[jerrymeola]

Brooke

Florida is not the heaven you may think.

It has rained every evening this month. For those who worry about watering your orchids at night, mine have been soaked at dark every day and never dry out over night.

The potting medium can be wrong out like a wet towel.

Bacteria and fungal growth are a constant battle. I had mushrooms growing in the pots last week. Now that is wet.

I used to try to fertilize every week and often did not get to it. I switched to slow release fertilizer that is always present and got on a regular bi-weekly spraying of worm tea, Companion and Essentials. The difference was tremendous.

Dendrobium that I am phasing out have not been getting the care and are barely growing. They are larger each year and flower every season, but it takes a lot longer to flower. Properly fed and watered plants grow much faster and my turn around time from small to salable is half.