Seeking advice from experienced growers re: orchids suited to my environment

[gnathaniel]

I second Ray's recommendation of Bulbophyllums, I grow a lot of Bulbo species in my windowsills and many of them are very forgiving. I also grow a number of nobile-type Dendrobiums and smaller Cattleyas and relatives.

Certainly pay a visit to Carter and Holmes; it's a lot of fun for a plant-lover and well worth an hour's drive just to see the place. They have a large selection of species and hybrids (many of which they've bred themselves) and will definitely be able to steer you to some easy but rewarding selections.

--Nat

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Brenda Aarts

OMG....Elena, you kill me....Carter and Holmes.....yes I've heard of them, they are incredible. My recommendation would be to sell sell your house and purchase one that has south/west windows.....or build a greenhouse and buy all the cats you can from them and grow them well!!! JK...but you could look into some cooler/intermediate growing ones....I grow a fair number of cats....but with either a good source of natural sunlight or supplemented.

LOL Brenda, when I read this I had that sudden feeling experienced when as a young girl my mother whispered that my bra strap was showing. . .. So I'm guessing you give them a high approval rating. It's good to hear since one never really knows about these things until someone else confirms or one takes the plunge!

As for Masdies, I can have similar conditions as you and I killed 2 very quickly....before deciding to give up on them. You really never know till you try, but I would recommend you experiment with them 1 at a time. I also have not had much luck with Miltoniopsis, Miltonia types.

I would recommend that you check into some coelogynes...I grow quite a few and some are cooler/intermediare growing.

Anyways, that's my worth good luck and let us know how you're making out with stuff.

It's a great $0.02 and I appreciate your insight! Thanks so much!

---------- Post added at 11:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:49 PM ----------

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Yup, Masdevallias are beautiful orchids! Many people love them for their unique shapes and forms and their often bright colors.

They certainly are eye-catching! I look forward to trying one.

The pic of the Masdevallia you uploaded is that of Masd vietchiana. It is just one of a few variants. There is also a solid red-orange one, and a solid orange one. There might even be a light orange variant of Masd vietchiana as well, not too sure...

Restrepia brachypus is a nice one to have too. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to get a hold of. They are not terribly difficult to grow, and blooms quite easily.

Another easy to grow Restrepia sp. is Restrepia muscifera. Restrepia muscifera blooms almost non-stop. Flowers are smaller than Restrepia brachypus and held much closer to the leaf.

Restrepia spp. have the added advantage of also being relatively small sized orchids as well.

I'm guessing the Restrepias like baskets? I'd like to try a basket. . ..I'm going to have to give some thought to what I want to try first! So many wonderful opportunities. . ..

As Brenda Arts mentioned, cool to intermediate Coelogyne spp. are good choices too. Many have decent sized flowers and multitudes of them per spike.

Jrodpad has a good suggestion with the cool to intermediate growing Paphiopedilum spp. and Phragmipedium spp. as well. If you like these, many of the Chinese Paphs are well suited to cooler temperatures. Some examples are Paph armeniacum, Paph micranthum, Paph malipoense. Most Phrags grow cooler. One affordable Phrag is Phrag besseae.

Another choice would be Cypripedium spp. You may choose from native US Cyps, European Cyps, Japanese Cyps, or Chinese Cyps. A couple of species of US Cyps you might be interested in would be Cypripedium reginae or Cyp kentuckiense. Chinese Cyp recommendations would be either Cyp franchetii, Cyp macranthum, Cyp plectrochilum, or Cyp henryi. A European Cyp would be Cyp calceolus. A Japanese Cyp would be Cyp japonicum.

Another Oncidium relative that does well in cool temperatures are Odontoglossum spp. Many of these are also high elevation Onc types that have decent sized flowers.

Do the Odontoglossums require low nighttime temperatures? I read a brief summary on them and for some reason thought they wouldn't like it here.

On that note, are orchids in general more sensitive to temperature than to length and strength of sunlight for their cycles?

If you are good at growing spring bulbs like daffodils and such, you might be interested in an easy to find, and very affordable terrestrial orchid that originated from China called Bletilla striata. I've sometimes found these in the garden section of places like The Home Depot or OSH. I've also found these for sale in local nurseries and large chain garden centers such as Armstrong.

Pleione spp. might be another choice for you as well.

I'll keep an eye out for those as well.

