David Off is a 3rd generation
member of the highly respected
WALDOR ORCHIDS family.

RELAAXX!
There is no doubt growing orchids is good
for your health. Some 15-30% of heart
attacks are caused by high levels of stress.
So many of us, after a long day of going and
going, just want to take a few minutes (or
longer) with our plants. Tending to or just

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David’s Monthly Orchid Tips
David Off is a 3rd generation
member of the highly respected
WALDOR ORCHIDS family.

Commitment

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David’s Monthly
Orchid Tips

David Off is a 3rd generation
member of the highly respected
WALDOR ORCHIDS family.

A Word on Fertilizer

Always remember N-P-K. Nitrogen,
Phosphorous and Potassium (or Potash). These
three macro nutrients represent the three
numbers, 20-20-20, 30-10-10, 7-9-5 etc, along
with other micro nutrients, that are found in

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Hi, I just had given to me a Phalaenopsis Everspring King for my birthday... I have always admired orchids and am scared to death to kill it

I was reading that placing your orchid in East facing light is preferable, however, in my apartment there are no East facing windows.

Is there a next best?

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The genus Cochleanthes is a small group of orchids which they seem like pescatorea because they haven't pseudobulb and the inflorescence is pendulous or erect.
About the colture, they want high humidity ,warm-intermiedate temperatures , and the keep the plant moist but not too wet, to avoid rotten roots.
The flowers may appear in every period, but mostly in autumn or summer.

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Here you are a wonderful species that it'a ideal for beginner because of its temperature tollerant and his showy flowering.
The flowers may be female or male and it depends by the quantity of light and humidity.

Few light+high humudity: male
Lot of light+low humidity: female

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I live in an apartment condominium in Northern Virginia. When I got interested in orchids I realized I had a desirable true east exposure from the windows. I fortunately also had 6 inch deep window sills. The apartment also has a whole house humidifier that runs at about 40+% humidity full-time during the heating season. Direct downdraft from the heater/air conditioning vents has been diverted so as not to strike the orchids. The few orchids with which I began seemed to thrive. Then one day my wife and I were at the National Capital Orchid Society show and she was captivated by a large, dark blue flower that we discovered was called a Vanda. On further research it seemed these orchids were particularly fussy in their cultural requirements. I read that most are grown bare root in hanging baskets, often outdoors in places like southern Florida. That the roots required frequent watering or misting. That they would not tolerate being too wet, nor too dry but demanded relatively high humidity. The also preferred bright indirect light but preferred only short periods of direct sunlight. These did not seem to be conditions easily met in a relatively small condominium where the growing spaces also doubled as bedrooms.
Being at a stage in life where I can afford to experiment, I decided to try to adjust the plants purported fussiness to the realities of my environment.
The first thing that had to go was the idea of a hanging basket. It had to grow in a pot and that had to be of modest dimensions.
Next it could not require too frequent watering. Orchids are my joy not my masters. I decided it probably would not like usual bark mixtures since they held too much moisture. Being willing to be avant-garde I decided to try EpiWeb imported by First Rays Orchids (www.firstrays.com) from Scandinavia. It is a firm foam-like plastic material made from recycled milk containers. It holds no water except what might get trapped in the tiny spaces in the foam. It is available in sheets for mounting but also in 1 inch cubes which was what I used. This material seemed adequate to support the roots and plant but I needed something to retain some moisture to fulfill the criteria of not requiring daily attendance. Again from Rays I decided to add in PrimeAgra which is a Light Expanded Clay Aggregate (LECA) of which there are several similar on the market. This product remains moist after soaking and is often used in semi-hydroponics culture. I mixed this about 3 to 1 of EpiWeb to PrimeAgra.
The lucky plant was a Pakchong Blue purchased mail order from Hausserman’s outside Chicago. It arrived in excellent condition on 11 July 2008. It was much larger than I was expecting being 16 inches tall. It was in a 6 inch clear plastic pot with a bark mixture that appeared rather old. On unpotting I found a 2 inch plastic basket with the original plant placed whole in the outer pot and then surrounded with the bark mix.

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am not an orchid expert by any stretch of the imagination. I can honestly say that I am passionate about growing them, but not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I am good enough to get someone who is a complete neophyte started, and that is about it. But part of that mad orchid passion involves getting folks started. Let me explain.

I have several possibly eccentric behaviors attached to my orchid fascination. The first one is, I love to rescue orchids from the clearance sections of Home Depot, Lowes, and Wal-mart. Perhaps you have seen them there, lonely and pathetic. This stems from a Charley Brown-esque compassion for the underdog plant, (And the fact that I am limited by my pocketbook). There are good and bad facets to this, as I am thrilled when I finally get to see what color the orchid I have bought will be, and have been blessed with spectacular foliage and blooms from these orphans (Only one has never bloomed - a ya). I have also been saddened to be turned away by garden department managers who wouldn't reduce prices on a flat of orchids that are obviously on their way out, and in sore need of nursing.

