Orchids for Very Hot Climates

[Dog Glooay Mai]

Yes, we have tons of space, I'll have to look into those species that you mentioned then. I'm going into the nearest small city on Tuesday, I'll hit the nurseries. Maybe they will even let me take photos so that I can post here and people can comment.

[Roberta]

In Thailand, you might check out Phrao Orchid Nursery. It is located in the Chiangmai area. Email Katai Phrao <phraoorchidsnursery@gmail.com> - they have a Facebook page but not website. Lots of orchid species that are native to Thailand (which they propagate from seed, so not stripping forests!)... my regret is that I can't grow most of them because my greenhouse space is very limited, and I think still too cold.

[Dog Glooay Mai]

Not that "stripping" forests is clearly wrong here seeing as the habitats will just as likely be burnt to the ground or bulldozed in the near future, even national park status being no help, if a Thai big shot wants to build a housing development, the law suddenly disappears. If a tribal group wants to burn an area so that they can gather mushrooms, no one will stop them or even seems to have any qualms about burning down primary cloud forest so that we can have some mushrooms. There were 17,000 people hospitalized in Nan province alone last burning season for serious respiratory disorders, half the population of the province. The burning of the forests was the reason. Anyone who took orchids from those forests and began growing them in their gardens is doing us all a favor. You really can't assume that anything here will be saved for later. So, given the reality in Thailand, I don't see it as necessarily wrong to remove species from the forests whereas I would in the case of many other countries, or at least ones where there is rule of law and/or a sense of appreciation for nature among the populace. In my own village there is a full fatwa on all endemic trees and plants. The village chief is often on the public address system chiding us for not cutting down all the trees and plants and clearing the land to make rice paddy. "Please work hard to make our area look neat and tidy and prosperous." is what we are often reminded via the public address speeches on the village sound system every morning. My wife has said that the place was full of an enormous diversity of birds and plants and trees etc when she was a child and the very last of it is just now dissappearing. Thailand is burning as is Borneo and the rest of the orchid bearing areas of Asia. They'll be gone within a decade. I don't mean to sound harsh or angry, it's just the situation here, just sayin' as they say.

[tarev]

I would suggest Vandaceous orchids. I tried to check where Kalasin is and I see it is just a few latitudes higher than Manila where I grew up.

From your description there are rice paddies around, so you have high humidity there. I have seen Vandaceous orchids attached to tall bamboo poles, and they bloom so nicely under all the heat and humidity. I remember seeing them, truly beautiful to behold, and lamenting I cannot grow it in my area, we lack the humidity.