This meeting started with cultural guidance given by a panel of Paul and the two Bill’s. We had a selection of problems about controlling pests, watering and managed to “save” a cymbidium by finding what is hopefully a flower bud! The last part of the meeting was a discussion resulting from a review of the BOC meeting held at the Autumn congress at Writhlington about widening our membership. There were several ideas including becoming more accessible through digital paths to appeal to younger people.

Tony Weavers’ wonderful Cattleya hybrid, Lotus Poynings achieved the most votes. He acquired it from Bill Gardiner a couple of years ago. He keeps it in a greenhouse heated to a minimum of 10 degrees centigrade. It is fertilized with “Rainmix” three waterings out of four. The fourth is plain water used as a flush.