I went to visit Al's Orchid Greenhouse yesterday, and Al was kind enough to let me take some photos to share. Every time I visit, I learn something new (plus there is something different in bloom).
Apologies ahead of time that my picture host, flickr, will be down for maintenance today Sunday Jan 16, from 3-8 pm eastern time. If you hit a glitch, pls try again later.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ki/sets/85359/
Pics from a greenhouse in the DC area
A orchid greenhouse in the DC area? I'm there!!!
Very pretty stuff at flickr.com. I especially liked to see the Laelia anceps, because mine is flowering too at the moment:
http://www.kammlott.net/Laelias2.html
Now I do find it interesting how he places his "Orchids on a stick" ( to borrow Andy's term) into a pot with pebbles, perhaps for ease of watering/ mainly keeping up the humidity around the plant. Normally one would group them tightly as hanging plants.
Nice set up!
Some people recommend that stick-in-a-pot method for small plants that really prefer to be mounted, such as the smaller dens and some angraecoids - I'm blanking on what else... maybe pleuros. It's a good compromise for people who like to grow in pots. Al's, though, are just gorgeous - that photo has gotten the most views from folks. I'm considering trying that set up with an Aerangis citrata.
About Aerangis citrata - stick in a pot.
Depending on what your watering practices are (if more on the light handed side) that might work very well.
I have one in a small pot. I do flood mine - having good drainage at the same time, it seldom dries out. ( budding now)
I did try this method once with a Pleurothallis schiedei ( ornata), simply because some of the wood it grew on broke. I was not successful and I thought at the time that there was too much capillary action. It simply stayed too wet for that plant. But then perhaps one needs to do this with a longer piece of wood.
The Pleuro declined, but I was able to save it by removing it carefully from the stick and placing it on top of small mixed
medium, so nothing was lost.
editing for spelling
This message was edited Jan 17, 2005 11:11 AM
Glad your pleuro recovered. I grow a few warmer growing ones mounted on grapewood and they seem to like the wet-dry cycle.
I set back my citratra last year when it was potted, probably by giving it irregular watering and completely dessicating the roots. Pots tend to go on a cattleya watering schedule whereas I give more frequent care to my mounts I recently strapped it onto treefern but it hasn't attached yet, so I might move it over to a stick.
On a stick? Can some one explain that better, I've never heard of that?
Here's a picture of Pleuro. tribuloides on a stick. The piece of wood with yarn wrapped around it on the left is a separate piece with a Tillandsia strapped to it (you can't see the tilly).
Funny you should mention Pleuro. tribuloides on a stick, it is a real neat plant.
here is my link, scroll down on that page if you like, I got mine years ago from Andy's Orchids.
http://www.kammlott.net/Augustorchids.html
And here are more Laelias on sticks, the Schomburgkia is really cool!!
http://www.kammlott.net/Laelias.html
and my link above shows another one, the L.anceps.
I do have lots of smaller Orchids growing on sticks and slabs - tntm This method works nowadays very well for me, I do water a lot.
If you have dial up, make yourself a cup of coffee, some of my pics take a while to load....
Some great pictures! Love your cage, and that's a gorgeous autumnalis.
What has been a surprise for me is that some orchids do better mounted even in my conditions, which is indoors year-round under lights.
oops, forgot I meant to attach another photo. Pleuro resupinata (tentative id).
Love the resupinata, beautiful foliage!! I have to google the flowers.
I am not surprised to hear that some of your (epiphytic) Orchids do better mounted. Duplicating their natural way of growing, "dripping" from branches, attaching themselves to a tree stem or rocks and such provides good drainage and air circulation. A reasonable watering schedule is of course essential.
I would love to see your set up. You always post pictures of beautiful healthy plants. It is not easy to grow year around indoors under lights. Do you water over trays?
Speaking of mounted orchids, does anyone know which kind of material is best for the greenhouse floor when growing orchids? Probably something that water will seap into to provide humidity?
