How/where do you grow, and which fertilizer and medium do you use?

[Kuzuri]

I'm just curious as to what everyone else does and uses.

I grow in my windowsill, and when it gets warmer, I've also been promised a spot in a greenhouse, so I'll be growing there too.

As a fertilizer, I'm currently using an NPK (4-2-6,6), but I've just ordered some Orchid Focus ("grow" and "bloom") and will switch to that once it arrives.

I use bark as a medium - although I have some white moss that I'm also considering using, but can't bring myself to do it as it's easier to overwater with moss. Either way, one of my chids arrived planted in moss, so I'm having a trial by fire with one plant - hope it doesn't die on me. :P

[RosieC]

I grow on every windowledge in the house and in a 6'x6' greenhouse and in the garden.

I use Akerne's Rain Mix year round (which is equivalent to the MSU fertilizer available in the USA), I don't think specific bloom fertilizers make any difference if you are fertilizing at a lower concentration as the modern advise is now anyway.

And what do I use as medium... well it depends on the orchid.
Phals = Leca (not S/H just Leca as a standard medium) or Bark.
Paphs = Leca or Bark
Dens = Leca, or Bark, or CHC or Moss
Oncidium Types = S/H or CHC
Phrags = S/H
Masdies = Moss
Restrepia = Moss
Cyps = Pumice/Perlite mix
Cyms = Bark or CHC

I've probably forgotten something, as you see what I grow in depends on the needs of the plant. Oh and I forgot I have mounted a Paph, a Leptotes unicolour, a Gastrochillus, a Miltionia, a couple of Maxallaria a Catt.


When I started out I hated moss as well, I still don't like it for Phals, but plenty of others do better in it and the longer I've grown orchids the more diverse my growing methods have become

[cbuchman]

I usually use a bark mixture (Orchiata bark, charcoal, tree fern, perlite, etc.). I change the proportions of the ingredients based on the orchid. I also have a lot of mounted orchids which I find do quite well with the shorter dry/wet cycles. I try to stay away from Sphagnum moss as I find that it holds too much moisture and it breaks down pretty fast in our water.

I just recently "potted" a few orchids in tree fern pots to see how they do. I also started to use net pots for more. Usually I stick with clay pots.

I have a sun room where the orchids get natural light in the winter, but it can get a bit chilly out there. For my Phals I use seedling mats to help keep them a little warmer, but mostly I try to buy orchids that are temperature tolerant. I summer them outdoors on a patio, and when heavy rain is forecast, I put a tent up over them so they don't drown.

I fertilizer with MSU, use KLN about every month when the orchids are in active growth, and just last summer I added an extra dose of MagiCal every 2 weeks during active growth.

I have about 130 orchids.

[silken]

I have a mixed group of about 140 orchids. They include many Calttleya hybrids and species, Oncidium hybrids, Paphs, a few Phrags, some Nobile Dendrobiums and several warm growing Dens. Also several large Cymbidiums, 1 Vanda, a couple Zygos, 2 Bulbos, etc. etc. As you can see they require a variety of temps and growing mediums.

I have an attached greenhouse that is heated in winter to a maximum of 65F in the day and 55F at night. It would cost too much to keep it any warmer in our climate. In the summer it can get as warm as near 100F and low humidity so I do struggle with that. In spring we put a 50 or 60% (not sure which) shade cloth on the roof until fall. We get lots of sun and it is nice and bright in summer. In winter snow covers the roof and I supplement with T5's for light.

I try to make or find microclimates to suit the needs of the different plants. The warmer growing ones go near where the heating ductwork is or on seedling mats in winter. Nobile Den's go near the patio door where they are well chilled. The Cyms; sit out all summer and fall and are then brought in to bloom in there. In summer plants like my Milts get set low near the floor near an evaporative cooler to help keep them from over heating.

I use a variety of potting media based on what works for the plant. My Catts are planted in straight medium bark. Oncids and Phals go in a mix of bark and moss to help retain moisture longer. Some use fine bark, others use medium depending on roots size.

