A time to spike!

This season I've tried to pay particular attention to the advice of other orchid growers, both personal acquaintances, and those who post on Internet forums and websites about how to fertilize, water and care for specific types of orchids.  Taking care to treat each species the way it prefers to be treated.  In the past I've always grouped many different types of orchids together and hoped for the best but this year I wanted to see if it made a difference.  Guess what; it has.  

In my own indoor greenhouses I've tried to create micro climates for the different types of plants that I have.  I have a warm, temperate greenhouse, and a cooler less humid greenhouse.  The warm greenhouse uses the HDS system to create extra humidity and stays at about 70% with a temperature range from a low of 62 at night and 75 during the day while the cooler greenhouse relies on the humidity created by transpiration and standing water in the Humidi-Grow trays.  It stays at about 45% humidity with a temperature range from a low of about 58 at night to a high of 70 during the day.  The plants that I keep in the warm greenhouse consist of Cattleya, Oncidium, Zygopedilum, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, Brassia, Vanda, Miltonias, and a few assorted species orchids.  I have them arranged by light needs as well as day time temperature preferences which is achieved by placing them on the correct tier of the grow stands.  In the cooler greenhouse I keep the Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilums, and the Odontoglossums.  

I also keep several of my Phals growing in southeastern windows where the night time temperatures can drop into the high 50's.  I have been fertilizing them all with quarter strength fertilizer that has a high nitrogen content about once a month and watering just a bit more than usual.  I'm typically a low water orchid grower, erring on the side of "less water is better".

  

The result of all this extra effort and specific care has started to pay off.   The majority of my orchids have spiked in the last two months and have some of the most healthy spikes they've had in years.  At least 3/4 of my phals have spiked, some that haven't bloomed for a couple of years.  My most difficult Miltonia has four spikes on it.  An Oncidium I've been nursing for many years has it's first spike since I brought it home, and many of my Cattleya's have sheaths on them.  A miniature Vanda has already started blooming and I'm anticipating that the Brassia's and Epidendrum will all spike in the next month or so.  

So, it has been an interesting few months here at Portagrow, not only with the beginning, and continued sales of our products but also with continued experimenting with my own orchids and their environments.  It should be an exciting spring as our house fills with the beautiful splashes of color our orchids provide.