As you can see, you're not limited in terms of what you can grow, you just have to know what kinds of orchids grow cool to intermediate.

I can't thank you enough, King!

---------- Post added at 11:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:55 PM ----------

Originally Posted by GardenTheater

"Hubby would have kittens if I dropped the temp to 50° in the winter to make the orchids happy. He's flexible but not that flexible, KWIM?"

Just think how much you and he would save on heating bills..

LOL Not even my penny-pinching husband would go that far in search of a lower light bill. I might try it on him anyway.

Seriously, we have our furnace on a timer and thermostat so that it's cool at night and warm and toasty when we get up in the morning. The orchids do like that, but not the cats.

The nighttime temps in the house are generally 5° cooler than the daytime. I might get away with 10° cooler but any lower and he'll be up at midnight cranking it up. Would a 10° drop in winter be sufficiently different for seasonal orchids to adapt? Or do they require the specified temps regardless?

---------- Post added 01-03-2012 at 12:06 AM ---------- Previous post was 01-02-2012 at 11:59 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Ray

The plural of "genus" is "genera".

<insert facepalm here> Thank you! I can't believe I forgot that.

Your USDA growing zone has very little to do with what you can grow, as your plants will probably be indoors, and all the zone tells you is what the typical outdoor low temperature will be.

True, but I also use the zone as an estimate of how much sun a plant can tolerate in my area. Plants listed as full sun to partial shade almost always require deep shade from the summer midday sun. Apparently the sun is quite a bit stronger down here than wherever those light recommendations are made. I killed a lot of plants before realizing that those criteria are NOT made in low-latitude area.

So when an orchid listing says it can take full morning sun on a windowsill, does that mean even full morning sun in my area?

Phals are hot growers, that are somewhat tolerant of cooler temperatures; miltoniopsis are cool growers that can (in some hybrids) be tolerant of slightly warmer temperatures. That is not "similar conditions".

LOL, see, that's what I get for reading the Beginner's Guide to Orchids! My ignorance is showing again. . ..

Plants that like it very warm and with subdued light include stuff like many bulbophyllums, and there are SO many interesting species and hybrids of those - and they tend to be fairly fast-growers - you might give them a consideration.

I don't think I've seen bulbophyllums--Bing Image Search here I come!

Thanks so much, Ray!

---------- Post added at 12:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 AM ----------

Originally Posted by gnathaniel

I second Ray's recommendation of Bulbophyllums, I grow a lot of Bulbo species in my windowsills and many of them are very forgiving. I also grow a number of nobile-type Dendrobiums and smaller Cattleyas and relatives.

Okay, here goes another "read in the Beginner's guide" questions. Do you need to give Dendrobiums summer temps in the high 80s to develop the canes? Or will the canes develop in cooler temps, eg mid-70s?

Certainly pay a visit to Carter and Holmes; it's a lot of fun for a plant-lover and well worth an hour's drive just to see the place. They have a large selection of species and hybrids (many of which they've bred themselves) and will definitely be able to steer you to some easy but rewarding selections.

--Nat

Oh I can't wait to get up there! I looked up their ad in the local phone book and they even rent orchids to places like office buildings, for weddings and that sort of thing. I figure if they have varieties that survive the abuse and neglect of an office environment surely they have something that will thrive with me!

Thanks, Nat!

[Ray]

Concerning USDA Zones...

Originally Posted by ElenaMarie

True, but I also use the zone as an estimate of how much sun a plant can tolerate in my area. Plants listed as full sun to partial shade almost always require deep shade from the summer midday sun. Apparently the sun is quite a bit stronger down here than wherever those light recommendations are made. I killed a lot of plants before realizing that those criteria are NOT made in low-latitude area.

You are correct that the sun is a LOT stronger as you move south (I used to live in Georgetown SC, and everyone who visited got sun burn despite our warnings), but the USDA zone is absolutely NOT a good tool for estimating that.

Solar intensity is a function of geographic latitude and altitude, while the hardiness zone is also effected by other factors like proximity to bodies of water, sheltering by hills, mountains, and forests, and the like.

Even though I am at roughly the same latitude as Cheyenne WY, due to altitude, they have a greater light intensity than do I, but I am several full USDA zones warmer than they.

Even going west across SC you'll find at least three sub-zones, but all have pretty similar sunlight levels.

