Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandma M
I'm new at attempting to growing Rhyns. Junebug, do you mean that I should give them some time outdoors in the fall to help form buds like I do my Christmas cactus?
I live in Michigan and don't have a greenhouse, I grow them in my home.
Marilyn
|
Please keep in mind that our climates and growing conditions are vastly different.
My Gigantea 'Red' grows outdoors suspended from an Orange tree. She receives almost full E. exposure and several hours of dappled sunlight. She's mostly shaded during intense afternoon sun. I've chosen to not move her to the shade house cause she's perfectly happy where she is. In summer I spray her exposed roots once or twice daily...the same treatment when she's in spike and bloom...then decrease watering in winter but never to the point of a complete rest.
I'm not sure if her spikes are triggered by shortened days or lower temperatures but she usually begins spiking near the beginning of Dec. The spikes mature 3 or 4 weeks before blooming.
I have to generalize when speaking in terms of temperatures because our fall/winter temperatures can vary. Our summers are hot and humid...on average 90 to 100 degrees. Temperatures tend to be in the comfortable range (give or take a few degrees) of 75 degrees from October through November and sometimes December. *Generally* our coldest months are December through March with temperatures ranging from 26 to 65 degrees. My chids come indoors when it drops below 48 degrees...except for my Den. aphyllum. Her limit is 40.
Temperatures are difficult to predict down here. We used to experience occassional freezes in late October/early November, but that seems to be a thing of the past. For the last several years I've had to crank up the air conditioner to cook Thanksgiving dinner.
...and then the 3 week freeze last January through me for a loop.
My plant was a baggy chid with 2 leaves when I got her. I've been growing her for 10 years. She was about the size of your's when she began spiking. She threw one spike per season the first 2 years and thereafter progressed to 2 simultaneous seasonal spikes.
Good luck with your new babies.
New Rhynchostylis Plants Arrived
Rhyn. retusa in bud
Rhyn. Gigantea 'Panda'
Rhyn. Gigantea 'Alba'
I wonder if she has one without it. 
Linear Mode
