Orchid Grower Safety

enthusiast.EventhoughAfter posting a few articles about orchids, I think it is time to write some precautionary note on the safety aspect for orchid enthusiast. Orchids care is important, but the owner also need to be more careful especially when handling insecticides and fungicides. When I spray the more toxic (1st or 2nd degree) chemicals I usually use chemical mask to protect my nose from inhaling the mist. Ensure that I purchase the unit with activated carbon embedded in the filter canister. An eye protection plastic google made specially for this purpose is also recommended. I also see the wind direction and ensure that I am not spraying against the wind. I bath immediately after the chemical application. The toxicity of the chemicals, especially the insecticides depend on the degree as indicated on the label. There are usually 3 levels of toxicity rated. The 1st class has a small pirate logo(skull and 2 crossed bones) and this is seldom recommended unless the orchids collection are heavily infested by pests. I normally use the least toxic one like Malathion or Decis. All chemicals should be stored properly to safeguard against inquisitive children. This small reminder should not be caused for alarm, if a few simple mindful actions taken. It shouldn't stop us from enjoying our beautiful orchid blooms.

Orchids Care - Fertilizing, Fungicide Application And Watering

After securing the Renanthera cutting to the wooden post and embedding it into a big clay pot 2/3 filled with broken charcoal and bricks it was then placed at a less sunny location of my garden. The next thing is taking care of the plant. I usually use Gaviota 63 (with higher N of the NPK component)for growth and Gaviota 67 (higher P) for flowering on matured plant. I spray and drench the plant with Gaviota 63 twice weekly. In between the fertilizing I alternate it with fungicide (Thiram or Captan) and insecticide (Malathion or Rogor).Every week I ensure my plant get 2 doses of fertilizer and one dose each of insecticide and fungicide treatment. Strength of solution is as per manufacturer specification on the label. Care should be taken as not to exceed the manufacturer specification since higher concentration may burn tender root tips. This may to a certain extend slow the growth of the plant. Watering is usually twice per day, morning and evening.

Cultural care for Cattleya, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Phaphiopedilum and Phaleanopsis can be obtained at http://www.aos.org/aos/orchids/page01.aspx

Orchids- Renanthera Planting Part 2

Assuming that I manage to obtain a top cutting of my fancy about 1 foot in length I would gather all the other planting materials like broken charcoal, bricks, a big and stable clay pot and a 2 1/2 ft. length 2" X 2" width of wooden post. The wood pillar goes inside the center of pot first, then followed by broken bricks about 1/3 of the pot for stability . Tie the plant to the wooden post and fill another 1/3 with charcoal. Spray the newly potted plant with Gaviota 63 and some fungicide like Captan or Thiram. Leave the plant in a cool shaddy location of the garden untill new roots begin to emerge. Gradually I would move the plant to a sunnier location as the number of new roots increase in numbers. This take about 3 weeks to about a month. Since my resident is in the tropic, I just treat the newly planted cutting like any other established plant in term of the fertilizing and watering schedule.

Orchid Care- Renanthera Planting My Way

The other day one of my orchid lover friend visited my new blog. Blogging is new to me, but orchid planting has been quite sometime. He told me if he were a newbie to orchid, he would like to have some easy and practical pointers to the culture. If he is an experience orchidist he would be more interested to know about my style of how I select and bring it up into beautiful bloom. What have been written in books and magazines are mostly standard cultural procedures, but there are some variation in ways according to individual experiences and inclination. Well I think I have to oblige to this request.

Normally I would like to choose either offshot (keikis) or top cut from proven existing plant. This is my personal preference, other may differs. This may be expensive but worth every cents in the long term. This is because to bring up a young plant regardless of quality or inferior clone requires the same amount of effort, time, money, space and loving care. A proven offshoot may cost more than 10 times compared to an unproven seedling from a new hybrid but the end result brings more pleasure and satisfaction.

The ideal is to have a top cut or division from a proven show plant. This may be a bit expensive, but another way is to exchange with another enthusiast plant of similar quality. But as a hobbyist who take pride in his or her collection, some would like to keep a show stopper variety in the collection and win award after award from the particular unique specimen which is the subject of envy from others.