Orchids for the crotches of my trees?

[Ordphien]

So here's the deal...
I want some orchids... for crotches of my trees.
Temps.. down to 30 in winter.. but specific microclimate prevents any damage to tropical plants.
Up to 95 (Fahrenheit) in summer.
Winter humidity hovers at around 40% and summer between 60% and 80%.
Wet rainy winter's. No frosts ever.
The crotches of the trees naturally hold decomposing leaf litter. One is a pine.
The other two are deciduous.

Another important thing is that it had to be able to handle my hard water.
I'm willing to flush it periodically with RODI water but daily watering will be handled by hose.


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[Brooke]

Check into the cold growing Dens. Kingianum and loddigessii usually do well in SoCal outside with lots of sun.

Brooke

[tucker85]

Check with your local orchid society. Here in South Florida there are a lot of C. skinneri and C. trianae mounted on trees. I seem to remember L. anceps growing outdoors in your area. Onc. sphacelatum grows like a weed down here on trees. I don't think pine trees are good for orchids though.

[Ordphien]

Originally Posted by brooke

Check into the cold growing Dens. Kingianum and loddigessii usually do well in SoCal outside with lots of sun.

Brooke

Don't they need a dry winter rest though? It's pretty rainy here in winter.

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[Ordphien]

Originally Posted by tucker85

Check with your local orchid society. Here in South Florida there are a lot of C. skinneri and C. trianae mounted on trees. I seem to remember L. anceps growing outdoors in your area. Onc. sphacelatum grows like a weed down here on trees. I don't think pine trees are good for orchids though.

I do remember seeing all three of those miniutes in various areas down here...
They oncidium seems cool. Ghee arching sprays of flowers would look amazing poking out from my trees.
Can they handle the accumulated leaf litter though?

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[isurus79]

I think Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Home Page) specializes in orchids that stay outside all year round and that are tolerant of California's conditions. You should check out their site.

[Ordphien]

Originally Posted by isurus79

I think Santa Barbara Orchid Estate (Santa Barbara Orchid Estate Home Page) specializes in orchids that stay outside all year round and that are tolerant of California's conditions. You should check out their site.

They do...
I've been trying to plan a weekend trip to their nursery so I can get their opinion on what would do best...
But secretly I also kinda wanna just go nuts attaching NOIDs and seeing what works.

But my trees have these wonderful crotches absolutely stuffed with oodles of leaf litter...
I know some orchids have to be adapted to living in that type of area.

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[Maryanne]

Try doing a web search for
Roberta's orchids in So. Cal. " orchid central"
She has an extensive list. Orchid board will not let me post a url :-(
Good Luck,
ML in MA

[james mickelso]

Most catts/laelias and oncidiums would do well along with epidendruns. Dens would be ok too. When it gets cold like it has here for about a month now (shivers a little) you can put a piece of cloth over the plant during the night to ward off any damage. Phals I think would suffer too much but the price at HD and TJ's would be a fun experiment. Most would need some shade during the day though. Even the catts. Sobralias would do very well. But they are rather large. Here is an epidendrun 'ciliare' on my palm tree. Obviously it doesn't get enough water. But it has grown here for about 4 years now. And flowered twice. Also to the right just at the edge of the epi's there is a catt. Tenebrosa I think. Or catt trianie. Been a long time. I forgot.

[Maryanne]

Folks:
I tried again to post Roberta's orchid central page, but this forum still does not let me do any such thing.
Anyway, I grow a number of orchids that thrive in the winter temps in my tiny attached greenhouse. The best is Laelia anceps and other Mexican Laelias. There are quite a few other species, like Neofinitia and Zygos, and hybrids too, but I'm always on the lookout for more suggestions for the toughest orchids - tolerating cold temps, and not the best of humidity factors.

Any suggestions welcome!
Happy growing~
Maryanne in frigid, sleeting, Western Mass.