Michelle,
my set up may be somewhat unusual for a greenhouse floor? Since it is on top of the garage and really part of the house, I don't have gravel or dirt but actually a piece of Linoleum on the floor. I placed deep trays tightly spaced next to each other in rows on the floor underneath the Orchid benches to catch most of the water. Also, I keep scented Geraniums underneath some Orchids in the center of the greenhouse. The rest of the floor gets mopped up daily. So the trays and leafy plants provide extra humidity.
That's so cool the way you have your greenhouse!!! It sounds like the rainforests on top the Baltimore Aquarium and the DC zoo!
Funny!!! But I haven't seen those.
In any case I enjoy playing in it!
I have some picture of my growing area here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ki/sets/73549/
If you use the slideshow feature, move the cursor over the top part for the control panel or the bottom part for thumbnails. If you click on the picture, you'll pull up a description (if I entered any).
The mounts have to get dunked - most orchids daily, the tillys about once a week. One of these days I'll just go and put a pond or kiddie pool under my shelves....
So, Keyring, these aren't growing in a greenhouse? Where are you keeping all these?! Your compots look great! Are they in pure sphag?
I won't let myself have any mounted orchids until I get a greenhouse. I just can't trust myself to dunk them once a day.
The phal compots are a layer of lava rock plus a layer of sphag (about 1 inch deep or less). Many of them are ready to go into a 2.5" compot.
The daily dunking is easy - they go in when I walk into the kitchen and get fished out as I'm drinking coffee. I have a MUCH harder time with the things that need water 2x a week.
I enjoyed your pics Keyring, thanks.
So far I have avoided the Tillandsia lure. Yours look great.
For ease of watering:
The trays I am using to catch the water are available cheaply in places like Home Depot, sold especially for Dorm room use. They are to be used as under the bed storage boxes, made out of sturdy plastic. I don't even take the lids along when I buy them. If one were to place a closet shelf on top of that ( those white grids from the same store, they come in many sizes), and place the Orchids on top of that or suspend them above it, one could water in-place. Easily done.
Which is essentially what I do.
I probably use the same under-the-bed drip trays. Some are lined with leca (expanded clay aggregate) which helps increase evaporation. Others have dirt plants sitting where the water accumulates so that those are bottom watered. So far, I have not found use for a plastic grid - a very convenient set up for most - but that's just my crazy environment.
The lids I use to catch the drips from the mounts, as those don't need to be deep.
The only thing I really wish I could do is install and automatic mister. LOL.
RUK, could you please post a pic of those trays? I'm in need of sturdy trays for both orchids and all the plants sitting in my sunroom, they get moved out of the sunroom when the cleaning people come.
Right now I'm using those flat black trays that those seedling inserts go into. I hate em! They break and they're flimsy. And ugly.
What section (lumber, plumbing, garden, etc.) would they be in? And which would the grids be in?
CaptMicha, I've been following this thread, and we use the same type of 'box' for alot of our plants. You can find them in storage/organization in Walmart/Lowe's/Home Depot. Some places they call them sweater boxes.
Keyring, I love that 'stick' above with the pleuro - it looks like a moose head!
Michelle,
I fished out some pics which show the trays on the bottom and also the type of closet racks I am using. Those racks could be placed right on top of the trays. If you can't see the trays sufficiently, I can take some better pics of them tonight.
http://kammlott.net/Oct2004/DSCN3765.jpg
http://kammlott.net/Oct2004/DSCN3719.jpg
http://kammlott.net/Oct2004/DSCN3763.jpg
http://kammlott.net/Oct2004/DSCN3795.jpg
I see what you mean! I love those things. There have so many uses! I'll be on my way to buy some hopefully tomorrow.
I used to use those larger storage boxes as cages a bunch of years ago when I had a gerbil couple that decided to breed. I should have expected it but I was pretty young.
Any who, it's hard finding and affording cages for 32 gerbilets!
Of course I cut the tops so they were more like frames and staple gunned screening for ventilation.
And I used one this year when I rescued a bull frog from a tiny tank in a pet store. He has a home at a friend's pond now but he loved swiming around his "aquarium".
just want to let you know I had to turn on the privacy for those photos for the moment. I should be able to make it public again in a week or so... or register with flickr and let me know you want to see them. Sorry about the glitch.