Newbie with Questions
 

Hello Group......
Glad I found you.....
I am not new to growing Orchids, I use to live in South Fla. and it
was sooooo easy there, I just hung them out in the trees during the
Spring, Summer Fall and part of the Winter ..... Watered and Fert. them
and Nature took care of the rest. I attached them to the large Oak Trees
along with Staghorn Ferns and had a Paradise of sorts...
Then I moved to Indiana, took only a couple with me, all but one
died....so sad. Through lots of trial and error I managed to keep my
Encyclia Radiata growing and blooming for the 9 yrs I am here..I have it
mounted on Malaysian Drift Wood and decided that being on the wood is
easier to care for as it is difficult to over water than being in a
pot..at least for me it is.
I have added to my collection with a Brassivola Nodosa,
Degarmoara"White Fairy", Oncidium"Sharry Baby", Cattleya x B.Nodosa
either"Richard Mueller" or "Yellow Bird", an Odontoglossum type,( I
believe by looking at pictures in my book and comparing foliage,)
Miltassia Olmec "Kanno" , Encyclia Tampense the native of Florida, And
the Ludisa Discolor.
All except the L Discolor are mounted on drift wood and seem to be
growing well.
My question is .... what is the best type of light for the time
I keep them indoors.... I have a spare room with a small southern
exposer window and 2, 4' fluorescent light fixtures mounted on the
ceiling. each fixture has 2 bulbs each has a "Power-Glo" from Hagan and
Nutri-Grow from Coral Life...I live in a Po-Dunk town in southern IN and
these were the only bulbs I could find at the local pet shop....
The Orchids hang less than 2 ft from the lights and get watered 3 times
a week in my shower from a shower rod mounted above the middle of my
bath tub..yes, I get asked why I have a rod in the middle up at the
ceiling..oh well, some scratch their heads and others just accept :-)
Does anyone else have any experience with growing Orchids on
wood ? I would like to know if there is more I should be doing..I think
I am doing ok as the Odontoglossum has bloomed for the past 2 yrs and is
in bloom as I type this..last year it had 42 flowers on a spike that was
about 3 ft long..so I believe it is happy. I just worry about Fall and
Winter and the lighting...... Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You
Mark

Hi, Mark,

Since I live in your old stomping grounds of So. FL, I am no expert on
indoor lighting, but I can tell you this much: all but your L. discolor like
fairly bright, filtered light. I would suggest an inexpensive light meter.

Also, if you repost your original query and put "Indoor Lighting" in the
subject line, you may get more information. There are a lot of folks in this
group who grow under lights.

Be patient; I don't think very many people have been around for the last day
or so!

Diana

Thanks Diana.......I will get a light meter. Boy, do I miss the ease of
growing Orchids down there....I was in the Ft. Myers area.Where are you
? I go down there to visit family from time to time and maybe I could
see your Orchids sometime........

Since you were so nice to reply I have another question for you.... I
see and read about watering and not to be on a schedule but to go by the
individual plants needs.... well since I mount mine on drift wood I have
been watering them like every 3 days..all of them..I was told years ago
that it is difficult to over water Orchids growing on wood since it
drains so quickly...How accurate is this thought? Cross my fingers but
all seems well now, I just don't want to be creating a monster lurking
to wreak havoc on me one day........
Any input you have would be greatly appreciated...Thank you

Mark

Hi, Mark,

We are on the east coast, in St. Lucie County.

Aside from the B. nodosa, you can probably get by with the watering schedule
you have. The best way to guage is to observe your plants, as you know. If
they need less or more water, they will let you know. I have a fair sized B.
nodosa in a basket with no medium; it hangs with the Vandas, where it gets
watered automatically every morning.

You'll want to watch your humidity and air circulation, too.

Best,

Diana