The Orchid Garden

Shade cloth, etc.

Question:

I used the staples to to put 40%shadecloth on the top of my slathouse. No problems, so far.   The slat house is under some trees that give light shade already–and the sides have lattice to cut down on the light.  no sunburn, so far. Last year this time, I had problems with sunburn–so shadecloth it is! How should I attach my shade cloth? I bought some stainless steel staples but am not sure that is the best way to go. If I use the staples, how closely should I place them? It can get pretty windy here on the Intracoastal in Central Florida. Also, I LOVE this newsgroup. It’s is so helpful to such a newbie as myself and I love that you put up pictures of your orchids in bloom They are incredibly beautiful! Thanks for all who gave me such great help with my shade cloth question! Regards, June

–Alynne http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Jungle/2947

Response:

I’m in the north end of Cocoa on the Indian River. I grow Plumeria, Mango, etc. which are higher zoned plants that usual for this area; but I did cover them during two frost scares this winter. Regards, June

Response:

My neighbor keeps all his orchards outside except for when there are frost scares. Then the whole family starts a mad rush to bring them all into the house. One of the orchid growers I buy from told me that he only brings his in when it gets to 40 degrees F. His My neighbor hangs his orchids from his south facing trees and they do beautifully. Unfortunately, I don’t have trees big enough to hang mine on; but both my neighbors and my house have a lot of tall trees south of our properties which shade the early afternoon sun. His orchids do beautifully and I’m hoping with the shade cloth on the arbor, mine will do the same. I can control the light a bit because the arbor is close to the west side of my studio so those that need less light can go there and the others can go on the other side of the arbor where they’ll get the light a bit earlier. I need to find out what medium my neighbor is using for his orchids because they’re out there during the rainy season and he’s not having an overwatering problem. He has them all in the wooden boxes, which is what I’m using as well.  I repotted all my plants a couple of weeks ago and replaced  the medium with bark because I noticed that some of the orchids I had in an inner atrium with and open roof, were staying too wet in the mossy mixture they were in . Since I repotted them, they have perked up and the two that lost their leaves are sending out new shoots  :-) Regards, June

Response:

Everybody covered everthing this past winter, right down to Miami.  My orchids went into the garage. Diana

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m in the north end of Cocoa on the Indian River. I grow Plumeria, Mango, etc. which are higher zoned plants that usual for this area; but I did cover them during two frost scares this winter. Regards, June

Response:

Except for the Phals, all my orchids grow in the sun on the lanai.  They get about 10-15% shading from the screening around the birdcage.  The Phals hang on pillars at the edge of the patio overhang, sheltered from burning sun. We’re planning an addition to the lanai that will be *all orchids, all the time* (my husband got tired of cleaning the patio), and the area will get only slightly less than the plants get now. Diana

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi June.  Diana gave you some good advice.  Go to a local vendor and see what jumps out and grabs you and says "take me home!"  Then ask the vendor what growing conditions suit that orchid the best.  Just to let you know though, in the winter I have to schlep my orchids all onto my enclosed lanai when the temperature drops down to 55F.  There is no way that I can heat my latice house.  I have also decided to remove most of the shade cloth from the roof of the shade house, as most of my cattleyas didn’t bloom last year, and I suspect that they weren’t recieving enough light.  Instead I’m stapling some translucent plastic drop cloth to the roof.  With all the evening rains, I lost a couple of orchids to crown rot and feel that I need to control the amount of water that they receive, and the plastic will give some additional shade, but not as much as the shade cloth.  You just need to experiment to see what will work in your area. Good luck!

Response:

Bless you! It’s raining at the moment, so this shade cloth  job will have to wait for another day! LOL Since you are also a Florida resident, can you tell me what orchids do best and what to avoid? I know we can’t grow cymbidiums here, but that’s the extent of my knowledge in this area! LOL Regards, June

Oh but we CAN grow (and bloom!) cymbidiums here. There is a cymbidium nursery just east of Tampa and he has tens of thousands of them. triff – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

My local orchid grower told me it was too hot here for cymbidiums. The two growers I buy from here in Brevard county don’t carry them and none of the nurseries have them either. I love cymbidiums! Do you have the name of the Tampa nursery? We’re doing on overnight on the west coast later this month and I might be able to stop by the nursery. Thanks! Regards, June

Response:

