Crazy Culture

[kmarch]

Over the years I have collected some insane bits of "advice" on how to grow and bloom your orchid. Here are a few of them. Take a moment and post any you've heard and let's do some myth-busting and have a chuckle.

1) To get an orchid to bloom, put it in a brown paper bag with an apple.

2) Give your orchid a dormant rest by putting it in your cool dark basement or cellar for the winter.

3) Orchids need a period of darkness in order to bloom so put it under your kitchen sink for 3 weeks. Even if it would never get this in the wild?

4) Give your orchid the right amount of water by placing a few icecubes on top of the mix each night before going to bed. The melting ice will water the orchid with just the right amount of water. This will also make it bloom.

DISCLAIMER: To those of you who may be new to growing orchids, all of the above are completely false. I'm posting this so that 1) the myths of orchid growing may be debunked, and 2) some of them are quite amusing and someone might get a chuckle out of them.

[orchid_lord]

The first was available for aechmeas if they don't bloom in 3-4 years . The apple when rotting makes ethylene , which stimulates blooming.
The second I heard and I think it is true.
The third - I don't know.
The fourth may work, but I don't think it makes the plant bloom and I wouldn't put the ice to touch the orchid' roots. .But it may replace the frequent rains from the tropical forests...

But it's still available: DISCLAIMER: To those of you who may be new to growing orchids, all of the above are completely false. I'm posting this so that 1) the myths of orchid growing may be debunked, and 2) some of them are quite amusing and someone might get a chuckle out of them.

[kmarch]

Ethylene gas, while it does stimulate some types of plants into fruiting (I think it is used to stimulate pineapples - like aechmeas a type of bromeliad - into fruiting) is detrimental to flowers, especially cut flowers which is why it is listed here and which is why I find it humorous.

To clarify the second myth: while it is true that some orchids go dormant in the winter, e.g. varieties or Cypripedium, most of the types of orchids commonly found in cultivation (Catts, Phals, Onc, Paphs, Enc, Den, Cymb, etc.) would certainly be killed by putting them in a dark, cool basement for 3-4 months.

Again, these are all orchid culture myths and are absolutely not recommended culture. I've posted them to give people a laugh primarily.

One should always follow reliable cultural recommendtions for whatever kind of orchid they grow and avoid little tricks like these or any over-generalized instructions intended to apply to "all" orchids.

[orchid_lord]

I began using the ingenious method of watering with the ice cube. It sounds pretty logic for me .

[kmarch]

I really wouldn't recommend watering with ice. This thread was definitely not meant to give cultural advice, but rather to have a laugh at the crazy advice sometimes given.

[tom499]

the water that melts from the ice cube will still be very cold and could shock the roots.

[fzzdk]

my personal favorite crazy orchid advice was when i was told to never touch the plant because they're very fragile and your skin oils would cause it to die?

when i personally think of fragile, orchids aren't very high on the list, they seem as robust as a succulent.

[Julie_M]

Actually, Kevin's # 4 is not entirely false. There is a Dendrobium species (I really don't remember which one right now) which will literally bloom about a month after a really cold shower.

Who knew?

Julie

I was told by a greenhouse grower to use the ice cubes, especially if it was a hot fall, that the chilling down was what told the orchids to spike. I have never tried it as our late summers and falls have had cool nights.

[prisana]

I've actually read this one in one of the orchid books.. " cut the leaveless canes of dens, for they rob the nutritions from the rest of the plant " !!!

[kmarch]

Oh my...and in an orchid book!?!?!?! That's a little frightening. I hope it was an older book, one that no one uses any more.

[GiovannaD]

I was interested in buying a harlequin phal from a nearby florist, but when I picked it up (standard clear plastic pot, with medium bark) *a lot* of water drained out from the slits and she said, oh yeah you should always keep your phals in a deep tray full of water, all the time.
Two words in my mind "root rot, root rot!". I didn't buy anything from her, as it was certain that those phals were doomed.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by GiovannaD

...oh yeah you should always keep your phals in a deep tray full of water, all the time...

Wow, where did that one come from? If that florist had looked up anything on Phal culture they wuld immediately have learned this was a no-no. Did you educate them on proper Phal culture?

[DDS2007]

my Milt wasn't doing ok so i had to repot. i went out to get some bark but couldn't find it ANYWHERE in our local nurseries. here are some of the genius suggestions i got from the people that work in nurseries to use instead of bark :

1. use normal peat moss
2. use perlite
3. use volcanic gravel
4. grow it in air (air humidity is 12% where i live)
5. we don't know what bark is
6. we don't know what an orchid is

great huh ? i think i would NEVER ever ask those folks to give me advice about my orchids again !

[PhalPal]

DDS2007 - Oh MY! I think mail order is in your very near future!? Maybe Australian sites would save you money on shipping. A lot of us order online even though we have access to supplies in local stores and nurseries.

[prisana]

Originally Posted by kmarch

Oh my...and in an orchid book!?!?!?! That's a little frightening. I hope it was an older book, one that no one uses any more.

Kevin, it was an old book published in 1954 or something like that, I got it from a library..so I guess it's still being used ( I did, and I proceeded to hack one of my dens' cane off ) needless to say , it hasn't bloomed since the original blooms fineshed a year and a half ago !! Now ..a little wiser ( having found this forum ) I wish I coulda burnt that book..if only it were mine..

[DDS2007]

hi PhalPal

growing orchids is very expensive where i live due to the lack of supplies (and plants for that matter..) a Phal would cost about 20-25$ . other variaties are out of question (no one imports them! )

i donno what should i do, mail orders take forever to arrive. and i'm not sure in what condition would the plants be , not to mention that i don't have such financial capabilities ..

i have ordered Ortho's (complete orchid guide) 3 weeks ago and it didn't arrive yet. it costs 11$ on the net, but when i ordered it i had to pay 30$ cuz of shipping

you are blessed guys cuz u have access to local orchids

[kmarch]

Also don't forget that the international shipment of orchids is governed by CITES, an international treaty which controls the international trade of orchids. I do not know if Jordan is one of the CITES countries.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Even if your country did not sign the treaty on endagered species (CITES), you would still have to satisfy your agriculture department, not to mention any duties your country might want to impose. Most countries require a phytosanitary certificate from the exporting countries authorities. My best suggestion is to try really hard to find someone else in your country that grows orchids, and learn from them what can be done.

[DDS2007]

hi cynthia !

i can't find any fellow orchid-growers where i live. but finally found a nursery that would import them for me , yeppi !! but since they are custom ordered , i'm not so sure about the pricing.. i'll see on monday when they get them .

i find myself in constant need for supplies, i'm interested in worm tea, interested in semi-hydroponic culture, fungicide and potting media, those are very hard to find over here. it's becoming more of a challenge for me . but for the love of orchids, i'd do anything !

it just makes my heart ache to see all of the members' beautiful orchids of different types, knowing that i can NEVER acquire similar plants..

Farah