Lynda Hallinan was on Radio LIve with us this morning and mentioned how people think that because citrus trees often get yellow leaves in winter they need feeding. They actually don't, the yellowing is a sign of the cold and they don't need feeding until the soil warms up again, Around September.

Next tip was from our local garden centre. I popped in to get a few bags of sand and ended up buying a very pretty pink orchid. For those who water their orchids with ice cubes, it is a good idea to make up an orchid food solution, freeze this and then water and feed at the same time. Just don't get confused and put orchid ice cubes in your gin!

That is good to know regarding the citrus. Thanks for sharing these tips Helen

Ice cubes? And there's me been 'pampering' my mini-orchid with tepid water so that it doesn't go into shock with icy-cold water from the tap! Who's idea is it to use ice cubes? They're a tropical plant, aren't they? When would they ever get iced water raining on them in the wild?

Oh, and by the way, my phalaenopsis is doing just fine with tepid water, weekly on a Wednesday.

I agree Lorna. And so does my horticulturist husband, and so do many others. Orchids, particularly phaelenopsis, do best with occasional drenching followed by complete draining. We do ours about once a month.

[www.gardenmyths.com]

[www.orchidsmadeeasy.com]

Lorna and TPANDAV I too have a phaelenopsis which was given to me so I've had to learn how to look after it. It's first lot of flowers which were on the plant when I was given it last year went on for months and now it is next flowering branch is about 5 cms long. I'm quite excited! I water and drain mine at the end of every week, and I've been pondering if it will be OK to leave it for 2 weeks whilst we are away, but now I think TPANDAV has given me piece of mind by saying she does hers once a month.
Regards,
Dawn.

I know there are those who completely disagree with ice cube watering and I agree it isn't logical. But there are those that fine 5 ice cubes per week means happy orchids.

I got a phaelenopsis orchid from The warehouse a couple of months ago and it is the first one I have ever owned.It had two stems flowering beautifully with white blooms.One stem has finished flowering and it now looks dead.Do I cut this stem off or leave it until the other stem has finished flowering.When the time comes to re-pot it what growing "soil" do you use.One more question is do these orchids multiply because on tables in magazines they can be huge.

I think the ice cubes thing probably works, not because they're ice cubes, but because of the measured quantity of water, which would help prevent over/under-watering. A typical ice cube equals 2 tablespoons of water so people could just put that amount of water in instead of an ice cube.

marylew Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>....One stem has
> finished flowering and it now looks dead.Do I cut
> this stem off or leave it until the other stem has
> finished flowering.

Cut the old stem down by about 2/3; if you can see a strong looking node cut just above that and with luck a new flower stem will grow from the node.

>When the time comes to re-pot
> it what growing "soil" do you use.

Use commercial orchid mix to repot. Orchids need a very loose open growing medium which is hard to replicate.

>One more
> question is do these orchids multiply because on
> tables in magazines they can be huge.

They will grow bigger over time but it is a slow process. Some cultivars are bigger than others. The huge multi-stemmed plants you see in magazines are usually several plants bunched together.

Thank you tpandav,I loved this orchid when I first saw it and hadn't given any thought to what do with it next.I grow lots of pot plants and they are easy but seeing this post made me go to my bathroom and really look at it.It's in a clear plastic container and all I could see was bark and it's roots.I can understand now what to do with it thanks and look forward to buying more and working with them.They certainly are beautiful.

Yes, they are lovely things. We had about 20 before we moved house but left them in the care of a neighbour for several months before we moved, and they got stored on a verandah under a leaky roof and drowned. They all rotted, it was a tragedy. So we're building up a new collection, an expensive pursuit. The ones we have so far all seem very happy and I think they enjoy the steady warmth of our new well heated house.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/10/2017 10:17AM by TPANDAV.

If anyone in the Auckland area is looking for interesting and well priced orchids then the people at the Clevedon farmers market seem to know their stuff.
I assume they are still there - well hope they are.
I have bought a few orchids off them in the past and when one wasn't doing so well they offered to replace it.