Taking the next step

[jay]

So I have decided after being given several orchids as gifts that I really want to take it to the next step and provide for them a little better.

I have a 4 tier wire shelf facing an East window. However, the windows, because I live in the desert, are tinted to help with energy costs during the summer. I always thought there was a ton of light in this room. I now have a light meter and was surprised.

At 8 am, direct outside light = 8000 fc. The light through the tinted window = 3000 fc.

By 9 am the top tier was out of direct light and now down to 300 fc. The next tier down was up to 3400 fc at the same time.

And at about 10 am the top two tiers are at 300 fc and the bottom two are at about 3500 fc.

This is the desert, so it is also very dry. I have used humidity trays that keep the humidity between 40 - 60%. The 40% is when ever the air kicks on, 60% after it goes off. Not much I can do about stopping this in this house without blocking off half the room with plastic (fiance will definately not go for this).

I have a mix of orchids, again that were mostly gifts bought by my fiance from Trader Joe's. I have one Phal (with 2 wrinkled leaves , the roots are not rotted, I am just having trouble giving it enough water), and a couple of intergeneric oncidium hybrids, and a couple of cattleya rescues ( were out of flower and out of pot at store).

My goal is to use the shelves for different types, since they each have different levels of light. Any thoughts would be great. I have all of them in a fine fir bark ( hard to find much else here) and I have spag available to use or mix if you think it will help.


Let me know if you have any ideas or tips. Thanks


Jay

[kmarch]

Jay,

I posted some stuff for you in your thread about light so check there too. 40-60% humidity is probably ok for many orchids. You will probably need to avoid orchids that require high humidity, for exaple i'd stay away form Masdevallias and things like that. You may find that with the lower humidity you might need to water more. Watering frequency is somethign we all need ot figure out as each of our growing environments is slightly different.

If you haven't done it already you might want to consider different mix for different orchids; a moisture retentive mix for the Phals (bark, coir, etc., etc., wiht some sphagnum moss added) while staying with a drier mix (maybe just bark, charcoal and perilite) for the Catts.

Probably the best growing tip I know is to always ask lots of questions when buying orchids. Tell the grower your humidity range and ask if the orchid you're interested in can thrive in that.

Enjoy and ask lots of questions!

[kmarch]

Jay i just remembered what one of my friends did to keep the humidity around her orchids higher. She strung 2 clear plastic shower curtains around her shelvign unit with an opening one one side for easy access. The humidity inside was about 15% higher than outside.

[jay]

Kevin,

What do you think about Paphs? I love all of the Paphs that you have posted and I am really intrigued by these. I know I have enough light, but do you think I have enough humidity?


Jay

[fred]

I just thought you might like to see some of kevins plants untill he answers your questions.
enjoy
http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...h-du-jour.html

My First Cross

[kmarch]

I think you probably do. You might have to watch their watering carefully at the start to see how often you'd need to water. Keeping them moist as they like will also help to slightly raise the humidity around them. See if you can find a cheap Maudiae-type hybrid (you can probably find one somewhere for $20 or less) and try it out for a few months to see how it goes.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

If you start to enclose the rack, consider some computer fans. Need to keep the air moving.