winter rest when does it start?

[Kevin_PR]

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Bud
when would you recommend to start winter rest here in Florida? I have many dendrobiums that must get winter rest, also witchcraft, and some other orchids in winter rest need. There is no frost though here, so I was planing to stop fertilizing for most of my dendros sometimes in september, limit water in fall and than stop watering sometimes in the end of november /or when all leaves falls???

Use the hurricane season as a guide. Think of it like our monsoon season. If FL is like PR we get dialy rain July- August then sept - Nov we get some heavy storms. Dec-March we can go almost a month with no rain, and then april -June is when we start to green up.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Pretty much the same here, you are right! Thanks!

[Island Girl]

Originally Posted by Bud

*in the daytime it can be in the 80's or 90's but it needs to go down to cooler temps at night....that is what I mean by letting them taste cooler temps....the plants must experience a drop of temperature at night then carry on in the day

Originally Posted by kindrag23

Okay well I know I wont be able to get it that warm, but I am setting up a orchid room with a humidifier and hanging shower curtains, they will get bright light, those that need it, because my nana's back room basically consists of a 12 by 18 ft sliding door/all glass partial tent windows. So hopefully I will be able to get it warmer than it would have been without. The house as a whole is well insulated and my hibiscus do well back there every year when I moved them up each year.

In regards to Bud's comment on the temp drop... Kindrag, if you can't get the temps up to 80°-90°F in the day, that's ok! With Phals (and maybe some other genera, that don't require a rest... I dunno?) it just needs to be a 10°-15° difference btwn day and night temps... So, if your growing area peaks at say, 72°F (daytime), then you'll wanna drop it (at night) to 60°F (or 55°F, but I would not go too much lower than that, w/ Phals). The temp drops should be maintained for around 2-3 weeks. It may take less time for some, and a little more for others, but 3 wks should certainly do it, but a month wouldn't hurt either...

My conditions prob drop down like that for a month or so... But, it just depends on the outside temps... I have a sunroom, that has tons of windows, and has a "window" A/C-Heating unit, so this room is separate from the central heating/air in the rest of my house, which allows me to get that drop in temps for my 'chids, w/o me freezing to death in the 55°-60°F temps! I try to keep my grow room at 75°-80°F thru the winter (warming up more and more as spring approaches), and drop to 57°-65°F at night (generally speaking, as it's rather hard to perfectly control temps! Lol)... ***But, I mostly grow Phals, although there are some others... So you might have to do a little differently than I do, b/c of all your different genera...

It's all about finding a happy medium, when u have a lot of different genera, and creating/finding microclimates in your grow-space... Which sometimes means that one year, you may not get blooms, but you just change it up a little, and hopefully get blooms the next yr!

... I actually use a space-heater instead of the "window" unit (that's inserted into/thru the wall, not a window), to heat my sunroom, so the more hot-growing orchids sit closer to that, while the more intermediate-temp growers are farther away from the heater, and sit closer to the windows, where it's a lot cooler.... Microclimates

Also, if you have some orchids that need a drop in temps that another one would freeze to death from, you can use a heating mat under the pot. That will raise the temp around the warm-growing orchid, and not raise the temps of the whole grow-room, messing with the temp drop requirements of others.... That kinda falls into the category of being one of those "microclimate" conditions

...I, too can't wait to see all the blooms you will get in the spring!

[kindrag23]

Heres hoping! With the propane heater it should stay warm but not to warm! So I pray for spikes!

[james mickelso]

Winter rest is a misnomer. It is a broad definition for many different requirements and conditions. Some catts need a rest after flowering. Cyms need a rest before flowering. Some orchids just don't grow in winter because they lose their leaves. Some don't grow because of the sun angle. Most don't grow in cooler weather. Most flower during their respective dry seasons and require less water. In Tejas the rest season is when it becomes too cool to grow. In Canada the rest would come when the light levels are too low. When the orchids rest whatever the reason, give little to no food and little water. When it is cool/cold their is little growth and the water will just sit in the roots and cause molds/fungus. Rotting the roots. The leaves don't transpire the moisture very well if at all and the plant deteriorates. If it is cool/cold, the plant isn't making any new vegetative growth and doesn't need food. In Florida, it is sun angle more than anything that determines what needs the plant will have. In Tejas the temperature will determine what the plant will need. In Chicago the light level is so low that supplemental light will be the most critical thing. In Minneaplois you can grow year round if you provide adequate light and heat. But even there, once the plant finishes blooming, it will need a rest until new growth starts. That is important just about everywhere. Of course here at the beach I have a couple catts that are flowering right now AND producing new growth. They get confused. So for any orchid, when it finishes flowering.....rest. If it stops growing.....rest. If they lose leaves....rest.

[RosieC]

Someone once told me (she was Florida based) that winter rest should be Halloween to Valentines.

I use that as a very rough guide... but am never sure which plants to give a winter rest to anyway We do have an old thread http://www.orchidboard.com/community...nter-rest.html which might help there.

I've more recently been told that for some of my Dendrobiums I should be stopping fertiliser in August and then reducing water right down nearer Halloween. I'm only trying that for the first time this year so yet to see the results

[Island Girl]

I've also heard Halloween to Valentines day. That's what I go by more or less (I never can remember when Valentines day is... Halloween, yes)

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by RosieC

Someone once told me (she was Florida based) that winter rest should be Halloween to Valentines.

I use that as a very rough guide... but am never sure which plants to give a winter rest to anyway We do have an old thread http://www.orchidboard.com/community...nter-rest.html which might help there.

I've more recently been told that for some of my Dendrobiums I should be stopping fertiliser in August and then reducing water right down nearer Halloween. I'm only trying that for the first time this year so yet to see the results

Rosie, my seller of dendro mobiles from Florida specifically told me MUST STOP FERTILIZE end of August, than limited water during the fall and than winter rest (in Florida can be pushed later, I will do probably between 15 December till new growth and flowering around valentine's. If my dendros looses all the leaves prior to December, than winter rest starts for them at that time. Will still watch them and mist lightly if canes look too dry. This is my very first year of winter rest as well and I bought way too many dendros this summer so I have what to watch for!:-)

[Leafmite]

With species Cattleyas, I like to check the Chadwick and Son website for their recommendations. I really find the information there quite useful.

[kindrag23]

All I can say is it will be really hard not to water my plants. We still have to lightly water around here to prevent the roots from dry rotting in the cold. Who knew...