I promised some orchids

[Jimr1961]

It will be in there with a Phal. manni, Phal. belosa, and Leptotes bicolor initially. I'm planning on the orchidarium staying at 50-70% RH. I am aware of the odor.....wife is not . Luckily, I have the option of several enclosures, so I can provide all sorts of conditions; worst come to worst, I can place it near a window, 50 degree temps are not hard to come by in Mn in the winter. Best thing about mounts....they can be moved.

If you have it on a stick or tree fern, then it could live dormant period outside the orchidarium as you say. Fortunately, there is a whole world of small orchids to explore.

[Jimr1961]

It drives me crazy how the supermarkets and big box stores market orchids. They make a nice display on the surface, but the consumer is set up to fail. Most orchids in their native habitat grow on trunks and branches of trees or rock faces where they are subjected to high humidity, frequent showers and drying breezes. Think of the conditions that you were subjected to in Viet Nam. The way that they are potted in decorative pots and packed in sphagmum moss without airflow nor drainage is just so wrong! Once you provide the proper environment those same orchids will provide years of enjoyment....The real surprise is it really is as simple as placing them in spot that receives protection from mid-day sun and watering a couple times a week with weak fertilizer solution. They will respond.

Exactly!
Orchids are not difficult to grow, they are just different, very different than a terrestrial house plant. They are cloned and force grown into first bloom, then decorated and shipped off for day one of their 3 year death spiral. They used to be very expensive plants, but the cloning and labor techniques have brought the price down to about $20 for a bloom that will last about a month. A throw away plant. Frustrating for those who buy one and want to grow it to bloom again with not clue how to do it.

When you get bitten and have some success with box store Phallys and Dends, you tend to look to the more specialized orchid vendors for very different plants than you find in the box store. Personally, I kept the warm growing plants to a minimum. I had a small house with little children, cats and little space for accessories. I installed a shelf above a 28 gallon fish tank that held a few and a kitchen window sill that had a few. The rest were all intermediate to cool growers. I had a 10' x 20' shade house in the back filled to the brim with benches full of plants.

Sphagnum is a decent medium, but it requires knowledge to use it successfully. It really needs to approach dryness, then be drenched to get wet again.

I used to grow from seed in flasks as well. Asymbiotic culture. Here's a shot of my homemade clean box with a home brew nutrient mixed with agar agar into baby food jars ready to receive. I'd hit the whole box with a 10% clorox spray solution, then cover the front with plexiglass with arm cutouts and celophane over the front. After sterilization, I'd cut slits in the celophane, spray the gloved hands with more clorox solution and enter the sterile box to do the work.

[rpcrowe]

It drives me crazy how the supermarkets and big box stores market orchids. They make a nice display on the surface, but the consumer is set up to fail. Most orchids in their native habitat grow on trunks and branches of trees or rock faces where they are subjected to high humidity, frequent showers and drying breezes. Think of the conditions that you were subjected to in Viet Nam. The way that they are potted in decorative pots and packed in sphagmum moss without airflow nor drainage is just so wrong! Once you provide the proper environment those same orchids will provide years of enjoyment....The real surprise is it really is as simple as placing them in spot that receives protection from mid-day sun and watering a couple times a week with weak fertilizer solution. They will respond.

A female friend of mine had a well protected area along the side of her house which never recieved direct sunlight, always indirect light. Her micro-climate (San Diego County has the most varied micro climates of any county in the USA) never got particularly cold, nor did it get very hot. It was quite moist with morning and evening fog rolling in from the Pacific Ocean. It appears that this was really a comfortable situation for her orchids because they bloomed in a spectacular manner.
She moved inland where the climate has greater extremes and is far drier. Her orchids no longer thrived the way they did in her first home...

[Jimr1961]

Yep, you and I both know what moving 30 miles inland will do to day and night temps. I live in Redondo Beach area.

[rtbaum]

Exactly!
Orchids are not difficult to grow, they are just different, very different than a terrestrial house plant. They are cloned and force grown into first bloom, then decorated and shipped off for day one of their 3 year death spiral. They used to be very expensive plants, but the cloning and labor techniques have brought the price down to about $20 for a bloom that will last about a month. A throw away plant. Frustrating for those who buy one and want to grow it to bloom again with not clue how to do it.

When you get bitten and have some success with box store Phallys and Dends, you tend to look to the more specialized orchid vendors for very different plants than you find in the box store. Personally, I kept the warm growing plants to a minimum. I had a small house with little children, cats and little space for accessories. I installed a shelf above a 28 gallon fish tank that held a few and a kitchen window sill that had a few. The rest were all intermediate to cool growers. I had a 10' x 20' shade house in the back filled to the brim with benches full of plants.

Sphagnum is a decent medium, but it requires knowledge to use it successfully. It really needs to approach dryness, then be drenched to get wet again.

I used to grow from seed in flasks as well. Asymbiotic culture. Here's a shot of my homemade clean box with a home brew nutrient mixed with agar agar into baby food jars ready to receive. I'd hit the whole box with a 10% clorox spray solution, then cover the front with plexiglass with arm cutouts and celophane over the front. After sterilization, I'd cut slits in the celophane, spray the gloved hands with more clorox solution and enter the sterile box to do the work.

You are feeding the madness!!!

[Jimr1961]

Intentionally

Scroll down this page for a couple of photos courtesy of Jim Rowley. Those were a few of mine and this is the culture I lectured on and sold supplies to for several years.

http://firstrays.com/semi-hydroponic...xample-photos/

[JohnRostron]

And the word Testament derives from the word "testes". It was a common practice among biblical era Jewish men to grab their testes (their own) to solemnize a deal or to verify what they had said was the truth. Just the way our culture shakes hands

I thought the idea was to prove their manhood. Only men were legally entitled to testify.

John

[rtbaum]

Intentionally

Scroll down this page for a couple of photos courtesy of Jim Rowley. Those were a few of mine and this is the culture I lectured on and sold supplies to for several years.

http://firstrays.com/semi-hydroponic...xample-photos/

Impressive!! Are perchance a member of Orchid Board? Good news Mist-King arrived

[Jimr1961]

Many years ago

[IzzieK]

Very interesting input from Jim here. I thoroughly enjoyed the exchange. I am learning a lot. Thanks Randy and Jim.

[Jimr1961]

I thought I'd lost all of my orchid shots, but I happen to have found a few on the external back-up from 2002 - 2004.

Hold onto your hat Randy, I'm about to go full Monte!

















I used to be able to give you all of the detail for every plant I had growing. I couldn't tell you what half of these are today.

[rtbaum]

I'm still at a point where I am just learning to grow orchids, I am sure that I will make some errors along the way. I am leaning toward minis primarily. I rather like the species over hybrids, thinking about Dendrobiums and Phaleonopsis primarily. Angraecoids and Haraella retrocalla are also on my short list

[Jimr1961]

There is a whole world of mini orchids. Sounds like you're learning well so far. Not many people know enough to even consider setting up an orchidarium.

This was my orchid enclosure before I moved the Cymbidiums to another place and added two more benches and replaced the tan cover with a white cover to allow more light.



and the addiction begins!!