| No - not diatomite - just plain smallish 1-2cm garden stones. He has quite a big 70% shade house and a garden hose - and a green thumb I suspect.
His method for striking new plants on pieces of timber is to tie the cutting on with elastic bandage and fix it with a 2" nail hammered through a flattened beer bottle cap. Everything seems to take. I was round there because his shade house is overcrowded and he wanted to get rid of some of the new plants. I risked natives on timber and a couple of dens (probably natives - he had no name for most of the plants) in stones. Didn't risk the phals though.
I suspect our climate is quite good. Warm to hot with reasonable to high humidity. Many local gardeners grow their orchids in pots in the garden - though the plants often look a bit dirty. I use the south side of my verandah.
Townsville |