Minutes of the February 8, 2010, Meeting
April 11, 2010
President Bob Cleveland called the meeting to order and welcomed members and guests. Tonight’s program will be a discussion of insects and diseases which can affect orchids.
Treasurer’s Report Carl Burnham reported that we have a balance of $2,889.19 in our account. Membership dues are payable from September through June of each year. If you have questions about your dues, please contact Carl. Dues are still $15.00 for an individual member and $25.00 for a household membership.
Old Business:
New Hampshire Orchid Society Show (February 12, 13, and14, 2010) at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, NH. The Maine Orchid Society will have a display and will compete for awards at this year’s show. Many of the plants on tonight’s show table will be exhibited at this event. Show set-up will be Thursday morning. We will have an all-black display except for the plants. After the show, the plants will be brought back to their owners’ choice of either Bob’s house in South Portland or Woodsprite Orchids for pick up during the following week (third week of February). Program information, times, directions, etc., can be found at www.nhorchids.org Cost is $10.00 for adults, $6.00 for seniors, and $8.00 for students with I.D. Parking is free.
Secretary’s note: the NH Show was truly beautiful this year. If you missed it, it should be posted on the NH Orchid Society web site soon.
Skillin’s Open House March 27th and 28th, 2010 at Skillin’s Greenhouses in Falmouth. The Society will set up a booth in our usual location. Blooming plants will be needed for the display, as well as plants and/or seedlings to sell. A sign-up sheet is going around for people to staff the booth and talk with prospective members and people who are curious about orchids. There is still time to sign up. Please contact Bob Cleveland to volunteer.
Insurance Carl Burnham reported that our insurance is now due. We have a different company this year and the charge is $250.00. There are lots of crazy exclusions and, of course, fine print. Carl will be sure to pay it, nonetheless.
Future Programs Tonight will be Kevin Kearns, who will speak to us about pests and diseases; the March program will be Steve Perkins with slides of his recent Borneo trip; in April we will have a speaker from Oak Hill Gardens in Illinois to discuss general orchid growing topics; in May we will hold our annual vendors’ auction; and in June will be the annual seedling night.
New Business:
Carl Burnham reported that we raised $73.00 with our raffle last month. This money was raised to be donated to the American Orchid Society, as we had voted in a previous meeting. Carl will send them a check in that amount. We raised this unusually large amount due to Eric’s generous donation of numerous plants. Thank you Eric!
Show Table There were many lovely blooming orchids on the show table, which Bob Cleveland reviewed for the group. Many of these will be put into the New Hampshire Orchid Society Show next weekend, where they will compete for awards from the judges.
Plant Sale Kevin Kearns announced that there will be a plant sale May 13th and 14th at the Morrison Development Center in Scarborough.
Program “Insects & Diseases” presented by long-time society member, Kevin Kearns, who is an experienced grower and has operated greenhouses for many years. Kevin’s excellent presentation covered problems and their solutions in relation to mealybugs, hard scale, soft scale, aphids, squirrels and mice, spider mites, slugs and thrips. He also discussed diseases caused by fungus, bacteria and viruses. Kevin advised the group to pay attention to sanitation and cultural requirements of plants. Poor cultural practices cause the plants to become stressed and, thus they are more susceptible to these problems. He passed out some really good hand-outs to the group, and advised, “learn your pests.” Kevin discussed the various chemical agents available to growers and recommends that we bear in mind the consequences of what products we use, to handle them carefully (read labels), don’t mix up more than you need each time, and don’t dump them down the drain. We learned that the labels on the chemicals for the varying toxicity levels are (from least toxic to most toxic): “Caution,” “Warning,” and “Danger.” If you were wondering, the “LD dose,” as in “LD50,” listed on the label is how much of the product is needed in order to kill 50 rats. Kevin noted that when you notice your plant has a problem, you should look for the simplest problem first.