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Question for the orchid masters

Hi folks,

I'll have my new lowland terrarium setup with netting on back & sides for mounted orchids but I would like to know what some orchid genus suggestions might be for this environment:

320-400 watts flourescent light
70-90*F temps
80%+ humidity

The orchids do not have to be "miniature" or small (the tank is 6 X 6 X 3) but they will have to be mountable on orchid bark, driftwood, hydro logs or whatever and hung at the edges of these lights (they wouldn't be under the full blast of the lights as the Nepenthes will be there). I was just wondering if you orchid experts might have some suggestions on warm growing plants I could look into to decorate the walls. I already have a few Bulbophyllums to go in but am I limited to Bulbophyllums and Phalenopsis?
 
sword what they usally sell in the DIY store around here are

Phal.
cattleya
brassa
bendrobium

anything else you usally have to order off line or go into a nursery and still they are hard to find other ochids

hope that helped some
 
Yeah, I plan on getting the plants from an online source or at Orchids ltd if I just can't wait for priorty mail. I don't care much for the ones at the local shops like phals and such I liek the weirder ones Myabe a "ghost orchid" which is just the mass of silvery roots which flowers now and then! I do like Brassias, If I could find a brassia at a local shop without black spot disease on the foliage and at a good price I'd buy it. But they need cooler nights than 70*f for long term growth don't they?
 
Br. i got that one at home depot but, i saw it in walmart this week when i was in there with a couple of others that was in bags. got one but, don't remember what kind it is with out looking at the name tag.

heck, if they come from tropiflora they don't have any cooling systems in there g/h.

i just keep it on the back porch out of the sun. just got it this year and haven't had it bloom yet but, the foliage looks in great shape.

the ghost orchid that is a rare one. i have only seen that one at shelby gardens down here. thats a small botanical garden around here. they got a small walk threw orchid garden w/ lots of orchids but, only one nep on display. they get all there neps and other carni. plants from argi-starts. that is what the head ladie told me from there. meet her once at the plant fair at tropiflora.
 
You might want to look at the Angraecoids.  A lot of them grow warm. Hoosier Orchids usually has a good variety.
 
Brassias are no good for a warm growing environment, neither are most Cattleyas. Just because someone can grow a plant well and the foliage looks good does not mean that plant is flowering just the same. For instance my former boss grew severel specimens of Epigenium lyonii for severel years with out flowering them once.The plants looked wonderful grew wonderfully but never flowered. So I decided to do some research on what little information was avaiable on the genus and found they were beeing grown entirly too cool. So I put one of them in our phal house and BOOM 25 spikes and 100 some flowers with in 2 months, theyve been flowering regularly ever since. Tropifloras main product are Bromeliads,  Bananas and Plumerias, all terrestrials, not epiphytes like Orchids.
Some Phals will do well. particulaly those species that come from warmer climates.
If your looking in to Angraecum the Madegascan species would suit your environment better. Most African species prefere cooler nights.
I dont think youll be finding a Ghost Orchid anytime soon, although Jerry does claim to have one, no ones ever seen it flower. Gimme a lill time and Ill come up with a list for you, k
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Peace
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khai, your right that tropiflora is mostly Brom. but, they do have like 2 g/h in orchids. last time i stopped in there Bob the owner just got back from a show and had 2 white Paph in a box.

khai, ya i'll give ya time i would like to know where to get a ghost orchid really cheap but, dought it if they are at all. if it is any thing like the Drac. in price
 
I can't remember where it was that I saw "ghost orchids" online but it was in the last year or so. I thought it was Tropiflora but looking at their site the other day I didn't see anything too exciting at all.

I like the weird orchids. Is Coryanthes macrantha a frequent bloomer? Since their flowers only last a few days and attract only one kind of bee I would assume they flower more than once per "season" but then due to the compexity of the flower maybe not...
 
i just found this web page that has the ghost orchid or Polyrrhiza lindenii in tissue culture here in florida

ghost orchid flask

not really that expensive eather from looking at the price but it looks like you have to buy a bunch of them.
 
  • #10
Coryanthes macrantha is a frequent bloomer usually twice a year sometimes more. I know you can ge C. macrantha and C. macrantha aurea from OL.
I selected the aurea.

George havent you ever seen a white Pahp?
We had tons of the #### things, Im not a fan of white Pahps
unless were talking about section brachypetalum that is.

You know I really dont see the fascination with the leafless orchids at all, I mean cmon its just a bunch of roots that may or may not flower!

Peace
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  • #11
heh heh! Yeah, roots are not the most attractive thing.

