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December in your Orchid Collection
December marks the beginning of the dry season in South Florida. While this additional dryness provides relief from the autumnal rains that can bring so many fungal problems, December is also the month of shortest day length. This contracted light reduces the drying potential severely. Nature both gives and takes away from us in December. We must make sure, therefore, that we do not aid the dark side of the force by improper watering. In December, above all, one must stick strictly to the two cardinal principles of orchid watering: water early in the day so your plants have as many hours as possible to dry, and water heavily when you water, allowing longer intervals between watering to dry plants thoroughly.
When nature has delivered a light overnight or early morning rain as she so often does in December, add to her efforts by watering thoroughly that same morning and skip out watering for an extra several days afterward. In cooler weather your plants need much less water and cool air even at the same relative humidity, strips less water from your plants. Always use the finger in the media test or heft a pot that you know the weight of, both wet and dry, before you roll out the hose.
Himalayan dendrobiums of the nobile and callista (D. aggregatum, chrysotoxum, etc.) Sections require no additional water (beyond rain) in December. Remember, those of you who water (or, even worse, fertilize) these dendrobiums in December, will be punished by having your flowers taken away in the Spring. Some growers who have the space isolate these dendrobiums along with other types that want hard drying such as Catasetum, Cynoches, Mormodes, and Calanthe. Another strategy is to hang these plants high or at the edges of the collection reminding oneself to neglect them and also to avoid watering them by mistake. Some growers achieve the same result effect by turning the pots of these genera on their side, to avoid catching water. Plants of some of these genera that have finished flowering can even be removed from their pots in anticipation of re-potting them in new media when they break growth in the spring.
Most sympodial orchids are resting in December and require less fertilizer. Biweekly or even monthly applications of a balanced fertilizer are still desirable. Nitrate nitrogen is the most readily absorbed in cooler weather; therefore at least one more application of the potassium nitrate/magnesium sulphate (at 1tbs. each per gal.) recommended in November is still a good idea. Motes Orchids will continue offering free spray grade Potassium nitrate at the nursery, to all our friends in December. It’s good stuff! Vandas, Phalaenopsis and other monopodial orchids should be fertilized right through the winter although both the amount of fertilizer and the frequency of application can be reduced.
December can be cold. Frost has occurred in the first week of the month and unforgettably, the coldest temperatures ever recorded in South Florida were registered on December 25, 1989. If you haven’t taken some of the precautions outlined in the November Newsletter, get busy!
If you are getting a jump on Spring potting chores by repotting sympodial orchids that have finished blooming, it is particularly important that you take extra care in securing them in their containers. These plants will not be sending out new roots for several months, enough time for them to be shaken loose from insufficient staking. When new roots start to form on insufficiently secured plants, wind moves the plant and chafes the new root tips off. Improperly secured plants pine away. If you love them you must tie them up, tie them down. This is also true of mass produced orchids sold in Home Depot, K Mart etc. The soft, peat based media used often does not provide sufficient purchase to secure the plants. Tie them up!
Keep those vandas, phalaenopsis and hard cane dendrobiums as warm as you can. Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and Ramadan!
Motes Orchids will be open every Saturday beginning this month. So many of our customers enjoy combining a visit to us with some Pennsylvania Dutch baked goodies from our close neighbors at the Knaus Berry Farm. We can guarantee that South Florida’s finest Vandas and Ascocendas are non-fattening! They’ll be on display and for sale at our incredible low prices every Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Motes Orchids is located at 25000 SW 162 Ave, that’s just south of Coconut Palm Drive (248 St) and 162 Ave. Both Motes Orchids and Knaus are 21/2 miles due East of the Redland Fruit and Spice Park in the heart of the Redland tropical agricultural district.
We’ve been doing some house keeping at Motes Orchids so those fantastic bargains on bare-roots of our exclusive hybrids will be on sale while they last!
We are getting requests for back issues of "This Month" from new recipients. Not to worry, the newsletter is a work in progress. You will be getting a new and improved reversion each month next year. If we become too tedious, let us know, if not forward this to your orchid friends.
January in your orchid collection
January is somewhat like December but in reverse, with each succeeding day bringing longer hours of sunlight until days are long enough that afternoons return at the end of the month. January, like December, is cold and dry, in fact even colder and drier. Dry is good, cold can be very bad. We need to accentuate the positive by careful watering in January. By keeping our plants as dry as possible and spacing our waterings as far apart as possible, we conserve our potential to use water to protect our plants from the cold, keeping our powder dry, as it were.
Water is the only feasible source of heat available to plants grown in the open in South Florida. Ground water here (and in most of the rest of the world is about 63 F. (16C). Water out of municipal systems is not far different. On truly cold nights turning on the water can be of great benefit to our plants, provided that they have not been over-watered in the days and weeks preceding. In general, orchids are better off dry until temperatures approach frost or freezing. Frost is possible at temperatures higher than is commonly realized. In still air frost can form at higher elevations and settle in on plants while the surface temperature is only in the upper 30's.
