Advice on tweaking the environment

[MySerenity]

I'm relatively new to the Orchid Board but I've had orchids for years. I've pretty much just went with hoping that they do go in the environment that I have and I get a solid third of my orchids to bloom every year.

I've recently decided that I'd like to work on getting the other ones to bloom more often (or at all) and I've gotten some very good culture information from the site.

So my question is: How do you change the environment for them? I mean, I have about 40 orchids and they don't all want the same conditions.

My current set up: South West corner of an exposed basement. Tables lining the window walls and then tables in the room as well. I have one makeshift "mini greenhouse" for the little ones that like humidity with humidity trays inside and 2 orchids sitting on humidity trays. I've tried humidifiers but it resulted in condensation and an unhappy husband. lol. I do not have any artificial lights up right now. I know my setup is not ideal but it's what I've got. I can also put some upstairs in rooms with east and south exposure.

I want to try and give the stubborn ones a better shot at blooming while keeping the ones that do well in about the same situation but I just don't know where to start. It's very overwhelming when you read the culture sheets.

Any suggestions of what factor to try to manipulate first? What's easiest to change? I've read books etc but I'm intimidated by trying to be a better orchid grower!

[tucker85]

In my humble opinion, the best way to get more of your orchids to bloom is to increase the light they receive. That means light intensity and photo period (number of hours of good light during the day).

[MySerenity]

So, put up some artificial lights on timers? I could definitely do that. I wasn't sure how much that would help, but I've been considering it lately. How long should I have the lights on to be a good amount of time for most of the plants?

[AnonYMouse]

Perhaps you can read the threads in the board section Growing Under Lights - Orchid Board - Most Complete Orchid Forum on the web !. Lighting can get complicated when dealing with multiple genera, even within a single genus.

Know that you aren't the first to deal with lighting issues and see how others have dealt with it.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

What kinds of orchids are being stubborn?

It isn't always a lighting issue. I am personally, for the most part, pretty hesitant about giving advice about orchids to which I don't even know the genus name to. I feel it is important to at least mention the genera of orchids in question.

If the orchids you're asking for advice on are species orchids, it might be to your benefit to mention each one by species name as well.

Different genera and/or species of orchids can have differing triggering mechanisms for blooming. There are even some orchids that don't naturally bloom every year. Some will only bloom at a certain size. Others will bloom due to a temperature drop. An extreme example would be that some orchids will only bloom after a wildfire in nature, because there are certain chemicals that provide the cues for the orchids to bloom (these orchids are usually very rare in cultivation and are not easy to grow).

I've had stubborn orchids before, and from my personal experience the solution can be numerous depending on the situation and the orchids in question.

[MySerenity]

I just went through last night and added all of my orchids to my profile. Does that mean that you can see them now?

The ones I can't get to bloom are all of my oncidiums, coelegyne mayeriana and my dendrobium papillio. My phals are great, even the species. I couldn't stop the bulbophyllum from spiking if I tried. The Iwangara blooms regularly. I would really like to get the onc sphacelatum to bloom. I have never gotten the coelegyne to bloom.

When I look at my list I guess I'm actually having better luck than I first thought, but I have a lot of splits of my oncidiums so it makes it look like a lot of them aren't blooming.

Would better lighting help these kinds? Should the fact that the other ones are doing well tell me anything about my setup?

Thanks for the help!

[james mickelso]

Oncidiums especially the Sphacelatums are very difficult to flower without a lot of light. Mine went outside during the spring/summer months and then did fine. They also like copious watering as long as the media is on the course side as oncidiums don't like their feet to stay wet for very long. And they love nitrogen during their growth phase but once they are almost grown they like lots of potassium/phosphorus and less nitrogen. Then they will have to go outside becuase they will take over your house with blooms. two per pbulb.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Some Oncs need good light, but they also tend to flower poorly if they are not watered adequately. As I'm sure you know already, accordion leaves are usually a sign the plant is not receiving an adequate amount of moisture, whether it is directly not receiving enough water or if it is indirectly due to extensive root damage.

As for lighting your Oncs properly, (this may be repeated info to you, so just bear with me here), look at how dark or light the green is on their leaves. If the leaves are too dark, then it needs more light. Another thing to look for is anthocyanin pigmentation (this is something not every grower thinks about for some reason). If the plant has some anthocyanin pigmentation, the lighting is adequate. Some Oncs you can use the "green assessment", other Oncs will be better served using the "anthocyanin pigment assessment", yet others may require both types of assessments.

I don't grow many Coelogyne and relatives, but if it is having problems blooming, try providing it with a bit more light, a slightly stronger concentration of fertilizer, or maybe even keeping the plant a bit warmer.

Never grown Den papilio, but since it comes from higher elevations (up to 2,200 m), try a drastic temperature drop (it looks like it could quite possibly tolerate temperatures down to 70 F - 75 F during the winter days, and 36 F - 45 F during winter nights to be honest with you, judging from the elevation it comes from) and drastically reduce water in the winters.

[Vanda lover]

coelogyne like lots of light to bloom. Increased light does help with increased blooming. So does a drop in temperature at night.

[MySerenity]

Ok so it sounds like I need to work on boosting the light. The Oncs I have in the basement are darker green, which I thought was a good thing lol but the one in the south facing window upstairs is lighter green, which I thought was a bad thing!

I will work on getting some artificial lights up and water more. I'm not sure if I can do the drastic temperature drops. hmmm. Well, I will start with the light and water.

Thank you to everyone for all of your knowledge so far!