ON: Roberto, why did you start to cultivate orchids? Which was the magic moment of attraction?

RA: Every one is fascinated for rare thing, but I have a quite peculiar taste, I need a flower with "something", it can be in the color or in the shape. I wouldn't like to define my collections as being only Brazilian species or just Paphio or Cattleya. In my opinion, all of them have a peculiarity, sometimes, people look and don't see any interest in what I like. See Neolauchea pulchella alba (Isabelia pulchella), with so delicate flower, I find it one of the most beautiful things.
My first orchid was not even a Cattleya nor a Cymbidium, it was not something obvious, it was an Epidendrum. The most part of the people would pass the plant over, without realized that it was an orchid. When I saw it, I said "wow" and finished for taking a piece of it. For that very raison, I say that, in my collection, there is no obvious plants.

ON: Are you talking about Teresópolis? Do you mean that you cultivate Cattleya granulosa in the mountain?

RA: No, in general, they are cultivated in Guapimirim because this species needs warmer temperatures. I keep two or three super-granulosas there, in warm greenhouse. So I keep the cultivation of those plants up and, every blooming, they are used for new crosses. The other selected Cattleya granulosa which I use for the shows stay in Guapi where it makes heat and they grow specially well. So, I prefer keep them in a place where the climatic conditions are adequate for this species.

ON: Which are those conditions in Guapi?

RA: The advantage of Guapi is the heat almost all year round. There, the Cattleyas, besides another species of warmer climate, react well, grow and bloom very well. The greenhouse are at the base of the mountain where there is a good ventilation which helps a lot in the cultivation of orchids. I take advantage of the two different climatic conditions thus gaining time in the cultivation. As soon as the plants leave the laboratory, in Teresópolis, I bring them to Gaupi. In this way, the seedlings grow quickly due to the heat. Even during the winter, it is rare the temperature to fall below of 14º C. The fall of nocturnal temperature, in the winter, is above of 10º and in the summer, it arrives close, it falls from 30 and few degrees to twenty and few degrees. This fall is beneficial for the plant. Of course we have a problem when the temperature, during the day, climbs to around 40, 42 degreesº and the nocturnal one stays around 25, 26º. Those high temperatures damage a little the development of the orchids, so we use the fans and spray water to refresh the greenhouses.

ON: Do you Phalaenopsis in Guapi?

RA: They were cultivated in Guapimirim. We put them in another area which is, at about, 150m higher than Guapi where the climate is a little mild. The plants react very well due to a series of factors. The greenhouses are in the middle of the mountain and are well ventilated for the breeze that goes down the mountain or through fans. The temperature is not so high as in Guapi and the fall is a little more accentuate, what it is very important for the budding of Phalaenopsis. I prefer that the inflorescence delays a little to strain itself, thus the flowers finish for lasting for more time. Peaks of temperature can harm the budding and to prevent loss of flowers we keep the fans functioning even during the night. Looking at the inflorescence, we can know exactly when it made much heat, therefore the buttons turn yellow and wither. In this place, I have other species that like heat which react well to a a bigger fall of temperature.

ON: Teresópolis is more cold, do you cultivate Sophronitis hybrids and species such as Laelia purpurata, Cattleya loddigesii and Cattleya intermedia? Do you think that Laelia purpurata need cool condition?

RA: I wouldn't say a cool climate, it is temperate what is good for those plants. You should remember that Laelia purpurata is found in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where is hot during the summer and sufficiently cold in the winter.
I have been very satisfied with the bloom of this species and find that, in the last season, Laelia purpurata had the best one, each inflorescence had 4-6 flowers. It is clearly that the quality of the purpuratas improved, but we succeeded in creating a greenhouse which climate is perfect for culture of it and of another species such as C. loddigesii, in this case, we got a sea of flowers. We must have at about hundred plants of C. loddigesii in the collection and it is difficult them, I like to see this sea of pink flowers, in July. This is the obsession of the collector and when I love a species, it is a great pleasure to see many plants blooming well. In the case of the L. purpurata I let the plant forming a big specimen therefore the bloom is much better. We already had plants with 60 flowers, it makes a beautiful spectacle.

ON: What else do you cultivate there? Masdevallia, Cymbidium, Paphiopedilum?

RA: Teresópolis has the advantage of having a milder summer. The winter is too cold for the Paphios with mottled leaves which are cultivated in a warmer greenhouse. Those plants grow extremely well and give an excellent bloom. In the summer show, we had a great number of them blooming in a season where, in general, there are few flowers. With small adjustments, we can got better results. It is much easier to heat a greenhouse then to try to reduce the temperature. In the winter, in some nights, the temperature falls into 3, 4, 5ºC, and this Paphios could not be cultivated without heating. The other plants of temperate climate are not affected by a temperature bellow 10º since it doesn't last for a long time but the permanence intervenes with the metabolism of the plant.
We tried to cultivated Andean species of Masdevallia but they suffer in the summer because the temperature it too high, for too long. During the summer, they suffer a lot and recover very well during the winter but it is that inconvenient game. You only have a pretty plant during some months.
I have been using Brassia and Ada. I am curious about the results with Ada aurantiaca. The firsts seedlings of Brassada should bloom in the next six months, all things are a new line for me, they are experiences. I have been working in producing hybrids more tolerant to the heat, for example, Odontocidium, Wilsonara, crossing Brazilian species and using Oncidium sphacelatum which gives those enormous spikes but still goes on with many flowers.
I was very satisfied with the bloom of first seedlings, mainly with one where I used a plant from Eric Young Foundation, Wilsonara Bonne Nuit. It is a hybrid of Oncidium sphacelatum that I crossed with Oncidium Jorge Verboonen, an hybrid of Brazilian species (Oncidium crispum x Oncidium marshallianum).
The result was excellent, it doesn't have that enormous spike with a mount of small flowers, the spike is shorter and ramifies. The seedlings, blooming for the first time, had spikes with 30, 40 flowers opened at the same time, a great result. We look for something better than the parents. In this case, the plants are easy to cultivate and strong enough to endure being transported. It is terrible when a plant, which was wonderful when left the greenhouse, arrives ugly or with its flower ed at the show.

