The Perils of Summer Outdoors

[patlee]

So I just bought one of the plants on my wish list , a Sedirea japonica. It is (was) mounted and hanging outside. I had read that they enjoy a summer out of doors: The past weeks or so, though, its leaves had started to droop and it was not looking very happy, so I decided to take it out of its bed of sphag and see what was going on--OMG ! What I first took for shiny dark root tips turned out to be a big,fat,ugly earwig that was chowing down on the roots of my baby and making himself at home in the damp inner core of the moss . Luckily I had made up a batch of Brookn's cinnamon wash this morning--I dumped the whole bottle on the plant. It washed away the sphag and all of it (along with the big Nasty) is now in the garbage tote. I'll remount my Sedirea with just a tiny bit of sphag ,but not put her back outside. The question is, can I expect this from everything that is in sphag? I have four or five Tolumnia that came mounted that way...And I really don't like to even look at earwigs...

[Anton]

Unmount the Tolus and remount them onto naked cork, just another reason not to add sphag to them.

[patlee]

I was thinking of what your response would be all the time I was having fits over that earwig--guess I'll listen now

[kid a]

Yuck I hate earwigs. My day lillies pods opened and were full of earwigs. At least we know Brookn's recipe also toake of those nasties too! What a great recipe! I hope it recovers and am sending positive thoughts its way

[epiphyte]

I recently attended a presentation on the Oncidium alliance by Helmut Rohrl held by the San Gabriel Orchid Society. After the meeting I talked with Mr. Rohrl about Tolumnias (which he has a billion of) and he told me he grows them without any media. Can't quite remember but I think he grows them in those little plastic slat baskets. It probably helps that he lives around a mile from the ocean.

I have a specimen sized Tolumnia variegata that only has a couple fans attached to a cork mount and numerous fans hanging in mid-air. The tangle of roots do great until they contact something...then the green tips shrivel and die. It's completely dry with bright light and good air movement during the day and gets 20 minutes of misting in the evenings during summer. It's been in flower most of the summer and consistently puts out new fans.

Even without any media somebody took several big bites out of a couple of the fans. Probably the same culprit who ate 7 Brassavola cucullata flowers in one night. The Brassavola is only a couple feet from the Tolumnia.

[patticake]

Oh, yuk- I am envious of those that can grow outside until I hear these stories. Yikes...

[Anton]

I rest my case Pat.

[Chele]

I grow outdoors and so far (knock wood) I have not had any issues. I'm new at all this and have gone completely nutz over orchids. I do not have room to grow orchids permanently indoors. I could get away with a few like maybe 5. So I've set up an area for my 'orchid house' and they do fine -- so far. As summer comes to an end and its not to dammmmmed hot and the sun so strong I will spread them out a little outside their little house, but they will remain outside and protected. I keep a close eye on them. I have a little family of lizards that are keeping all the nasty buggers away ;-)

I love my lizards

[cloudswinger]

Watch out for the iguanas though, they love to eat flowers. Apparently hibiscus are pretty popular on their menu, but they will eat a lot of different plants.

My main issue has been snails, it's been pretty rainy and wet. But for a little while I was finding some pots either dumped out, or the media had been dug up and tossed out. I haven't verified what kind of animal was doing that, but It kind of went away when the birdfeeder stopped getting refilled.

[katrina]

There are MANY hazards to growing outdoors but IMO being out in nature (whenever possible) has benefits that outweigh any and all of the minor annoyances.

I haven't had any trouble w/earwigs in my sphag...but I've found them...along w/a centipede thingy in my bark. YUK!

I've found the grasshoppers and japanese beetles making lunch of some of my plants. The squirrels have broken several growths off plants. Something ate half the leaf off one of my phals...can't imagine what that would be....but the leaf was just real neatly munched right off....whatever it was just left a little stump of a leaf. ??

