Hello from Australia! - Page 2 - Orchid Board

AussieVanda · #11 03-16-2014, 08:39 AM

Greetings! There's a few of us aussies on here....

megrim · #12 03-18-2014, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisdclarke

It's nice to see other Australians here!

I too have found that a background in planted aquariums has been good grounding for my orchids, i'm also a chemical and biomolecular engineering student so that may have come in handy too.

The only thing that kills me is patience! Aquarium maintenance is non stop and there's always something to do each day, plus you can see the plant growth throughout the week. Orchids have been hard for me, it takes months to notice changes and I constantly want to fiddle with them, plus the wait between flowers is exhausting.

Fortunately I've gotten some practice with tissue culture and have got some small shadehouses/greenhouses spread between hydroponics, aquarium plants and orchids.

Haha, I hear you regarding patience. I fuss over my glasshouse daily. Having lots of mounted orchids helps me out, because I get to water them twice a day.

My corals were always slow growers, but at least there was always maintenance to be done. Water changes, glass cleaning, water testing. Orchids are positively glacial in comparison. Another thing I've carried over from reef tanks is circulation - though of air now rather than water lol. I have 9 separate fans running in my little 4-by-3 metre glasshouse.

chrisdclarke · #13 03-19-2014, 09:57 PM

I too fuss over mine daily, daily misting outside and a good um and ah at the ones inside. I make more work for myself than I need too.
Inside, phals, a neo, a few dens and a few Oncidium Alliance: (Excuse the aquarium plants)

The only plant currently in full bloom, a colmanara

And outside (with the lid up)