order of 20 flasks would be required to bring the per flask cost down to $200. I have just come back from a meeting of the local Odont Group, not many in attendance and a disparate group
so organizing a 'group' import would be a big challenge.

[Gary S]

I had a go at importing flasks 10 years ago, what a nightmare it was back then, so I can imagine what it might be like now for the average hobbyist who might not be aware of all the traps and costs. There were issues and problems at every turn.

I only did it once - and will never do it again. Life is too short for all those bureaucratic hassles.

[jjurlina]

A bulk purchase by a group of hobbyists is the only way to reduce the cost of flask importation. I have heard of imported flasks being impounded at the border and also when sold at an orchid show. The reasons are never given or understandable.
Flasks are sterile, if the flask has becone contaminated then this is easily seen and yes these flasks should be destroyed. Ignorant border staff are the main cause.