My local orchid grower told me it was too hot here for cymbidiums. The two growers I buy from here in Brevard county don’t carry them and none of the nurseries have them either. I love cymbidiums! Do you have the name of the Tampa nursery? We’re doing on overnight on the west coast later this month and I might be able to stop by the nursery. Thanks! Regards, June His name is Larry Bussell and he is on Pearson Road near Bloomingdale FL . He

is not set up to have people wandering in all day – you would need an appointment. Please email me for more details, June, and make sure I can email you back. You are set up not to accept email from anyone. triff – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –

Response:

Important to remember that anyone *can* grow anything anywhere if one has the means to create the proper conditions.  For example, a GH grower can modulate the environment to accomodate Cyms or many other cool/intermediate varieties, but the average home/outside grower (which includes me) would be hard put to duplicate that effort.  I’m all for pushing the envelope, but I’ve learned not to push it into the Atlantic. Diana

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My local orchid grower told me it was too hot here for cymbidiums. The two growers I buy from here in Brevard county don’t carry them and none of the nurseries have them either. I love cymbidiums! Do you have the name of the Tampa nursery? We’re doing on overnight on the west coast later this month and I might be able to stop by the nursery. Thanks! Regards, June His name is Larry Bussell and he is on Pearson Road near Bloomingdale FL . He is not set up to have people wandering in all day – you would need an appointment. Please email me for more details, June, and make sure I can email you back. You are set up not to accept email from anyone. triff

Response:

Milton Carpenter of Everglades Orchida has hybridized cymbidiuns that are warmth tolerant.  I am in SE Florida (20 min. N. of Miami) and have had gtreat luck blooming them.  I also have some from Santa Barbara Estates that bloom regularly for me.  Last Sunmer was a freak summer for me–I had cymbidiums blooming all through the hottest months.

Response:

Can you give me the names of the heat tolerant cymbidums? I’d be able to do a web search and maybe order some. Thanks! Regards, June

Response:

Hi June.  Diana gave you some good advice.  Go to a local vendor and see what jumps out and grabs you and says "take me home!"  Then ask the vendor what growing conditions suit that orchid the best.  Just to let you know though, in the winter I have to schlep my orchids all onto my enclosed lanai when the temperature drops down to 55F.  There is no way that I can heat my latice house.  I have also decided to remove most of the shade cloth from the roof of the shade house, as most of my cattleyas didn’t bloom last year, and I suspect that they weren’t recieving enough light.  Instead I’m stapling some translucent plastic drop cloth to the roof.  With all the evening rains, I lost a couple of orchids to crown rot and feel that I need to control the amount of water that they receive, and the plastic will give some additional shade, but not as much as the shade cloth.  You just need to experiment to see what will work in your area. Good luck!

Response:

Hi, June, Where exactly are you?  Central FL takes in a lot of ground.  We are in Port St. Lucie, which is considered south FL.  Most Miltonias don’t do well here, though there are now Mitoniopsis that are warm-tolerant.  You need to ask the vendor about the conditions the plant needs.  Zygopetallum is another cool grower, though there is research in progress to see if a warm tolerant strain can be developed. Most Catts, Dens and Phals do well here, as do most Oncidiums and their crosses, but the list is really endless.  The key is to talk to the vendor or someone you trust before adding a plant.  Local nurseries tend to have plants that are appropriate for the area.  Also, there are vendors in the ng, and they are very good about informing as to what is appropriate.  First Ray’s Orchids is a good jumping off point. Best, Diana

Response:

Bless you! It’s raining at the moment, so this shade cloth  job will have to wait for another day! LOL Since you are also a Florida resident, can you tell me what orchids do best and what to avoid? I know we can’t grow cymbidiums here, but that’s the extent of my knowledge in this area! LOL Regards, June

Response:

How should I attach my shade cloth? I bought some stainless steel staples but am not sure that is the best way to go. If I use the staples, how closely should I place them? It can get pretty windy here on the Intracoastal in Central Florida. Also, I LOVE this newsgroup. It’s is so helpful to such a newbie as myself and I love that you put up pictures of your orchids in bloom They are incredibly beautiful! Thanks for all who gave me such great help with my shade cloth question! Regards, June

Response:

How should I attach my shade cloth? I bought some stainless steel staples but

Hi June.  I live in SW Florida and have a latice shade house which I used the stainless steel staples to attach shade clothe to the sides and part of the roof.  I just rolled the edge of the clothe so that the staples had a little more to anchor into, and stapled about every six inches or so. You can always use more staples if you need to. Just see what works for you.

Response:

Filed under: Cymbidium Orchids

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