Proud New Orchid Owner

[mimigirl]

Originally Posted by johnblagg

I grow mine in a picture window facing west but lots of trees on that side of the house so no full sun in summer and brighter in winter,They love it nice healty leaves and bloom several times each year starting early in january and then agian in summer right outside under a big cypress tree on a table in front of the same window.I have one that has held its blooms now for over three months.I grow them in pure rice hulls so they have perfect drainage and repot every spring,

Where the heck do you get rice hulls? Maybe this adds some nutrient that helps them? Mine are on an east facing patio & receive slight AM sun. Maybe I will see some flower buds this fall since this is a new tactic. Also, have you ever heard of/or see any benefit in using coffee to water them occassionally? Someone at an orchid show swore by this. Any ideas? & thanks for writing.

[johnblagg]

I live in Southeast Missouri .....rice everywhere
In the fall after harvest they hull the rice and a friend of mine gets it by the truck load we keep some put up in his barn for use in repotting the rest goes to compost piles for the garden.
It drains great and the phals love it we had it tested once and it is great in nutrients plus it has some silicon.Works great for everything inside and outside.They have started using it in commercial soilless mixs now too they paraboil it first for that use and are using it to replace perilite.

[mimigirl]

Shoot! I live in New Orleans LA and the southwest portion of state is big rice growers. I will have to check into that. As a matter of fact, do you know what crawfish (aka crayfish or crawdaddy) is? After the rice is harvested they use the rice fields as the area to raise crawfish for the spring season. Bet you didn't know that. Or maybe you did or maybe you didn't care. But at least if you play a trivia game & the question comes up you will be ready!

[johnblagg]

Oh yeah I know what crawfish are we eat them too.I even raise them in my lily pond for fish bait...well the raise themselvs my problem is they love my water lilies so I have to drain the pond and harvest em just to controll them or they eat the lillies.And I have lived all over the country from my hometown near St Louis to Texas to Virginia.Right now Im in North Carolina visiting cousins in fact.Last summer it was Canada and Niagra falls to see the Niagra botanical gardens and the falls .....got some really cool plants from the wetlands around the actual falls too.

[trdyl]

I grow mine in an unfiltered North faceing window.

[mimigirl]

OK, but guess what? In my house the only window facing North gets virtually no light. The house next door & our fence keeps the window & the room with no significant lighting. Is your window getting any sun at all? I had mine on a south window that had only morning sun & some bleached out, but none bloomed. I am growing african violets there and they bloom constantly. Have you seen my message asking about using coffee (& any other unusual) as a watering treat? Any ideas on that? also, Johnblagg said he used rice hull as a potting medium & I am going to call my local feed stores but I doubt I will find it. Maybe I should ask him to sell some to me! lol

[johnblagg]

well now that could be done.how many you wanting there?But just postage please no greed here.

[trdyl]

My North facing window does get a little. For a couple of weeks during midsummer, it gets less than a hour a day. The rest of the year only indirect light. The bleaching, I would suspect it being from too much light. I would give it more shade. Do you know about phals reblooming from old flower spikes? As far as new ones go, I would not expect to see them until mid-fall to early winter. I have not seen your message asking about coffee yet. I just joined the forum a couple of days ago. But, I will look at it soon.

[trdyl]

I think I found the one you were referring to about the coffee. Was it under the thread : Blooming or not blooming...that is the question ? Anyway, I personally have not tried coffee on orchids. I prefer to drink it. But, if I did, I would use a very dilute solution. I have heard it is good for controlling slugs and snails. I would not try coffee grounds as a top dressing on the media surface. Mainly due to the possibility of the grounds clogging up the air space in the media and resulting in root rot. But, that is just my opinion. Some people swear by it. Others don't. I saw a lot of frustration in that message you posted. When I caught the bug. I was 10 years old in 1976. Yes, I am showing my age. Finally 4 years and about 20 plants of various genera later, they started living and reblooming. I have to ask what type of media your plants are in and how often do you repot? The reason I am asking is not to be nosey. Certain medias break down faster than others and once they break down roots can’t breath and rot away.

[jeffjohnson23]

I've killed off 3 of my phals. This is what I've learned so far.

Keep them out of direct sun.
Keep them away from air conditioning. They don't like the cold.
Don't let their roots stay wet. They like to dry out.