The other behavior is, standing in the orchid section of the store, soaking in the beautiful flowers, and striking up conversations with other folks who wander over to do the same. You can tell the ones who have no luck with orchids, with their furtive vaguely embarrassed but envious glances. I have this thing where I like to encourage and coach those folks through the basics of taking one home and trying again. I live in Central Florida, so this isn’t a daft concept. There is nothing finicky or fussy about growing your average orchid here. The average ambient humidity outdoors is only about 145%. Okay, it FEELS like 145%, but is sufficient to keep most orchids pretty happy. It is actually tougher to grow orchids indoors here.

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mean, of course, "What's in an Orchid name ?"

I've noticed in the short time that I've been a member of the Orchid Board the confusion that beginners have with orchid names. The information they find on the tags that come with their orchids is a complete puzzle to them. I can sympathize. I remember the confusion I felt at the totally incomprehensible names and abbreviations I found. I was so confused that I threw away the tags that came with the first orchids I owned, not knowing how important they were. Not only did I consider their plastic ugliness a detraction from the flowers, but the information on them was meaningless to me.

Knowing the names of your orchids makes you seem more knowledgeable, but knowing the name can also get you a wealth of information about culture and care. Without a name a plant can't be entered for judging at an orchid show and ordinarily won't be considered for AOS awards - no name, no fame! Without a name no one else can envy you enough to find the orchid you have for themselves. It's in the hope that the following information will help beginners sort out the names of their plants and understand better the importance of these admittedly complicated names that this article is written. Don't throw your tags away; learn to read them.

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rchids seem intimidating to grow for most beginners. But take it from this beginner (for the second time) they are easy to grow. The thing you need to watch out for is over/under watering and over fertilizing those are the main killers of plants of any kind. Another consideration is where to grow them. Some grow in windows, some under lights, some on their porches/lanais, some in green houses (if they have the area and money) and some like me a shade house. I have the warm weather here so year round shade house growing is the ticket. Of course even in more temperate climates it will work for late spring to early fall or into winter in south Texas/Florida or where you can maintain a good humidity say 45-55%.

Shade Houses can very simple lean-to’s to elaborate setups with concrete floors with wood or metal framing. Depending on the intensity of the Sun in your area the shade cloth can be anywhere between 30-70% here in Hawaii I use a 50% cloth with great results. I am using a metal frame made from 1 inch EMT conduit and fittings I got from ACE Hardware see list on bottom of page to find the parts on the web that they sell for Shade/Tents made for the EMT so any size you want can be assembled Mine for example is 8 by 10 feet and can be expanded at any time with little cost. I stretch the cloth over the pipe and hold it in place with plastic wire ties (zip-ties) see photos.
I built benches that are 6.5 by 2 feet out of treated pine (redwood was way too expensive here) that are at waist height (see photos and drawings) so there is no bending to exam plants.

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ave you seen a photo of an orchid that made you say, "I wish I'd taken that"? Have you ever wished for photos of your own orchids that were not just average, but showed these exquisite flowers to their best advantage, photos that would remind you of your orchids when they were not blooming? Perhaps you've had such thoughts but have you somehow gotten the idea that really good photos are beyond your capabilities or financial resources? In this article I want to dispel some myths about orchid photography by way of showing that good pictures can be taken by anyone with a minimum of expense and expertise.
Good photographs of the orchids we grow are a record of the blooms and plants that provides a memory of their loveliness and of our success as growers. Good photographs give the grower and photographer an opportunity to show his or her success far beyond the local orchid society and visiting friends, and can even give the additional thrill of being published. I can remember the thrill of having my first photo published and remember as well the owners of orchids that had just been awarded hanging breathlessly over my shoulder to make sure that their plant was properly photographed, hoping that “their photo” would be published in color in one of the American Orchid Society (AOS) publications or the AOS annual calender. A good photograph can even be the only memory of a plant that has departed to orchid heaven.

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The Orchid Conservation Coalition has started a new initiative to document and bring stories of orchid habitat loss, preservation and restoration to the orchid growing community and the public. The first seven orchid conservation stories can be seen at: http://www.orchidconservationcoalition.org/hl/index.html

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A lot of first-time Paph growers (and some more experienced growers too!) encounter a problem known as crown rot, which Paphs (particularly those from subgenus Brachypetalum) are susceptible to. This is caused by water being trapped in one of the lower sheaths at the base of the growth or inside the growth itself. A similar problem, root rot, can also occur when the plant remains overly wet for an extended period. Both are caused by bacterial infections (the bacteria are invited in by excess moisture). When either of these things happen, the plant can lose most or all of its roots. While this leads to devastating damage, the plant can heal. Using a flame-sterilized tool, remove all the rotten roots (black/brown, soft and hollow). Next, in the case of crown rot, remove completely all the bracts/leaves from the affected growth (the base of these will be soft and brown) until you have the firm, white matter within that is unaffected by the rot. You can do this by grasping the base of the growth with one hand and using the other to pull the leaf sharply downward. Now use a toothpick to smear cinnamon over all the wounds; this will dry them out to prevent further infection.

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