Jack McKinlay

The final Disa grower we visited in New Zealand had to have some of the most impressive Disas we saw in NZ. His name is Jack McKinlay and since his only interest is Disas, he never got side-tracked like some of us by trying to accommodate a variety of different growing conditions for a bunch of different orchids. His plants were the biggest I have ever seen. One picture that I took at his place shows a leaf from one of his plants completely dwarfing a 12 inch ruler and you will find that picture further down this page. Of course, Jack, in his usual modest way, attributes a great deal of his success to his original stock bred by Issy Klein of Melbourne, Australia. I was disappointed that it was so late in the season as he had very few plants left in bloom. His market is the cut flower trade as well as the sale of some pot plants, and most are sold over the Christmas holidays. He did have some flowers saved that he was breeding on from, and there was quite a variety. One of the better ones was a nice yellow Riette. He has succeeded in producing a nice yellow with a standard sized flower. He hasn't done a lot of breeding yet but I was really impressed with what he has done. He is actively pursuing a nice big yellow which will be used as both a cut flower and as a pot plant and has succeeded remarkably well. His culture method was similar to others that I had seen in NZ in that he was using only the reconstituted Sphagnum moss as a medium and was also only bottom watering. As with the other NZ growers, after the pellets are reconstituted, he fluffs the moss up by mixing with a paint mixer. He pots very loosely in 12cm square pots that are 14 cm deep. It's interesting to note that he only uses terracotta colored pots which he feels keeps the temperature down. He attempts to have all his plants repotted by June ( If you live in the northern hemisphere, think December) as he feels that he gets more vigor in the following years crop that way. I think the key to the whole culture problem is the bottom watering, as it prevents any compression of the surface layer and subsequent liverwort or moss buildup at the surface, which interferes with the air to the roots. Another thing that was noticeable about his growing setup was the absolutely ideal location. His growing area is situated on a high ridge where there is constant air movement, and where you can see the ocean to the west and is also very close to the eastern ocean. He waters mostly with rainwater except for some trucked in water when there is insufficient rain and grows his plants in very bright light. He fertilizes once a month at 200 ppm TDS for 10 months a year, choosing to skip the two coldest months. To fertilize, he floods his trays and lets sit for a while, then drains the fertilizer mix and resumes watering with rain water. He normally floods and then drains but during the winter, he floods continuously as he feels that it more closely approaches nature that way. There are no trees around to cut down on light and he only uses minimal shadecloth covering on the roof during the summer. The temperature range is ideal. It never gets down to freezing in the winter and, while the sun gets really hot in the summer, the cooling breeze from the ocean probably limits the maximum temperature at the plants to about the low 80's in Fahrenheit degrees. I was unaware until I visited New Zealand that the local Maori name for NZ is "the land of the long white cloud". This frequent cloud covering also helps to cool the plants during the day. I don't think I have ever seen a location that is more ideally situated for growing Disas.

This above photo shows the outside of Jack's main Disa structure. The roof is fiberglass and is normally covered with shade cloth except for the two hottest Summer months. If I remember correctly, the structure is about 24' by 60' and is unusual in that it has wooden floors
This photo shows the inside of the Disa structure. The bench on the right has just been cleaned and Jack is getting ready to put it back in operation as he starts the annual repotting. One trick that he showed me is the way he cleans a flow tray. He simply removes the old plastic lining and replaces it with new. Neat!
Not the best picture of Jack, but what you should be observing here is the lush growth and practically non-existent spots on the leaves. This picture was taken during the third week of January and his blooms have been removed for about a month.
This is a typical pot of Disas grown by Jack's method. The spike has been removed and sold as a cut flower but the thing you should note is the blue 1 foot ruler in the pot. Have you ever seen bigger plants?	A better picture of Jack. The pot in front of him has a tag describing the care required for growing Disas. He sells a good number of plants as pot plants and thus the label.
This is another shot of the size of Jack's plants. The foot long ruler is more noticeable here. Note also the appearance of the Sphagnum moss. This is the SuperSphag product after a year of use. All the plants visible( top of picture also) and a couple of others (the bloomed out stems) were crowded in a single pot. They started out from a single plant the previous year.
	This photo and the one to the left show Auratkew 'Karori'. While the flower isn't great, it shows what Jack is doing to try and produce whites. It has good size and flower count!
This is an interesting cross of Bernard Podlashuk. While the cross was originally done by the Cywes, there are a number of plants in NZ that originally came from Gary Sobey and they all have this unusual spotting on the lateral sepals.	A Kirstenbosch Pride
	This photo and the one to the left are Diores 'Pamela'. Jack is breeding for the light color with these plants
Jack has recently started to do some of his own lab work and this shows his setup.
The photos below and to the right above show different grexes of Memoria Alex Lurie. This is one of the main plants that Jack uses in his cut flower trade. They have nice color and a good sturdy stem.
This photo shows the shade structures that Jack started with.
This shot of the inside of the old shade structure shows some of the problems with them. Jack first started with 3 trays. (one on the top also) He discovered that 3 trays didn't work and the bottom trays were hard to work with. The piece of shade cloth on the end of the trays prevents too much side light for the first few rows of plants.
Back to some of Jack's breeding for yellows. Above is a Riette. Fantastic size and color. I have to admit I got some pollen from this one!	Another Riette. Good stem, 9(?) flowers, nice color, what more could you ask for? one of Jack's typical pot plants.
([{Tridior x uniflora} x Watsonii] x Riette(?))	Jack needs to do some RHS registrations. This is ([{Watsonii x Sunset} x Foam] x Diores) Write that 3 times fast!
This is supposedly Sunbird x a yellow albino. I assume the yellow albino refers to a xanthic uniflora but I don't find the name "Sunbird" in the RHS registry.	A nicely colored Watbett.
This is another grex of Watbett that I was taken by. Very nice color!
Jack has clearly demonstrated his love of "yellows". This is yet another grex of Watbett. The Disa on the right is another grex of Riette.