winter rest when does it start?

[kindrag23]

ummm 109 today and we will hopefully start seeing 90's in the next few weeks this heavy muggy heated weather is killing me..

[Bud]

treat your Paphs like Phals....but most Paphs get lots of water in their environment

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:46 PM ----------

do a research on that Paph you are getting....the rest it might need might just be lesser water....maybe instead of every other day watering you need to water it weekly during the winter months....then continue after valentines to give it all....

[kindrag23]

Okay see if i have it correct:
Continue fertilize water
Cym/Oncid-leave outside til 1st frost then bring in and keep cool? like in 50-60's room.
Phal/Paph/Catt/Schomburgkia/Vanda 50-60's room no rest

Gramm keep warm in kitchen- no rest

50-65 temp range also

Leave alone
Den/Dove/Magic- leave alone after november 15th range until new roots/keiki/spike show

[Bud]

I am glad you are preparing for winter.

Because a lot of your flowers in spring will depend on your proper rest....

Vandas and Gramms need constant warmth and bright light....lots of water and weekly fertilizer.

only the Cymbidium plants needs near frost conditions....leave your Oncidiums alone, some may need rest but not near frost conditions....

*in the daytime it can be in the 80's or 90's but it needs to go down to cooler temps at night....that is what I mean by letting them taste cooler temps....the plants must experience a drop of temperature at night then carry on in the day

the dove and the paph can have lesser water but not like the Den and the Magic that needs no water at all unless the canes shrivel you may spray it a bit

[kindrag23]

Okay well I know I wont be able to get it that warm, but I am setting up a orchid room with a humidifier and hanging shower curtains, they will get bright light, those that need it, because my nana's back room basically consists of a 12 by 18 ft sliding door/all glass partial tent windows. So hopefully I will be able to get it warmer than it would have been without. The house as a whole is well insulated and my hibiscus do well back there every year when I moved them up each year.

[Island Girl]

Originally Posted by Bud

*in the daytime it can be in the 80's or 90's but it needs to go down to cooler temps at night....that is what I mean by letting them taste cooler temps....the plants must experience a drop of temperature at night then carry on in the day

Originally Posted by kindrag23

Okay well I know I wont be able to get it that warm, but I am setting up a orchid room with a humidifier and hanging shower curtains, they will get bright light, those that need it, because my nana's back room basically consists of a 12 by 18 ft sliding door/all glass partial tent windows. So hopefully I will be able to get it warmer than it would have been without. The house as a whole is well insulated and my hibiscus do well back there every year when I moved them up each year.

In regards to Bud's comment on the temp drop... Kindrag, if you can't get the temps up to 80°-90°F in the day, that's ok! With Phals (and maybe some other genera, that don't require a rest... I dunno?) it just needs to be a 10°-15° difference btwn day and night temps... So, if your growing area peaks at say, 72°F (daytime), then you'll wanna drop it (at night) to 60°F (or 55°F, but I would not go too much lower than that, w/ Phals). The temp drops should be maintained for around 2-3 weeks. It may take less time for some, and a little more for others, but 3 wks should certainly do it, but a month wouldn't hurt either...

My conditions prob drop down like that for a month or so... But, it just depends on the outside temps... I have a sunroom, that has tons of windows, and has a "window" A/C-Heating unit, so this room is separate from the central heating/air in the rest of my house, which allows me to get that drop in temps for my 'chids, w/o me freezing to death in the 55°-60°F temps! I try to keep my grow room at 75°-80°F thru the winter (warming up more and more as spring approaches), and drop to 57°-65°F at night (generally speaking, as it's rather hard to perfectly control temps! Lol)... ***But, I mostly grow Phals, although there are some others... So you might have to do a little differently than I do, b/c of all your different genera...

It's all about finding a happy medium, when u have a lot of different genera, and creating/finding microclimates in your grow-space... Which sometimes means that one year, you may not get blooms, but you just change it up a little, and hopefully get blooms the next yr!

... I actually use a space-heater instead of the "window" unit (that's inserted into/thru the wall, not a window), to heat my sunroom, so the more hot-growing orchids sit closer to that, while the more intermediate-temp growers are farther away from the heater, and sit closer to the windows, where it's a lot cooler.... Microclimates

Also, if you have some orchids that need a drop in temps that another one would freeze to death from, you can use a heating mat under the pot. That will raise the temp around the warm-growing orchid, and not raise the temps of the whole grow-room, messing with the temp drop requirements of others.... That kinda falls into the category of being one of those "microclimate" conditions

...I, too can't wait to see all the blooms you will get in the spring!