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by Ray

Concerning USDA Zones...
You are correct that the sun is a LOT stronger as you move south (I used to live in Georgetown SC, and everyone who visited got sun burn despite our warnings), but the USDA zone is absolutely NOT a good tool for estimating that.

Solar intensity is a function of geographic latitude and altitude, while the hardiness zone is also effected by other factors like proximity to bodies of water, sheltering by hills, mountains, and forests, and the like.

Even though I am at roughly the same latitude as Cheyenne WY, due to altitude, they have a greater light intensity than do I, but I am several full USDA zones warmer than they.

Even going west across SC you'll find at least three sub-zones, but all have pretty similar sunlight levels.

Absolutely true about altitude! It's just a way for me to try to predict how plants will do here versus where these light requirements are made.

Does the difference in sunlight strength factor into indoor orchids? Are the light requirements--eg "grow on a windowsill" directions--affected based on relative strength? If so I may have more indoor light than I think I have.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

1.) Bulbophyllum spp. are interesting plants. Many of them are fairly hardy growers. Most Bulbos also tend to be sprawling ramblers. Each pseudobulb grows between a rhizome. Depending on the species, the rhizome between 2 pseudobulbs can be quite far apart (some species of Bulbo can have rhizomes that are on the order of 1" to 1 1/2" long).

Very few Bulbos have very short rhizomes that make them appear as if they grow in a clumping manner.

Because of this rambling habit, and because some Bulbos don't have very many roots per pseudobulb, some people have trouble growing certain Bulbos in traditional pots. Many grow them in wide, shallow pans/saucers with holes underneath, or wide, shallow pots. Many still, grow Bulbos mounted on a piece of cork bark, because of this issue.

I am one of those who mount my Bulbophyllums on cork bark and have for the most part had much success with growing them this way.

Another option is to grow Bulbos in a wood slat basket or one of those black plastic net pots.

Many Bulbophyllum spp. require at least a 10 degree F temperature drop between night and day in order for them to bloom at all.

There are a few Bulbophyllum spp. that grow cool to intermediate, particularly those that come from Taiwan, Japan, and the mid to highlands of Malaysia.

I do caution you to not try any Papua New Guinea species for the moment, though. The ones from Papua New Guinea tend to be warm growing, are temperamental about low humidity, and are generally not as hardy as many other Bulbos.

I tend to think that most Cirrhopetalum spp. grow intermediate, and these were once considered to be part of the genus Bulbophyllum. You could see if these are to your liking as well.

Another note about Bulbos and Ciirhos that many beginners are not necessarily aware of...

While very few of these species are pleasantly fragrant. And there are a few that don't produce any fragrance at all...

There are a good number of them that smell like dead fish or carrion if you press your nose very close to the flowers.

Fewer still smell like dog poop, dead fish, or carrion from a distance.

So, if you don't mind that some of these guys smell rancid from up close or from a distance, or even find that fascinating, then these guys are about one of the most unusual orchids you can get.

2.) Many Restrepia spp. don't need to be grown in a basket. Most Restrepia spp. are not sprawling ramblers. A large majority of them grow in neat clumps.

Most Restrepia can be grown in small sized pots of 1 1/2" to 2" for many, many years (depending on the size of the plant, of course).

Some Restrepia spp. also have flowers that produce a faint aroma of raw potatoes, btw.

3.) As far as I know, Odontoglossum spp. don't require huge drops in temperature in order to do well. You could try getting a relatively inexpensive, and small sized species to try it out and see.

---------- Post added at 08:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:14 AM ----------

Regarding orchid sensitivities...

Different orchids are sensitive to different environmental factors.

Many orchids are far more likely to be super sensitive to inappropriate temperatures and inappropriate levels of humidity, than anything else. And by sensitive I mean, show obvious signs of physical and physiological distress that can quickly lead to death.

When an orchid doesn't receive enough light, it will generally give you ample time to make the adjustment.

[Leafmite]

I grow inside during the winter, then turn everyone outside for the warmer weather. I did think of two I have that would work well. Your temps and low light would be perfect for an aerangis citrata and Paph Lynnleigh Koopowitz. King mentioned a vanda coerulescens and if these also do well in lower light and constant temps, I'd highly recommend it also. It is small and very easy.
Good luck! Have fun at Carter and Holmes!
Leafmite

[ElenaMarie]

So much great information. Thanks, everyone! You guys are just wonderful!

Leafmite, I didn't think I could do vandas, I'm going to have to look that one up. Thank you for the recommendation!