New phals for me to kill

[tom499]

Was out cycling, but couldnt help to pass the garden centre without having a look for discounted orchids. Despite being limited to a backpack i brought back to phals

So i cycled home with a big pink telephone orchid mast sticking out. There were many second glances from passers by

They were cheap as they are going out of flower. But both are fairly big, now the biggest phals i own, and show good signs of new growth.

They are noids, but i do not mind as i am still on my learning curve for orchids, but any help in recognising their possible relatives would help me giv them better care. so here are the pictures

[justloveorchids]

I have got identical ones to them but i cant tell you what their names are

Dont forget that Worm Tea ........Tom it truly works wonders sprayed /misted on orchids every morning .........i have not even needed to water mine and they are all putting out new roots at the crown along with new leaves

[tom499]

I'm working on gettin my worm farm I cant find the product itself on sale anyway, and shipping it in is abit much.

But i want some!! and i shall get some

[justloveorchids]

I can post you a bottle of the stuff dont know how much the postage is but i can find out for you
Try advertising WANTED Wormerie or Worm Liquid on your local Freecycle group

Or how about the Organic Place / Centre near Birmingham cant remember its name Ryton I think

I aquired a Can of Worms Kit today coutesy of Freecycle they are £70 new

[tom499]

so you make your own? Is it easy to make? being a poor kiddo i would prefer to produce my own

are you from the UK too then ijustloveorchids? It would be good to know someone on here who knows where to get stuff in the UK

[Glitter]

Awesome! Look very healthy to me!

[justloveorchids]

Tom I am only a couple of hours down the M1 from you and yes i have 2 large worm bins made out of ordinary dustbins plus 10 compost bins

like i said thanks to Freecycle group today I have aquired a "Can of Worms " wormerie for free

But if you want instructions on how to make one ......any size is possible i will help you .........do you have one of those plastic storage boxes with a tight fitting lid ? kicking around

However Ryton Gardens is near Birmingham they should have examples too

[tom499]

My parent have a compost heap, full of worms and such, all the organic waste goes on there. if i dig out the compost and squeeze out he liquid, is that worm tea?

[justloveorchids]

Tom

Stop looking for smart ways round this

you simply need a wormerie

if you look around even in a skip you will be able to find a container of some sort that can be turned into a wormerie

[evagentry]

Hi, I saw your post and just wanted to say that directions for a worm composter are on yougrowgirl.com, they look very easy to make and cheap too.

[tom499]

ok ok

so what exactly do i need. My dad makes beer, so will likely have a tapped barrel. Can of worms easy to get? we have plenty of organic material. are there anything else?

[justloveorchids]

Tom

A tapped barrel is of course usefull but any decent size bucket or plastic container with a lid will do

You do not need a tap you can just drill a few holes in a group 1/2 inch up from the base
put a layer of small stones in the base to 1.5 inches inches deep

cover this with a piece of wadding ( like the stuff inside a polyester quilt )

or you can simply line the whole thing with a fine piece of net curtain /voile
run the net over the sides and secure with a elastic or string

The idea is to keep the worms and the resulting compost from escaping into your stones/ drainage layer

Then simply put in a 1/2 inch layer of peat or really good finished garden compost
add Brandling worms and then each day add the peelings etc from veg/fruit/egg shells/fish and meat scraps etc and put the lid on

it does not take long for the worms to start digesting the peelings and liquid will start to drip out the drainage holes just sit the container on a couple of blocks and tuck a plastic ice cream container underneath to catch the drips

Dilute the resulting liquid 1 in 10 with water and use it in a sprayer to mist your orchids

If you have loads of liquid and want to use it undiluted direct on Clematis etc thats fine