Seeking advice from experienced growers re: orchids suited to my environment

[ElenaMarie]

Originally Posted by King_of_orchid_growing:)

Miltoniopsis spp. or Miltoniopsis hybrids in general should do well for you if your temperatures don't climb above 76 F during the summers.

Phals actually can be grown warmer (somewhere around 85 F - 95 F during the days).

Phals and Miltoniopsis do not grow in similar conditions. Miltoniopsis tend to favor cooler conditions than Phals do.

I tend to believe you may have no problems whatsoever with certain Masdevallias that most people would have serious problems growing due to temperature issues.

I think because of your cooler conditions you can grow the coveted species of Masdevallias such as Masd coccinea and Masd davisii with no problems whatsoever. You could consider trying out a Masd coccinea and see if you can manage growing them.

Although an easier species of Masdevallia to try out would be something like Masd vietchiana.

You could also try Masd infracta, which is a temperature tolerant species and should be a better fit for a beginning Masdevallia enthusiast.

I think you can also grow Dracula spp. fairly well too. The only problem being is that the low humidity may prohibit them from blooming well.

Dracula spp. tend to be cool to intermediate growing for the most part.

You could try something like Dracula radiosa to start with. Maybe even Dracula ripleyana.

There are numerous cooler growing orchids in the Oncidium tribe as well.

Cyrtochilum spp. would do great where you are. Many of them are high elevation cool to intermediate growers. Several species are also very large flowered.

Even Cuitlauzina spp. would do well.

Some of the higher elevation or cooler growing Maxillaria spp. would work for you as well. Something like Max speciosa would do good for you.

Some cool to intermediate growing Vandas can work too. A couple that come to mind are Vanda coerulea and V. coerulescens. There are a few others as well.

Some Pleurothallis spp., Scaphosepalum spp., or Restrepia spp. will do good for you too. If these are to your liking, I can recommend some that would be ideal for a beginner.

There are many more orchids that will suit your growing environment very nicely without too much additional amending of your greenhouse. It's just a matter of what your tastes are.

WOW I would've never guessed I'd be a candidate for so many varieties with this environment! Alas, I haven't a greenhouse, just the human house in which to grow them, but I'm seeking every nook and cranny that might be suitable. I've seen pictures of the Masdevallia--are they gorgeous or what???--but the others you wrote of are new to me. Time to go hunting for pictures!

As far as tastes go. . ..well, let's just say I tend to become overly ambitious far too soon. I'm trying to be more methodical and rational in the orchid realm. I really enjoy the Phals for the repeat blooms and varied colors. I'd LOVE to be able to grow Cattleya for the beautiful shapes but I'm not sure whether they'd do well here. I read somewhere that they and Cymbidiums require lower temperatures in the winter than I can provide. Hubby would have kittens if I dropped the temp to 50° in the winter to make the orchids happy. He's flexible but not that flexible, KWIM?

I just realized that I have a large orchid nursery about an hour's drive from here--Carter and Holmes, have you heard of them?--and perhaps they have varieties of Cattleya and such on hand that are proven suitable for this area.

Wow, this is just wonderful King! Thanks so much for the expertise!

---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:49 PM ----------

Originally Posted by jrodpad

Hi ElanaMarie,

Happy New Year.

Thank you! I hope your day has been very good.

My growing conditions are almost identical to yours. Same temps, same humidity and same light. I supplement light too. I'm near Boston. Happily, I can grow almost anything with a little effort. If your growing phals and milts, you can also grow things like paphs, and phrags with no problem. With a bit more light added artificially, you can grow oncs. Complex onc hybrids do extremely well for me in these same conditions with a bit more light. If you supplement a bit of humidity when it's particularly dry (in the 40s), you can grow lots of other types.

I wish the humidity around here were 40% on a regular basis. In my 20 years living here I've seen it that dry perhaps 30 days total. It's usually well above 50% and during the warm half of the year it's typically 70% or higher.

Do you know if orchids are sensitive to day length? I ask because I wonder if the Phals are being tricked into thinking it's spring, and perhaps I ought to shut down the supplemental light sooner than I am. Right now I'm letting it run from 8am to 9pm. What do you think?

I do well with bulbos and restrepias and neosts with a bit of artificial humidity in the winter.

So many new things to learn! I'm creating a list of genuses I need to look up. I am keeping the two new Phals on humidity trays while they're recovering from the moss-induced mess but generally I haven't needed to add humidity at all for the Phal I've had a couple of years.

The only things that I stay away from are very high light plants, cool growers and very high humidity plants that do not suffer swings well. So vandas, certain catts, certain bulbos, masdies, draculars, etc. don't do well at my place. At least until I get a greenhouse. Some day.

Hope this helps.

-J

Absolutely it helps--thank you so much!

---------- Post added at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:58 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Paul Mc

Hey, I'm fairly close to your conditions as well, but grow a wide variety, some with great success and some not so great. I use supplemental lighting in my basement/greenhouse set up but window sills for everything else. Just experiment, do research and expect that you will have a few failures. It's all about being creative and trying new thigs for me!

I might have to ease my husband into the idea that a $30 plant is an experiment.

I'm sure I'll be asking a LOT of questions here. You guys have been wonderful! Hope you have a great 2012!

---------- Post added at 10:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:00 PM ----------

King_of_orchid_growing --

Is this the Masdevallia vietchiana you mentioned? Does it come in different colors? I'm seeing a solid red and this both titled with the name. Both are, of course, gorgeous.



---------- Post added at 10:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:08 PM ----------

So I'm searching for photos of the suggested orchids and ran across this image. It's labeled Restrepia brachypus.