Friday, January 29, 2010

Tidying up the shade house

I've been doing some work in the shade house, tidying and cleaning up, laying out gravel and rearranging pots. From an unkempt “jungle” it now looks like a less unkempt “jungle”. :D

 

Orchid_shade_house_11

Before – wild!

 

Orchid_shade_house_1

I started by laying out a gravel path but then decided to cover nearly the entire area with gravel because it just looked much cleaner that way. In some spots there are sheets of unused plastic bags (few layers) to help keep the weeds out.

 

Orchid_shade_house_4 

Then I did the other side as well, while rearranging pots and plants left and right, putting up new beams and replacing old ones and getting rid of gaudy pieces of planks and beams.

 

Orchid_shade_house_3

Here’s the other side of the shade house all tidied up, used to be very dark and full of mosses and ferns here. Got quite muddy too when it rained.

 

Orchid_shade_house_2

Makes a nice cool place to sit around enjoying the plants now. The kitkats like it too but I do think they prefer the previous dark surroundings full of ferns before I tidied everything up. More places for them to hide while stalking birds and bugs. I don’t want them to hang out here too often anyway because there are always thrushes, magpie robins and fantails that come and feed on destructive caterpillars. My cats only scare them away.

 

Orchid_shade_house_6 

Much cleaner now. I left pockets of pegaga or pennywort and pearl grass growing here and there. Some attractive fern weeds are left untouched as well.

 

Orchid_shade_house_5

I couldn’t decide what to do with this big upturned urn at first. Finally decided to put a big pot of Coelogyne asperata on top of it. This is the smaller green form, I’ve got a pot of the normal form which is much bigger and taller than this one. Too big to move!

 

Orchid_shade_house_8

The same pot on a different spot. I have a few big pots so I tried moving them all to the same area to create a Coelogyne corner…

 

Orchid_shade_house_7

However, I think I have gone overboard! LOL

 

Will update this entry again when I get more work done…

Monday, January 25, 2010

After the rains…

 

orchid_leaf_rot

Cut and collected leaves affected by rot due to continuous days of rain this month (January).

Assessing the damage.

 

Affected with leaf rot but otherwise healthy -

1. Phalaenopsis bellina 6 plants

2. Phalaenopsis cornu cervi 3 plants

3. Phalaenopsis amabilis 1 big mother plant

 

Affected with leaf and crown rot, may be alright if kept dry -

1. Aranda Broga Giant 1 big plant

2. 2 Trichoglottis species – 3 plants

 

Affected with leaf and bulb rot -

1. Coelogyne dayana – 1 big pot

2. Coelogyne motleyi – 1 big clump

 

Affected with crown and stem rot, slim to no hope -

1. Rhyncostylis gigantea (peach) 1 blooming size plant

 

phalaenopsis_leaf_rot 

 

Every rainy season it is like this. Last year I tried placing plastic sheets above the plants but the sheets soon formed pockets that became breeding grounds for mozzies. The plants too became very dry because dew could not form on them at night and in the early mornings. I had to water them with a garden hose and this brought back the rot problems.

 

The plastic sheets have been removed and I now do what a good friend and fellow orchid grower does, let the plants go wild! Click here to see his “wild” collection. I just check every for rot problems and remove affected leaves.

 

Plants at an orchid garden in Kuching also suffer from rot problems as these pictures tell (taken recently):

coelogyne_asperata_rot

This used to be a monster clump of Coelogyne asperata!

 

coelogyne_pandurata_rot (2)

What used to be very healthy Coelogyne pandurata plants.

 

coelogyne_pandurata_rot

And this used to be part of a very large and healthy Coelogyne pandurata display.

 

Phalaenopsis_bellina_rot (2)

The Phalaenopsis bellina plants here are also badly affected by the wet weather (and snails!).

 

Phalaenopsis_bellina_rot

I saw many plants removed from their mounts and planted in pots kept in a sheltered area. Hopefully this one survives. My friend whose garden is pictured here (click) told me his plants suffer the same problems but the short phal stems often survive and put out new growths or keikis after a few months. He doesn’t do much work with his plants anymore as he has given up trying to fight nature. He has a big tree full of naturalized bellinas, an amazing thing to see!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A natural jungle spa

stream_in_Borneo

I really like this place. It’s so peaceful and unspoiled here. The only sounds to be heard are all natural sounds, birds chirping, tree frogs croaking and water gurgling. No manmade noises, no cars honking, no trucks rumbling and definitely no loud people talking and yelling. A perfect place to unwind and just soak in nature.