For me it's more a novelty than a "desired" orchid. I found one at petiete plaisance orchids but there is a lot more than just that one that I'd rather have first!
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  • #12
khai, around here you don't get to see to many paph. in the diy stores there more in the nursery's or botanical gardens. i was lucky to find the one paph. in home depot that i got. yes, i have seen 2 white paph in my time but, bob the owner of tropiflora had them in his collection and not for sale. there is a show coming up next month close by. might go to that and see what i can find.

the ghost is more of a novalty. your right the roots aren't really that attractive but the flower really is very pretty. the only reason i would get it is because it is a very rare plant in the wild down here now do to pulching in the everglades of orchids.

i remember when i was younger. you used to be able to go out in the sticks and see all kinds of ochids now adays. your lucky to see any of them growing in the wild. there all stuck in nurseries or tissue culture to keep them around now.
 
  • #13
Yep, its sad what humans do to the planet in order reap aesthetic appeal.
If you like white Paphs then keep an eye out for Pahpiopedulum ang-thon. This is a relatively rare, (pure white iif you can find the alba form)slipper from the section brachypetulum, (Brachys' for short).

I wasnt speeking about DIY stores to begin with, I generally dont look for orchids at these places anyway. I have a real problem with stores like Home Depot and Target selling orchids. They buy mass produced junk from Taiwan, plants that were produced with no vision other than to make money.

Companies like that have no intention in furthering the future of the industry, only thier own.

Yeah my desires lie mostly with Orchids that smell, espcially if the smell like crap!


Peace
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  • #14
usually when i get a orchid from there it is to rescue the poor plant from them not taken care of it the right way. heck the one i got the leaves where almost all melted but, with a little trimming and some tlc the plant looks great now.
 
  • #15
Is it really so bad to mass produce orchids and sell them in volume for people to enjoy the flowers? Even if the plants don't live so what? They cost less than a bouquet from a flower shop and last much longer... Not a whole lot different than filling your gardens with annuals every spring knowing they will be dead come a hard frost in the fall.

As for warm growing orchids there are piles of them.. Some of the smaller Angreacum are nice but most get big. You could look at Aerangis as these are typically much smaller and grow well mounted. Paphinia from South America is a neat genus that has pendant inflorescences and does well warm. They make very large colorful flowers. Another of my favorites is Cochleanthes amazonica.
Tony
 
  • #16
"Is it really so bad to mass produce orchids and sell them in volume for people to enjoy the flowers?  Even if the plants don't live so what? "

That statement alone is offensive the idea of disposable plants makes me sick, its a lack of respect for all things living, most certainly when you consider what they mean to our existance.
It also may cause newcomers to the hobby to give up prematurely as they offer substandard stock to people that may not know any better.

"Not a whole lot different than filling your gardens with annuals every spring knowing they will be dead come a hard frost in the fall."

I dont condone this pratice either. Again it is wasteful and perpetuates the wasteful attitude.

Cochleanthes amazonica is certainly interesting in a muted subtle way. I never really cared much for the flower, though their growth habit is somewhat attractive, they are a very hardy plant though, mine grew like weeds.
Aerangis are great and most smell wonderful, some like rubberbands if youve ever sniffed a rubberband youll know what im talking about.

Peace
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  • #17
I fail to see how growing an annual in your flower garden or farm raised orchids is wasteful or disrespecting to living things. Personally I think it shows alot of respect to want to grow flowers and be able to get them to people that wouldn't otherwise ever get to enjoy one in the flesh.

Do people kill the orchids from home depot etc? probably the great majority. Does it discourage some? probably. Does it open many peoples eyes to the wonderful world of orchids? Absolutely! Do many of them then go on to learn and educate themselves so that they can become true hobbyists? probably.

I totally think however that living things in the wild, plant or animal, is another issue and the utmost respect should be given to them.

Tony
 
  • #18
To add to the above argument of annual's being legitamatly fair to the plant, there ARE annuals in nature...
 
  • #19
First of all dont put words in my mouth!
I never said the act of growing was disrespectful.
It is the wastefull behaviour that I loath.

There was a man in the news in my area recently because of his electricity bill. It seems he pays 1100 dollars a months beacuse of his Xmas light display.
His comment was " I can afford it so why shouldnt I?".

Well because its wastefull and entirely unnecessary!

So Tony IM gonna stop this topic now, because you and i could go back and forth forever. Which really isnt beneficial to the forums.

I will say this, you have an opinion and i respect that.
Please respect mine.

Peace
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  • #20
</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Parasuco @ Dec. 31 2002,12:53)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">To add to the above argument of annual's being legitamatly fair to the plant, there ARE annuals in nature...[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Yes there are annuals in nature. but NO WHERE in nature are  there several hundred yards of lets say impatients that have been fed chemical fertilizers and toxic pesticides and herbicides all their lives that simply die every season to leach all that has been fed to them back into the ground water.
 
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