Florida growing outdoor (help needed)

[LittleBigOwl]

Hello to everybody! Let me tell you very quickly my story.

I moved in The USA, FL not so long ago and decided that climate here is perfect for growing orchids outdoor during the whole year. Well, i still think so, but i have some issues with some orchids.

First of all i am trying to grow all of them in inorganic medium, more specifically - Growstone (maybe my experience will be helpful for somebody). I am not growing in SH, but using it just instead of bark, clay pots, everything is outdoor. So far i have following results:

1. Lc. mini song petite - LOVES IT. She grew new roots even from old bulbs and growing four new growths now from everywhere.
2. Vanda type noID - loves it! Started new roots, two new leaves.
3. Maxillaria Tenuifolia - had to add some sphagnum for keeping more moisture around roots. New bulbs are growing nice and plump, a lot of new roots coming out! Had no roots when i got it 2 months ago.
4. Catasetum fredclerkeara after dark - was sitting in pure sphagnum, then was transfered to Growstone+sphagnum, now just in pure Growstone. Kinda like it, sphagnum was keeping too much water during rains.
5. Phaius and Oncidiums are sitting in mixture of soil, CocoPeat and Growstone. Both have new growth and a lot of new roots, so it looks like they are happy.
6. Phalenopsis noID - mixture of sphagnum and growstone. pure growstone dries the way too fast.

But here comes my issues.
1. Oncidium twinkle. Well, i got him not long ago, has two new growths, new roots are coming out, but all previous roots dried out. I got him in bark medium, repotet in Growstone+sphagnum and...he dried out! Bulbs look OK, not shriveling, but new growths stoped and it looks like my oncidium is still thinking whether to continue growing or to die.
2. Beallara Marfirtch Howard`s dream. I got her right after bloom with huge plump bulbs, great roots and sitting in wet sphagnum. She was repotted in Growstone+sphagnum and here comes the same as with Oncidium - she lost all her roots. Now her bulbs are wrinkly, but two new growths have just started to grow, so i am still full of hopes.

Also all of my orchids (except Bllra) receive direct sun from 11 a.m. till 1.30 p.m. No sunburns, no red bulbs - everything goes great so far.

So maybe i can get some help from people leaving in my climate zone (9b-10a) and growing orchids outdoor.
1. What type of medium are you using and how do you keep your orchids during rain season? Especially i am curious about Oncidiums and it`s intergenerics.
2. Does anybody grow Paphilopediums and Phragmipediums in Florida outdoor and if yes - how?) What type of medium are you using, what about sun and heat and so on.

Thanks in advance and sorry for such a long post!

[berthabloom]

I love Florida but learning to garden and grow things here is different from most other places in the US and can be challenging. Here are some general tips from my experiences.

Right now you can get away with full sun, but by the end of April you will find the sun is extremely hot-especially between 10am and 2pm. By mid-summer even the sun at 5 pm can burn you and your plants. You will absolutely have to provide some sort of shade, even if it is just under a tree. I use shade cloth and do not hang my orchids in trees because the squirrels wreak havoc on them. I am not familiar with the type of stone you mentioned, but the stone will also likely heat up in the sun and dry out much faster than it does right now.

Once the summer rain pattern starts (which used to be predictable, but is no longer), you will probably not need to water your orchids much at all. You will need to monitor for signs of overwatering and adjust your media as needed. The stone option might be an advantage. You will also need to monitor for signs of fungus and rot as temperatures seldom go below 75 during the nights of June/July/August/Sept and humidity goes way up at night. A fan can be helpful to keep the air moving.

Spring time is the dry season, which is what we are experiencing right now. Dry days and cooler nights. What we wait for all year!

Then hurricane season runs from Jun 1 to Nov 30, so you will also want to be sure to formulate a hurricane plan for yourself, your outdoor orchids and your pets!

You might want to check out Martin Motes books on growing orchids in Florida and the St Augustine Orchid Society has a really good website full of info.
St. Augustine Orchid Society - North Florida Orchid Growing
Welcome to Florida!

[epiphyte78]

Here are a couple sources of information that might be of interest...

Tampa Florida outdoor growing

Nature Abhors A Vacuum

[LittleBigOwl]

Oh thanks a lot!
I can say that Growstone is more like...hmmm...perlite i would say, but made of bigger pieces. Very airy and doesn`t hold that much water. Very light, that is why i place some white river pebbles at the top. So far i didn`t see any signs of overheating, but summer is close.
What type of medium do you normally use for orchids? And keeping in mind all of cons from growing outside (humidity, fungus, bugs and so on) does it worth it or indoor growing at the end of the day will be better?
P.S. Squirrels are the hell on the Earth!!!

