SoCal orchid growing outside - questions

[christoph0315]

Hello,
We are relocating beginning of next year to Orange County, Ca.
I currently have most of my plants boarded at Chadwicks in Richmond. Before, I had a growth tent in my office, had my Neofinetias in terrariums and my carnivores outside in the summer.
The growth tent is 4*3 ft and 7ft tall. I had my Cattleyas on the bottom and my Phals and Paphs in the cooler vented upper area. All went fantastic but its not pretty.

We are moving in a residential area in Laguna Niguel and I have a patio behind the house. I still plan on putting the growth tent up in the office but I was wondering what the best strategy is for the plants, preferably outside. Preferably all year?

For my carnivores, I would love to have one of those tables, like commercial growers have that a lot. Any advise where I can buy one? I would need a 8*4 ft and countertable height and sturdy, I have two toddlers in the house and they can be rough.

For my orchids, I'm not sure what to do. I could use the tables as well for the summer and move them in the growth tent in the winter. Or a little greenhouse, something sleek that is not taking up too much space. We only rent so I wont be able to have a heavy construction greenhouse but going forward we (hopefully) buy one day and by that time I'm sure I gained enough experience for my "forever" solution.

I don't really have a budget, I'd like to buy things only once and would gravitate towards the forever solution, however, since we may only live here for 2 years its not worth to invest crazy and throw away afterwards.

Anybody here that can help me with this? Anybody living in equal conditions? any experiences or ideas very much appreciated! Great Sunday all! Best, Christoph

[Roberta]

You are moving to outdoor orchid growing heaven! Take a look at the Growing Areas section of my website. I'd be happy to go into more detail - website also identifies what grows outside for me (not far from where you are moving) - it is A LOT of orchids! A tour of my back yard... My back yard... A walk on the wild side.pdf - Google Drive

[Shadeflower]

Nice back garden tour Roberta.
You have quite a different taste to me but I liked everything in your Catt section.
I felt The Cymbidium flowers were a bit under represented and what about dendrobiums?
I know they are not as popular or photogenic but you hate me generalizing about them so I would have expected some dendrobiums to represent but don't mind my nit picking. I wish I had the space. You have an automatic sprinkler system too. That must make things much easier.

But still I could not keep up repotting that many. Respect.

[Roberta]

Sprinklers definitely make things easier, especially with the size of my collection. When I put this together, I focused on the things that were blooming at the moment (Mid November). Most of my Dens, especially the showy ones, are in bloom more in the spring. When the Den speciosum group is in bloom, they are spectacular (Den glomeratum is very showy in bloom right now, blooms several times a year, but wasn't blooming when I took the pix. You will be able to see those on the Species blog next month.) Likewise, the Cyms and L. anceps were just getting started. If I had done the "tour" a month later, there would have been more. The Cyms actually won't hit their peak for another month or two - now is the time for staking for the later winter show. An advantage of having a lot of plants, with different blooming seasons, is that I always have something in bloom. I could do the same "tour" in a month, or in 3 months or 6 months or... and the show would be quite different. And still wonderful. And the anticipation is part of the thrill, I get just as happy over buds or roots as for flowers, knowing that the flowers of the next season will be along presently. And there is always room for one more orchid...It's not an event, it's a journey.

[christoph0315]

Thanks Roberta,
there are a lot of good ideas that I would need to make it work.
My plan was to start with this
EZ-Grow 3-Level Plant & Display Bench - Growers Supply

maybe 2 of those and either have some natural shade or create some with garment.

All my catts are sitting in moss and claypot, bc thats the way to go here on the eastcoast if you grow inside. I see you have yours in hanging baskets, probably getting multiple times water a week. I water mine every 10 days -ish but I do have Dends and Asco Vandas that need to be watered daily anyway so I may have to think about a watering system as well. Since I 'only' have 150 plants in total its probably an easier thing.. I'll keep you guys updated.

[Roberta]

After a lot of years growing in different configurations. I have concluded that for my conditions, Catts are just happier in baskets - they grow best after roots escape whatever tries to contain them. I think of them as 3-dimensional mounts. They do need more water, but they seem to thrive on it. I grow pretty much all of my Catts outside - only exception those with lots of C dowiana in them (Also lueddemanniana but there are fewer of those hybrds), which do like to be warmer.

[christoph0315]

Originally Posted by Roberta

After a lot of years growing in different configurations. I have concluded that for my conditions, Catts are just happier in baskets - they grow best after roots escape whatever tries to contain them. I think of them as 3-dimensional mounts. They do need more water, but they seem to thrive on it. I grow pretty much all of my Catts outside - only exception those with lots of C dowiana in them (Also lueddemanniana but there are fewer of those hybrds), which do like to be warmer.

are you keeping your catts outside all year? I've been to 40 degrees in San Diego before, therefore I'm a little bit shocked.. from what I see your set up doesn't provide much head shelter, doesn't it?

I gave up on dowiana so far, the prettiest but also nerve wrecking.. same with the Den tobeanse...

[Roberta]

Outside all year. Nights occasionally can get down frost or very close Only protection is polycarbonate over part of the area, mostly small protection for the species. The hybrids either do or they don't, mostly they do. Fl digbyana and glauca, C percivalliana, schilleriana, labiata, bicolor, leopoldii, aurantiaca, boweingiana.. all do fine. L (c) purpurata I don't even bother with the overhead protection. C. intermedia is bulletproof. Take a look at my "Index of Plants" ... you'll see that most Catts are in the "outside" category.

One factor, if it rains (cold and wet is not a good combination) the cloud cover keeps the temps up. If clear and cold, don't water.

[estación seca]

Laguna Niguel is mostly hilly, so there is very rarely any frost. My brother and sister live there with their families. My mother lives just a few miles from there in Mission Viejo, also very hilly. I think they've had frost once in the last 30 years.

It hasn't happened for a long time, but southern California winters can be quite wet.

Many people in Orange County grow carnivorous plants outside year round. There isn't enough winter cold for the ones that require cold dormancy. Cephalotus grows easily there outside because the climate is similar to its home.

[Roberta]

For carnivorous plants, Drosera capenis grows weedily.. I have some that I have been growing from seeds from a gift, and they are growing like crazy. European and Australian terrestrials also grow very well (Watch the Southern California Orchid Species link in my signature in the next couple of months.) That's also a good source for seeing what grows outside... most of what is shown there does exactly that, mostly coastal. The greenhouse babies are identified, those who contribute (yours truly included) mostly grow outside. Of the people who contribute regularly, I think I'm the only one who even HAS a greenhouse, it is tiny and the exception to the rule.

I recommend Aluminet shade cloth. I use mostly 60% because my yard is very bright all day in summer. If you have shade trees, 50% may do the job better. Available online (shadeclothstore.com) My structures are mostly built of 3/4 inch conduit (Home Depot), Tinkertoy fittings from a local swap meet. "Benches" are cheap Home Depot shelving, arranged on cinder blocks of vaious sizes. So super-simple, also easy to take with you when you move.

Christoph, one more thing... you new location is a bit over half an hour from Andy's Orchids, maybe 45 minutes from Sunset Valley Orchids. So your bank account is in grave danger.