I'm not extremely successful with everything but they are the ones I want to try and it is a learning curve. I am always learning some lesson or another. I also prefer clear pots with good aeration. I find since I started using clear pots and some seaweed that roots grow extremely well compared to before.

[Kuzuri]

I guess I'm lucky - I buy from a nursery that only grows and sells orchids, and they really know what they're doing, so the plants I have arrived in the medium that's best suited for them (and the guy who owns the nursery also uses clear pots). Most of them are in bark, but there's one (can't remember which) in a bark/moss mixture and then, one Den Cretaceum x Anosmum in white moss.

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Kuzuri

I guess I'm lucky - I buy from a nursery that only grows and sells orchids, and they really know what they're doing, so the plants I have arrived in the medium that's best suited for them (and the guy who owns the nursery also uses clear pots).

What you are missing is the fact that there is no "medium that's best suited for them", it's medium that's best suited for them"under their conditions". If yours are identical, great, but I doubt it. That is not to say that you can't make the necessary adjustments to your cultural parameters to make it work, just that it's not automatic.


Ray Barkalow (via Tapatalk)

[tucker85]

I grow mostly cattleyas. I have a few vandas, a few phals and four paphs.. I grow in hot, humid, sub-tropical South Florida. All my orchids are grown outdoors on a screen patio with a screen roof. Most my cattleyas are in wood baskets with a few large chunks of cork or tree fern. Some other cattleyas are mounted although the catts in wood baskets could be considered to be mounted also. My phals and paphs are in plastic pots with a mix of Hydroton, Orchiata and charcoal. My fertilizer is Southern Ag 16-3-16 6 Ca 3 Mg, which is a MSU pure water formula. I use a Kelp or seaweed product twice a month and I also use a calcium/magnesium supplement twice a month. I do occasionally experiment with other fertilizers and supplements. I'm always interested in kind of thing.

[Kuzuri]

Originally Posted by Ray

What you are missing is the fact that there is no "medium that's best suited for them", it's medium that's best suited for them"under their conditions". If yours are identical, great, but I doubt it. That is not to say that you can't make the necessary adjustments to your cultural parameters to make it work, just that it's not automatic.


Ray Barkalow (via Tapatalk)

You're probably right - I think the guy who owns the nursery grows in a greenhouse, where I grow in my windowsill (basically - I have a few Phals in the other end of the room, but they still get their light from the window). I suppose there's a huge difference between his conditions and mine. But so far, their roots are nice and their leaves are green, so I guess I'm not abusing them too much, haha.

[Orchid Whisperer]

I grow outdoors on a bench with shadecloth over the bench from about April 1 to mid October (weather permitting). The rest of the year, I grow indoors on a plant stand equipped with T8 fluorescent lights.

There is no one specific medium I use. I have a lot of plants in various mixes of fir bark, sometimes with charcoal and perlite. One plant grows in chips of gneiss (a rock type), several grow in wine corks, some grow in a mix of sphagnum moss, bark, charcoal, etc (if they like their roots to be mostly damp). I have some plants I am getting ready to re-pot into lava rock (first time I am using this). A few plants are on mounts. Some (Vandas) grow in empty containers with no medium at all.

During t he growing season, I use Miracle Gro 30-10-10 (I use 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per gallon, once every 2 weeks or so). I also provide Ca, Mg, and S using Epsom salts and gypsum (1 teaspoon each per gallon, several ounces of that added to my water when the plants are growing). When most of the growth is mature, I change to a lower proportion of nitrogen, and fertilize much less often. Overall, I use less fertilizer than I did a year or two ago.

[La Casa de las Orquideas]

We grow almost everything in a type of S/H; taking Ray's method but changed the plastic pots to glass vases with drilled holes on the side. We have Dens, Phals, Catts, Cymbidiums and Vandas growing like this and thriving!!
We fertilize weakly weekly and add Superthrive; also, once a month we only fertilize with CalMag and we use Megathrive about once every two months during the growing stages.

In case you're interested, we carry these and many more supplies in our store: La Casa de las Orquídeas - US