new and dumb

[dianna bell]

please help me. i have just bought my first orchid and have no idea where ,in the garden to put it. i live in australia and intend to make orchids my hobby.

what is the best positin for it and how much shade and sun must i give it to have an ideal position.

regards:.
.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Repeated from other post: Dianna, we will need to know what kind of orchid you have. There are high light orchids, dappled sun, and low light orchids, full shade. And how cold does it get in your garden in winter? Cynthia

[jerrymeola]

I guess this is a good time to review for beginners the light requirements of the most common families.

Phalaenopsis -(moth orchid) low light - usually grown indoors year round since they only need about 1500 foot candles of light to flower (noon summer sun in most areas will be around 10,000 foot candles)

Paphiopedium ( Lady Slippers) - not a common beginner plant, but the next step for many, is even lower light doing well as low as 900 foot candles - If you grow African violets put these right next to them.

Oncidium alliance and intergenetic hybrids - This is a large group of orchids with long thin leaves. Because of the thin leaf they do not have as much water reserve as other orchids and can burn when the light levels are much above 2500 foot candles. They do best in a garden if they are sheltered mid day with some morning or afternoon sun. Growing them under heavy tree cover usually fits their needs

Dendrobiums - one of the easiest families to grow- they have so many plants in this family there is one for any light level, but as a generalization the common types you find in most stores like a higher light level 2500-3500 foot candles

Cattleyas - the corsage orchid - The flower everyone things of when they say orchid. These like 3500 foot candles to flower. This is about half day sun with maybe some extra protection around noon if you are in a very southern area.

Vandas - often sold in baskets - these require very high light levels 6-8000 foot candles and large amounts of water.

Correct light levels are necessary for flowering. Plants will live with much lower levels, but often fail to flower.

You can easily measure light with a camera.

Measuring light levels with an SLR camera

[dianna bell]

hi cynthia ,i live in perth and the temperatures have been mild this winter.23 down to 17. summer can be 29 to 41 as we have a very hot dry summer. i only have the lpain orchid that tou can buy anywhere but i have fallen in love with them and hope to build on it.


regards dianna

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

OK. So my temperature conversion program gives me 63F and 106F for the 17C to 41C. Sounds like you have very mild winters and pretty warm summers. From your email to me, it sounds like you have some Phalaenopsis plants, but check around at pictures and verify that for us, and a couple of Cymbidiums.

The Phalaenopsis plants will need close to full but not heavy shade out doors. Since I have never grown Phals out doors, others may want to correct me or add something. The Cymbidiums should do very well out doors. There may be a problem with blooming them as many like cool evenings in the fall to help set flowers. If you bought these locally, they may be warmth tolerant. I think Cymbidiums should be able to take full morning sun, then ~60% shade cloth the rest of the day. The cutoff time for full sun is going to depend on temperature. You may not want to give them any full sun during your hottest days. Don't let the Cymbidiums dry out. They need more moisture than the Phals as they are simi-terrestrial, and Phals are epiphytic. Cynthia

[dianna bell]

thank you so much for the info. can't wait to get started. my orchid is a cattleya.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

A Cattleya will need more light than a Phalaenopsis. You will need dappled light or ~60 to 65% shade (35 to 40% sun). Light should be fairly similar to that for the Cymbidiums. Cattleyas should dry fairly well at the roots, which is very different than your Cymbidiums. Cynthia

[dianna bell]

hi ,can anyone please tell me what a wire mesh bench or branch is ? i would love togrow my orchids hanging off trees .has anyone got any pictures or drawings of these?

good growing .................dianna

[dianna bell]

hi .could anyone out there please tell me hoe to make a wire mesh branch as i would dearly love to hang my orchid amongst my palm trees. any photos or drawings would be greatly appreciated.

[jerrymeola]

Here are several easy ways to keep orchids in trees.

If you are in an area that never freezes you can wrap the roots and tie them directly to a tree branch.

This photo shows the technique tying them to a grapevine branch rather than directly to the tree. The plant is removed from the pot and all potting medium is removed. Then the roots are wrapped with sphagnum moss and the moss is held in place by wrapping with fishing line. Fishing line is then used to tie the wrapped plant to a branch.



Even here in Florida where we can leave the orchids outside year round most of my customers prefer the orchids mounted separate and hung from the tree branches by a hook as shown in the photo. This enables you to bring the orchid inside to enjoy the plant when it is in flower and bring it back outside when the flowers are done.

Another method is to place any potted orchid in a hanger and then hang it from a tree branch, I prefer the double sided hangers as shown in the photo. Plants lean over and fall out too easy in single sided mounts.

[Willc73]

Wonderful mounts there. I wish I could get Grapewood here in California. It is too expensive to have large pieces shipped to me.