ON: Plastic or clay pot?

RA: : I opted for plastic pot, it is a scale question since, in Guapi, we have, more or less, 250 thousands Cattleyas between adults and seedlings of different size. The plastic pot has many advantages, it is easier to sterilize for a new utilization is lightweight to carry, keeps more humid for longer time and our nurseries are covered. With clay pot, may be, we have to water every day during the summer, with the plastic one, we can water every two or three days, this represents an economy of water, time and energy. Moreover, as we export an amount of plants, the plastic vase allows to remove them clean and without damaging the roots.

ON: So, during the summer, the rule is to water every three day in Teresópolis?

RA: I don't like a routine pre established. This year is a good example, this summer has been having so mild temperature that we should to reduce the frequency of watering. In general, we water two or three times a week, but it is raining a lot and there is too much humidity in the air, we just water once a week. In general, the rule is water once a week during the winter and goes on increasing until two or three times a week during the summer. Of course, there are the exceptions such I have just mentioned and the plastic pot allows the reduction of water. When we start to cultivate orchids, we learnt that too much watering provokes the a more quick decomposition of the substrate and, as a result, the rotting of the roots. If you are in doubt, leave the watering for tomorrow.

ON: With the prohibition of using the tree fern fibre, how are you solving this problem of substrate?

RA: We are concerned about this, we are doing experiences using coconut fiber, with pebbles and bark, until now, it is doing well.

ON: However, coconut fiber deteriorates too quick, doesn't it?

RA: Yes, so you should be careful with your supplier, to know the origin and be sure about the treatment it receives for having the salts removing. One of the problem is that during the process of drying up, the fibers go through giants cylinders to get out the water and, if the fiber is too much pressed, it suffers a rupture and finishes for deteriorating too much quickly. It must be spongy. For the present, the plants are reacting well, the roots grow quickly however, it is just too years of experience. It is not time enough to know what will be the result a long-term. We should to be adapted the proportions, for seedling, I use a little quantity of fibre because it retains a little more the water and smaller pieces of bark. There are many graduations of the bark, for adult plants, bigger pieces. In the case of Paphio, I used more small pebbles and bark than fiber. With Cymbidium, for example, there are much more pebbles, with the rupicolous, there is very little fiber, the substrate is almost done by pebbles and bark. So for each kind of orchid, there is a mix slightly different which I go on adapting. In general, our substrate is composed by 1/3 of pebbles, 1/3 of coconut fiber and 1/3 of bark. Meanwhile, we don't have many choices, that is what we have. We are very luck to live in a country where there are so many habitats and so close, this allow us try to adapt the best way possible the cultivation of our plants. When you see a rupicolous plant growing in its habitats, you realize that those plants need to be cultivated in small clay pots with a substrate which dries out the most quickly possible.

ON: Do you have a cultivation tip to share with us?

RA: Cultivation tips, anybody has! I would say that that we should pay attention to the needs of each plant. Many times, a plant doesn't grow well in a corner of the green house but does better if put in another one with little different conditions. It is amazed that small infestations are not aware. I see it in our greenhouses, some small focus of infestation appear suddenly and, if not see in time, they damn the plants. I can have thousand health plants in the greenhouse, invariably, I will find out the only one which has a small focus. I think it is important to able to see those small problems. Some times, I stay surprised seeing someone passing near to a plant and don't realized that there was something wrong. I don't like to see damaged.
I think that there is no secret, there is so much literature, so many information disposable at the INTERNET. When someone has a secret is to force the bloom, some hormone, some artifice, I am strong against all this.

ON: One said that orchidophilia a soft manifestation of madness. Have you done any "orchidophilic" insanity?

RA: I still go on doing. Sometimes, I can't say how much I paid for a plant. It can be because it is rare, a passion for this flower to beautiful or, sometimes, we see the great potential as a matrix. Of course, when we are with another professional, we both have the notion of the plant value. I don't think it is a crazy thing, it is passion, it is the compulsion of the collector. Nowadays, I control a little better my self for not buying something and in the next second, be sorry for having buying it. Nowadays, I stop before doing a madness and analyze for knowing if it is worth or not.

ON: Is there an amusing story connected to orchids you can tell us?

RA: For sure, it is one of the most stupid thing I did. In my first excursion to Serra dos Órgãos (mountainous region), I climb a tree to photograph a wonderful clump of Sophronitis. When I looked down, I realized that I was in a branch (not too much strong) and there was a drop of, at least, 300m. I was awfully frightened, I stayed paralyzed, I couldn't move afraid of falling down. All people in the group knew about that but they didn't say any thing, they burst out laughing. It was a pretty foolish thing that, at least, was worth while for a good photo.