Gazebo for orchids >?

[TRANCEBOY]

Being new to this and having a mother who is addicted to orchids I find myself with alot of orchids who needed help.

My mother being addicted bought and continues to buy orchids but does not understand that they have to be taken care off inorder to rebloom.

With orchids all over and 2 months into this I am considering buying a gazebo and using the frame. I plan to add a 65percent shade cloth and basically cover part of the sides to protect from burning the leafs


My question is if anyone has done this.

with 4 sides i plan to shade part of it and leave the other less covered for the vandas and catellayas.

basically i want to categorize to make the care a little easier to manage.

Am i over my head >? any suggestions

[AnonYMouse]

Sounds like you are building a shade house.

I'm a mostly indoor grower, so I'm not versed in this area of growing environment. Others will be by with more help.

[sailortom2]

it all depends on where you live

[TRANCEBOY]

I am in sunny south florida... They are under trees right now and some are in my patio but the screen is half way up and the roof is all covered so the light is not every bright even with the rest being screened.

[james mickelso]

My greenhouse/shade house consists of 4-4x4's as corner studs and the rest is screwed together 2x4's and visqueen for sides. I nailed corrogated plastic panels for the top. I sprayed white paint over the top to dampen the light so it is bright but not so bright as to burn the plants. I also painted the sides. I have shelving made out of 1x3's with hardware cloth on the tops so there is as much light as possible on the lower shelves. Very simpleYou can do it with a drill and hammer. If you want you can use wire shelving from the hardware store. I had nearly 400 orchids of all sizes in it. Here are a couple of pictures. It is 10 ft by 10 ft and 94 inches high.

[nlm2951]

I think 65% is to much go 50 also you can to this site Catalog Clearance and get the shaDE cloth is already finished,I'm in so. fla.(miami) and when I did my shade house I also have to put a plastic on the roof because of the rain,you have to pull the shade, go to my GH from miami, and you can see mine. norma

[TRANCEBOY]

Norma you mention plastic on the roof . Is having rain water a bad thing ?? i know in miami it rains alot but i thought they like this. All i have was a gazebo frame so i am not sure i can do that. I was simply doing the roof with a shade cloth and doing all 4 sides with shade half way. one side mosqito net covered . the other 3 sides open to allow the breeze

[Paul Mc]

While it is true that orchids would love rain water, we grow them in pots which limits their ability to dry out. If they get rained on, there is no way for us to control how wet or dry the medium is which can lead to root loss, mold as mildew, bacteria, etc... Also, some orchids such as Phals are highly susceptible to rotting when water sits in their crown or in their leaves for very long. That's why I believe it was recommended to cover your shade house. I used greenhouse siding as the roof for mine.

[Rowangreen]

Trance, hope you are not feeling you HAVE to keep these orchids. Fine if you love them and enjoy them, but... firstly most store bought orchids are clones. That means if one dies it's not the only one: there's probably thousands of others out there that are, in effect, the same orchid.

Secondly have you got a local orchid club? At mine they have a raffle every month, and are quite happy to take cast offs as prizes! There may be people on here who'd like some of them too.

(This is to myself too... I'm working up to making the decision to chuck a scale infested plant I have. I keep wanting to try a little bit more... but really, I don't have the time or space to keep it isolated etc when it's not a 'one of a kind')

[TRANCEBOY]

The shade house is more for the catts and the vandas.. I dont buy to many philenopsis since they are not my style but i do have a few .. Now im very concerned my idea because i dont have the money or experience to build a house. I was using a gree gazebo frame and hade cloth. I think the frame would break if it was to hold panels .. : ( Guess back to square 1 : (