---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 PM ----------

Originally Posted by epiphyte78

Here are a couple sources of information that might be of interest...

Thank you very much! I didn`t check Forum by location at the thread head((

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Oncidiums need LOTS of water. That includes Twinkle and Howard. You shouldn't let them dry out. Once the roots are dead, the plant will make new roots only from new growths.

Most of your orchids won't take full Florida sun during hot weather. Tampa can sometimes get too cold in winter for some kinds of orchids. In other words, when it's cold some of them might die.

Phalaenopsis are shade plants that don't normally grow where they get any direct sun. Read about your different kinds of orchids. You won't be able to keep all of them together in the same light conditions through the year.

Get yourself on the E-mail list of Motes Orchids, in Homestead, FL. They send out a monthly newsletter covering what to do orchidwise in Florida.

[LittleBigOwl]

Originally Posted by estación seca

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

Oncidiums need LOTS of water. That includes Twinkle and Howard. You shouldn't let them dry out. Once the roots are dead, the plant will make new roots only from new growths.

Most of your orchids won't take full Florida sun during hot weather. Tampa can sometimes get too cold in winter for some kinds of orchids. In other words, when it's cold some of them might die.

Phalaenopsis are shade plants that don't normally grow where they get any direct sun. Read about your different kinds of orchids. You won't be able to keep all of them together in the same light conditions through the year.

Get yourself on the E-mail list of Motes Orchids, in Homestead, FL. They send out a monthly newsletter covering what to do orchidwise in Florida.

Thanks! Yes, i forgot to say that phalaenopsis stays in shade all the time, and as far as i know warm weather itself is not a problem for them. I also know about Oncidiums and water, but what happened with both of mine really confused me. Can you tell me something about Oncidium and high temperature? Cause right now i feel like Howard doesn`t really like the weather, but maybe it is just stressed after being in a seller`s green house.

[estación seca]

Many Oncidium hybrids don't like hot weather. Many are bred for growing in houses, where people keep it cooler than outside. In Florida they should grow and bloom well in bright shade. Sun would probably burn the leaves. Mine flower indoors in bright Arizona shade, with no sun on the leaves.

[berthabloom]

LBO- you asked about media...I have been using a mix of bark, charcoal and sponge rock for years. Some varieties also get some of those clay balls mixed in too. I think the bark breaks down faster here in FL than it would anywhere else due to all the summer rain. So it forces repotting a bit more often I think. Sphagnum moss doesn't work for me at all. I am a firm believer that orchids in the wild are seldom found in what we would consider ideal conditions such as a greenhouse provides and that they are much tougher than we like to believe. I don't have the patience to deal with an indoor set-up and I don't grow them for shows or awards. I can live with non-perfect looking plants as long as I get a bloom occasionally. Outdoors seems like it should be closest to a wild scenario, as long as I don't choose something native to a dry, cold loving climate.

[LittleBigOwl]

Originally Posted by berthabloom

LBO- you asked about media...I have been using a mix of bark, charcoal and sponge rock for years. Some varieties also get some of those clay balls mixed in too. I think the bark breaks down faster here in FL than it would anywhere else due to all the summer rain. So it forces repotting a bit more often I think. Sphagnum moss doesn't work for me at all. I am a firm believer that orchids in the wild are seldom found in what we would consider ideal conditions such as a greenhouse provides and that they are much tougher than we like to believe. I don't have the patience to deal with an indoor set-up and I don't grow them for shows or awards. I can live with non-perfect looking plants as long as I get a bloom occasionally. Outdoors seems like it should be closest to a wild scenario, as long as I don't choose something native to a dry, cold loving climate.

Oh, yes i was asking about media lol. Sorry, english is my second language
Sphagnum doesn`t work for me either, though i know that some people love it and have huge success growing orchids in it (guess i just not that type of person). I also asked about media because i have some ideas that here during rain season LECA might be great choice, but i didn`t see people growing orchids in LECA outdoor. Another thing that i noticed - pretty much people grow Cattleyas here in Tampa outdoor, they are in bloom right now and seems to be really happy even after this winter frost. But Cattleyas are the only type i saw so far

[estación seca]

LECA is relatively new to orchid growers. I think more and more people will be using it in the future. In my local society nobody had heard about it until I brought a plant growing in it to a meeting.