Lastly, the spiders...oh the spiders. The don't hurt the plants...the just freak me out. They have decided that my orchids are the best place in the world to build their little homes. The worst are the dreaded (IMO) funnel web grass spiders. YUK!! They are fast and they scare the (bleep) out of me. Just found another this morning...overnight he/she made a web across 6 pots of dens. Double YUK!!!!

[jerrymeola]

Tolumnia want to dry out totally between waterings.

We grow ours in pure charcoal. This is only one step removed from bare root and much drier than bark. I tested one mount with sphag and it was a failure.

[patlee]

Okay, Anton & Epiphyte, I will take all the remaining sphag off my Tolumnias this afternoon. I've got a three-day weekend and that means I have some extra time to spend on the chids. Kat, I need to pick up a pitcher plant like the one in your tree...Cause I agree, the benefits of a little outdoor time are worth a few nasty buggers But when I bring everybody back inside, do I do anything other than Bayer 3-in-1? BTW, does anybody have any great growing set ups for mounted plants?

[patlee]

That's funny, Jerry. Oak Hill sends their mounts in sphag. Hausermann's does not--That being said, I am on my way out to remove the moss from the four or five I have that way...Anton said they take in moisture from through their leaves, and the one sure way to lose them is by overwatering. Those that are still wrapped in sphag are starting to look dehydrated--root rot? Wish me luck

[Anton]

Trust me Pat !

Would I lead you astray ............... ?????

[katrina]

Originally Posted by patlee

But when I bring everybody back inside, do I do anything other than Bayer 3-in-1?
BTW, does anybody have any great growing set ups for mounted plants?

For insect control prior to bringing everyone back inside....I'll be doing BT treatments for fungus gnats...not going through another infestation of those little buggers. I also usually do a insecticidal soap wash/flush a couple times. I've never done much more than that and I've been keeping houseplants outside in the summer for over 20 years.

I don't know if this counts since it'll be my first year w/mounts but I'll be housing my mounted plants (except that 3 plant basket mount) in my 55 gal aquarium converted into more of a semi-enclosed humidity tray/orchid-arium thing.

[brookn]

Sounds like scale to me. You'll need to teach them how to play dead lol. I have almost 20 of my plants outside right now, and they are loving it. I do a Bayer spray once a week for a month before I take them out (as a preventative), and then cinnamon spray once a week since they have been out. If they show any signs of getting bugs (which they haven't) I'll blast them!! The only thing that has bothered anything is the kittens when they were here-they knocked over a Dend. and a Cym. climbing (like monkeys) on a metal plant stand. I think the pros outweigh the cons for me.

[patlee]

Thanks, Brook--it all makes sense now. I though the plant was looking a bit dehydrated. It was!! They were sucking the life right out of it--HEEHEE--I'm gonna teach them to mess with my plants,

[Mercedesladie]

Hello everyone,

Would someone tell me what the recipe is for Bayer 3-1 Spray and Cinnamon Spray and when to use it.

Thanks,
Mercedesladie

[patlee]

Bayer 3-in-1 is a commercial product that I buy as a pre- mixed spray at WalMart. The recipe for the cinnamon spray is 10 drops Dawn or other mild dishwashing detergent, 2 cups lukewarm water, and 1.8 cc (roughly 1-1/2 tsps.) cinnamon extract (also purchased in the spice aisle at WalMart). Hope this gives you the info. you need...

[sandra]

Hi patlee. I've grown Tolumnias all different ways and the most success I've had with them is, like Jerry mentioned, with as little interference from growing mediums. I've got about 10 of them, all growing in pots, in mostly charcoal. I've added some bark to the mix (about 10-20%), not for any reason except that I feel more comfortable with something organic always added to the mix. I've had them in sphag. but found that it can be a little tricky when watering was needed especially with the hot, humid weather we experience here in Fla. Also, I find (as with most of my Oncidiums) that these orchids grow much better when they've dried out thoroughly before watering up. I grow these on a patio which is basically outdoors conditions except for a concrete ceiling and 3 sides of natural light reaching the plants through a screen so, depending on how you're going to grow these year round, should be considered when you decide how to pot them or keep them mounted with/without sphag.

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