[Bud]

You must be very excited with all your plants getting ready for winter. Please post pictures of your blooms....I am sure awaiting your spring flowers....

---------- Post added at 11:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 PM ----------

Originally Posted by TOMMYMIAMI

Bud
when would you recommend to start winter rest here in Florida? I have many dendrobiums that must get winter rest, also witchcraft, and some other orchids in winter rest need. There is no frost though here, so I was planing to stop fertilizing for most of my dendros sometimes in september, limit water in fall and than stop watering sometimes in the end of november /or when all leaves falls???

Tom,

Trust your instincts on this....
Look at your plants for signs.
You are right, if the leaves fall off its time to give winter rest.
Some of the members here induce or force winter rest. For your zone: I suggest 15th of December you must induce any plant that needs rest. Even if they still have full leaves.
Then continue up til Valentines day then give water and fertilizer....most of the members from your zone do this time frame technique.

* Catasetinae and your Millenium Magic after it flowers will ususally drop its leaves....start the rest and do not water it....restrain yourself no matter what for it is a proper winter rest needed for it to bloom beautifully. If it doesn't drop leaves then start rest on 15th of December and by Valentines you will get a new plant coming out ....
some winter rest may need just lesser water....some are really drastic with no water at all....you need to find this out by reading and finding out more about your orchid plants

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by Bud

You must be very excited with all your plants getting ready for winter. Please post pictures of your blooms....I am sure awaiting your spring flowers....

---------- Post added at 11:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:25 PM ----------



Tom,

Trust your instincts on this....
Look at your plants for signs.
You are right, if the leaves fall off its time to give winter rest.
Some of the members here induce or force winter rest. For your zone: I suggest 15th of December you must induce any plant that needs rest. Even if they still have full leaves.
Then continue up til Valentines day then give water and fertilizer....most of the members from your zone do this time frame technique.

* Catasetinae and your Millenium Magic after it flowers will ususally drop its leaves....start the rest and do not water it....restrain yourself no matter what for it is a proper winter rest needed for it to bloom beautifully. If it doesn't drop leaves then start rest on 15th of December and by Valentines you will get a new plant coming out ....
some winter rest may need just lesser water....some are really drastic with no water at all....you need to find this out by reading and finding out more about your orchid plants

Thanks Bud
that's exactly what I have planned. I know all the details about catasetum, I even wrote care sheet for Kindrag:-) Regarding the dendros, exactly as you said, because we are in worm zone, some might not loose leaves, so for those that will loose leaves I will stop when they do, for all the rest it will be latest at the mid of December. I have also habenaria medusae that is just in spike now, so that baby needs special care as well, and I did already prepare double sided sheet where I wrote into the columns which ones from my collection need full winter rest, which ones are semi decidious and need only some winter rest, which ones should be only limited on the water and fertilizer and which ones are all year round ones. I have over 100 orchids now so I had to organize myself, I do not have luxury of space where I could move and organize them by who needs what so for me it will be CHART and different colored plastic tags that I have, so I will differentiate them by the COLOR! I am pretty excited, scared little but excited, this will be my first ever year of doing PROPER winter rest and hoping finally my babies will bloom for the first time next spring!

[Bud]

I have read from a couple of members that they don't give winter rest but continue watering and fertilizer regimen for some of their Dendrobiums. They are in a zone like yours where there is no frost and it is conducive to outdoors growing. Their Dendrobiums flower beautifully....
I feel that if your orchid need not suffer why let it?

Some growers induce flowering by almost burning the leaves under direct sun....well its kinda cruel but they do it anyways just for magnificent blooms....

so...these are some of the stuff I read here....its up to us to follow it or ignore it completely.

[TOMMYMIAMI]

Originally Posted by Bud

I have read from a couple of members that they don't give winter rest but continue watering and fertilizer regimen for some of their Dendrobiums. They are in a zone like yours where there is no frost and it is conducive to outdoors growing. Their Dendrobiums flower beautifully....
I feel that if your orchid need not suffer why let it?

Some growers induce flowering by almost burning the leaves under direct sun....well its kinda cruel but they do it anyways just for magnificent blooms....

so...these are some of the stuff I read here....its up to us to follow it or ignore it completely.

I know, I heard, however I did not do any winter rest for 2 years and I did not get any blooms, so screw it, I will go for proper winter rest this year and will see. Plus, even it is very easy to burn the leaves here in Florida even in the winter time, I would hate to do that to my plants! also I asked some of my sellers of the dendros, especially the nobile one, and she told me, stop fertilizing at the end of august is MUST (dendros don't like for blooming too much of something stored from fertilizing), and than winter rest as you wrote! This is how she does grow them here in Florida and that's what I will try this winter1