Recent and current orchid blooms this winter, spring
getgoing100_7b_nj
11 months ago
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getgoing100_7b_nj
11 months agolast modified: 11 months agoRelated Discussions
Winter Care for Orchids
Comments (11)I'm in NE Georgia. Our average first frost comes about Oct 15th, so I'm just beginning to arrange the shelving, groom the plants, and think about what groupings will optimize winter care both for them and for me. All the phals and paphs have been moved to the indoor plant light so I can see what's left that needs GH space. I only have an 8 x 10 and I willingly violate every rule I can think of about not overcrowding. Therefore, this year the mostly catts and oncidium alliances have been systemic bug and systemic fungus treated before the move. Scale loves closed in spaces. I have to leave room for the fans. They are critical to orchid health. All the advice to avoid drafts has definitely not been my experience. The more air movement the better - as long as it doesn't come with names like Katrina, or Opal or Ivan. I downsized by about 50 plants. With 150 on the plant lite, about 380 are waiting for GH space. But back to the topic .... with the heat this summer, I was watering daily or every other day. Usually in the winter I water weekly. I'm going to try to move that to every 10 days in the GH. That means doing half the GH about every 5 days so I can keep the humidity up for the other half. I have no foggers or misters. The paphs and phals inside the house have different needs. The paphs demand fertilizer and twice-a-week watering when inside. It's almost like they think the flourescents are brighter than their outdoor shady spot. I tell them that can't be, but their leaves start to yellow until I feed them something... so I go with what works. Three are in bloom and about 5 have low buds. My heat lovers went into the GH first. The Vanda, all seedlings, angraecum, dracula, pleurothallis. Please let me know if any of these need the cold. I have too many to keep up with that very well. I was told my Cirr Elizabeth wasn't blooming for me because she needed to chill. This year she will. I'm keeping out the neo, hybrid minis with s (sophronitis) in their initials, and the paph armeniacum because I've read they need the cooler temps. Every winter the cymbidiums get farmed out to an old school turned office building that has an unheated hallway with windows. The cymbidiums bloom like crazy. I water them lightly weekly and take the bows. The buds always blasted in my 50's-at-night crowded GH. Maybe I'll add to this later as I continue to think thru the process. Sherlene...See MoreSome winter orchid blooms
Comments (10)Happy New Year! Thanks for the kind words everyone. I check in from time to time but post infrequently. I garden using tropicals almost exclusively so I don't have much to add about edibles or butterfly plants. I do read the posts though & have learned tons from ya'all! WRF, Very kind of you. I never photograph the rough spots of the yard though LOL. I will try and post more pics come spring when everything isn't yellowed out and sulking. Attached are a few more from last week. Ima, Beautiful orchids! I am partial to the orange as well. I have one but it has not bloomed for me yet. If I had the space, I would have an orchid house....See MoreRecent Signs of Spring
Comments (14)Scott, Our temperatures are right back to 'normal' for this time of year, but after so many days in the 60s and 70s, and plenty of nights in the 50s and some in the 60s as well, the genie is already out of the bottle down here. I love seeing the signs of spring, but would rather see them at a more typical time. It is too early for much of what we are seeing down here. Whenever we have signs of an early warm-up, it seems like it always sleets or snows around Easter. Just because it warms up early doesn't mean it stays warm. Sharon, Daffodil, tulip and iris foliage are up here around where we live, and hyacinth, iris and allium foliage is up on our property. I just saw some crocuses up and about to bloom in town on Monday. I have Laura Bush seedlings popping up everywhere, and some of the chamomile plants are forming flowers. I'm sure happy to see the flowers, but still feel like it is too early. From now on we can use your massive Laura Bush plant as an example of how adaptable and tough these petunias are! I just love them. Susan, It sounds like a lot is going on at your place. Our catnip has stayed green and growing all winter this year, but at the present time it is just tiny rosettes down close to the ground because the cats have stomped on it, rolled on it, crushed it, etc. and I just pruned off all the flattened stems. The cats love it so much that it is a wonder they don't kill it with all that love. I forgot about the creeping speedwell. It is blooming in the front yard. I forgot to mention that the crinums are putting up new growth, and I'm seeing hints of green in the remaining brown foliage of the cannas. I can't help wondering if it all will be buried under snow in a month or more? Twice last week, I had what looked like Purple Martin scouts sitting on top of the Martin houses, but by the time I got outside to see if that's what they were, they'd flown away. It would be awfully early here for them, but I know they were seen in Fort Worth last week, so it isn't out of the realm of possibility. One good thing I can say about this year is that so far our rainfall has been great at our house. I think Love County has had about 4 inches of rain so far, but at our house we've had almost 6" in the last few weeks, and we have water standing everywhere. I hope y'all soon are blessed with more rain up there, and I wouldn't mind if we go a couple of weeks without rain here, just so the garden can dry out enough for planting. Dawn...See MoreBatch of recent blooms
Comments (17)towandaaz: Yes, Léda is not very "weather resistant". It has rained here since I took that picture so my bush is a bit of a mess too now. Many canes have just flopped to the ground. I am "lilac_time" on HMF. I have a few older photos there but I'm not very active and haven't uploaded anything this year......See Moregetgoing100_7b_nj
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