Forecasts of temperatures below 40 F should stimulate us to action.
If it is not practical to bring all the phaleanopsis, vandas and hard cane dendrobiums into the house or garage, think of using water to help protect them. Shade cloth or even patio screen hold in a surprising amount of heat like an lacy Mantilla. Under screen, a mist head left running beneath the bench or plant rack will provide several degrees of additional warmth that will often sufficiently temper the chill. In more open areas not protected by a permanent irrigation system, an oscillating sprinkler is very effective. These are readily available at Home Depot and garden shops for a few dollars. Start the water at bedtime and let it run until the sun is up.
Remember that Himalayan dendrobiums and ‘warm growing’ Cymbidium hybrids will positively relish temperatures down to 32F and a light frost is just the ticket for great bloom.
In the drought of January, mites, which affect nearly all genera of orchids, begin to be a serious problem. They will reach a crescendo in March and April but January is a good time to scotch them. Mites are one of the most serious pests of orchids in South Florida and the one most commonly disregarded, largely through ignorance. They are sufficiently small enough to pass unobserved and their effects are sufficiently strange enough to be misunderstood. Mite damage most frequently occurs on the undersides of leaves because the minute creatures are easily dislodged by water. Where mites have fed the leaf surface collapses leaving a scar that at first appears silvery then oxidizes to brown or black. Many small, irregular black marks that at first appear to be fungus but do not spread or coalesce, are the classic evidence of mites. Small, but exceedingly numerous, in hot, dry weather mites can multiply at astonishing speed with devastating consequences. Paphiopedilum and other softy leaved genera are particularly susceptible but no genus is free of them. One theory on why deciduous genera such as Catasetum lose their leaves hypothesizes that this rids them of mites.
Being rid of mites is a good thing! Sometimes easier said than done because mites reproduce with such voluminous speed. Their life cycle from egg to reproductive adult being is as short as twelve days. In order to control them one must achieve as total a kill of the population as possible. This can only be done with two successive sprays. After spraying for mites initially, one must spray again in 7 -10 days. No single spray is totally effective in killing both adults and eggs and a second spraying is necessary to kill any survivors before they can reproduce. Soap at the rate of 2 oz per gallon is very effective. Be sure your plants are well watered the day before applying soap and be sure that you cover thoroughly all leaf surfaces especially the lower ones. The University of Florida IFAS recommended chemicals for mite control are:
Avid 0.15 EC
Kelthane T/O
Mavarik Aquaflow
Talstar Flowable
Always follow label instructions for use.
Controlling mites pays huge dividends!
January begins the heavy show schedule with the Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Show the 18th, 19th and 20th at the War Memorial Auditorium on Dixie Highway. The show is the third largest South Florida orchid event and well worth seeing. For those living in Broward County, the Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Society is one of the friendliest (we’ve been a member for 15 years) and you could join at the Show.
Coral Gables and Boca Raton shows are in the offing for February. The Redland Natural Arts Festival will take place January 19th ,20th and 21st. at the Redland Fruit and Spice Park 24801 SW 187 Ave. There’ll be orchid vendors there and Motes Orchids(2 and1/2 miles east) will be having their January sale on the Saturday and Sunday. By popular demand, Dr. Motes will again give the Introduction to Orchid Growing on Sunday January 20th at 11:00 AM. An expanded calendar of the series of free Saturday seminars at 11:00 AM at Motes Orchids, follows.
Seminar Schedule
Jan. 12 Growing Vandas
Jan 19 Growing Phalaenopsis
Jan. 20 Introduction to Orchid Growing(Sunday)
Jan 26 Growing Cattleyas
Feb 2 Growing Dendrobiums
Feb 9 Vacation - Dr. Motes speaks in San Diego and Phoenix
Feb 16 Troubleshooting - Disease and Pest Control
Feb 23 Potting, Mounting, and Basketing
Mar 2 Landscaping with Orchids
Mar 9 Vacation- Dr. Motes Lectures at Amherst
Mar 16 Introduction to Orchid Growing
ALL Classes at 11:00 AM
Motes Orchids will be open every Saturday this month. Many of our customers enjoy combining a visit to us with some Pennsylvania Dutch baked goodies from our close neighbors at the Knaus Berry Farm who are not open on Sundays. We can guarantee that South Florida’s finest Vandas and Ascocendas are non-fattening! They’ll be on display and for sale at our incredible low prices every Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Motes Orchids is located at 25000 SW 162 Ave, that’s just south of Coconut Palm Drive (248 St) and 162 Ave. Both Motes Orchids and Knaus are 21/2 miles due East of the Redland Fruit and Spice Park in the heart of the Redland tropical agricultural district.
We’ve been doing some house keeping at Motes Orchids so there will be those fantastic bargains on bare-roots of our exclusive hybrids will be on sale while they last!
We are getting requests for back issues of "This Month" from new recipients. Not to worry, the newsletter is a work in progress. You will be getting a new and improved reversion each month next year. If we become too tedious, let us know, if not forward this to your orchid friends. |
