Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCorchidman
It is in a pot and sitting in the garden?
How do you treat this lady in the English winter??
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It's in a pot in the garden yes. I brought it in to get photos with the black background. I've got a photo of it in place at home so I'll post that later. My garden soil is not at all suitable for these and I find it easier to control their environment in pots.
In the winter I just cover the top of the pot and move it to a sheltered spot beside my greenhouse (it's fairly sheltered in it's summer spot anyway). It stays out whatever the temps, we average about 7C/44F here but it gets down to about -7C/19F at times. And most winters might be below freezing for a couple of weeks at a time. I've seen them as frozen blocks of gravel, though not this year which was mild, almost too mild for them.
I tend to lift the cover to water if the medium feels to dry in the winter. Probably less than once a month. The seller I get them from showed me to press my hand on the medium and if some comes up stuck to my hand then it's damp enough, if it mostly falls off then it needs a bit of water.
The medium I repotted them in in November is fine perlite, fine pumice and just a small amount of bark. I've had them with more bark in the past, and found it too much and stayed damp too long. The seller I get them from found the same thing so I've followed his recommendation for the mix.
Cyp Kentuky Maxi flowers 2014 (even better than last year)
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