It’s located in Middle of Nowhere, secluded and safe from day trippers and litter bugs from the city. There are many “middles of nowhere” all throughout Sarawak and all it takes is a few hours of driving + trekking to get to a place where one can be totally immersed in the natural beauty of a pristine jungle.

DSCF2397
Postcard perfect!

small_waterfall_ferns
Very Hawaii-like, no?

petrified_tree_trunks_across_stream
Ferns of all kinds and large petrified tree trunks lend a very “lost-world” feel to this place.
 
natural_fish_foot_spa
Natural fish foot spa! The freshwater fish here are not afraid of people because so few human beings come here. As soon as I got my feet in, the fish all swarmed around to nibble at flakes of dead skin. Some people pay good money to have this treatment.

DSCF7012
The small stream is full of T-barbs and rasboras that love to nibble on flakes of dead skin. Even small freshwater shrimp join in!

feet_in_water_natural_fish_foot_spa
The fish may be little but they do have rather sharp teeth! Very ticklish at first but after a while you get used to it. Great to just sit back with a book and let the fish do their job. :D

DSCF7025
In this deep pool, more fish await to give a full body fish spa treatment! Just dip in, stay afloat or sit still in a shallow area and the fish will come to you.

DSCF7038
Ahhhh… this is the life!

DSCF7052
After the fish spa treatment, just jump in for a swim! The waterfall may be small but the pool is actually very deep! Though the water is clear, it is too deep to see the bottom.

small_waterfall
I love this small water cascade. Wish it was in my backyard!

waterfall_water_massage
Waterfall massage, very relaxing!

jungle_pool_natural_spa
Relaxing in the upper pool of the natural spa.

OL210280
The upper pool, very clear and cool water.

OL210286
As I lay back and float in the water, I feel totally relaxed. Looking up, all I see are tall trees and greenery and all I hear are natural sounds. Perfect place to de-stress!

Olympus_e510_Sony_A350_Tamron_SP_60mm
SLRs in the wild. :) Olympus E-510 on the left and Sony A350 on the right.

OL210088
A small clear water stream flowing through the quiet jungle.

OL210095
Pandans grow abundantly along the banks.

Cryptocoryne_striolata_in_natural_habitat
A species of aquatic aroid, Cryptocoryne striolata grows in abundance near the banks.

OL210098
The water in the stream comes from a nearby mountain and is very cool. Great place to go for a dip. Over hanging tree branches and lianas provide shade from the hot sun.

OL210132
Such clear streams used to be a common sight near Kuching. In just a couple of decades, many have turned black and polluted by wastes from pig farms (by far the worst!), chicken farms, run-offs from plantations, household refuse and trash chucked away by irresponsible people. Very sad!

OL210166
I like this small little stream. On both banks are heliconia-like plants. I’m not sure what they are.

OL210183  
Great place for a small picnic lunch too. Dumplings, spice breadsticks and yam puffs stuffed with char siew meat.

tree_trunk_mushrooms
A dead tree trunk full of mushrooms.

jungle_stream_ferns
Beautiful ferns (Dipteris lobbiana) grow abundantly along the stream.

OL210225
Just looking at this picture again makes me miss the place already!

OL210226
Many small cascades and waterfalls can be found here.

Spider_and_prey
Amazing architects, spiders string their webs from one bank to another, catching unlucky flying insects such as damselflies.

OL210231
A small water cascade.

OL210236 
Sandstone boulders.

OL210253
Pandans and ferns.

OL210270  
I often see this fern species growing along clear water streams. Refer next photo for closer view.

fern_species
Dipteris lobbiana. If anyone has a clue what fern species this is, do drop me a line or leave a comment.
 
jungle_pool_waterfall_pebbles
We brought back all that we took in and left the place as we found it, without a single trace of our visit. Hope it stays pristine like this for as long as possible. Can’t wait to return here again!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...