Want to learn more? Don’t miss Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Email Tips.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

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Question: Two of my orchids have grown a new plant off the old flower stem.  The root is 1 1/2 in. long.  How should I remove it to repot it?

Answer:

Hi Helena!  I’m so glad you’ve written all the way from Panama!  Your orchids must be loving the warm and humid climate in Bocas del Toro!  It is difficult to say what exactly is going on with your orchid, but it sounds as though your plants are growing keikis.  (You can check out my post on orchid anatomy.)

I’ve propagated a few keikis from my phalaenopsis orchids over the years—each one has gone on to flourish into a full-size plant using the orchid propagation method below. Phalaenopsis grown this way should reach flowering size 18 months to 2 years after they first appeared.

(Proceed only if the roots of the keiki are longer than at least 2 inches.)

Carefully remove the small plant from the flower spike by cutting the stem 1 to 2 inches either side of the plant, this will ensure that you don’t damage the roots of the keiki.

Assemble everything you need.  This comprises of a pot large enough for 12 months of growth, a medium grade potting mix, a label with the variety and of course the keiki – see photo.

Carefully pot the keiki —keeping the roots in tact below the orchid potting mix.

Protect the keiki from direct sunlight and water and fertilize regularly.

Here’s the keiki on June 30th – it has produced a new leave and roots

The keiki has another new leaf and a flower spike emerging!

The keiki in full bloom

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Want to learn more?  Don’t miss Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Email Tips.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

So, rather than respond to everyone individually, I figured I could respond to emails right here on the blog.

Today’s Orchid Care and Maintenance Question is from Sheila in upstate New York.

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Question: My orchid flower buds shrivel and fall off my orchids before they open?  Why?

Answer:

Great question Sheila!  Healthy orchid plants that have buds fall off the stem before they have a chance to open are suffering from “bud blast”.  This can be caused due to rapid changes in environment and even air pollutants such as smoke, paint thinner or aerosol sprays and ethylene gas that is released from ripening fruit.

Are you moving your orchid around the house daily?  Is there a cold or hot draft that might be affecting it?  Or is it sitting on the kitchen table near your fruit bowl?

You can read a bit more about how temperature changes affect orchids in my earlier post: Orchid Flowers and Bud Blast.

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Have an orchid related question you’d like me to answer?  Send me an email!  Check out the Contact Carol tab above for more info.

Don’t forget to sign up for Free Orchid Care Tips with my pal Ryan.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

You can upload pictures of your cymbidium beauties at this link here: http://bit.ly/aMJQxH

Cym. Pontac ' Trinity '

Cym. Apple Crisp

Cym. Misty Green

Cym. Everett Stockstill ' Sheilajo '

Want to keep your cymbidium orchids happy and healthy?  Don’t forget to sign up for Ryan’s Free Orchid Care newsletter HERE.  He  includes Orchid Care Cheat Sheets with every book order!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Courtesy of Vinegar Tips

+ Beautiful Cymbidium Orchid photos courtesy of Flickr User azn_linsie_hu

Orchids are susceptible to various types of rot including leaf rot, root rot and crown rot.  Monopodial orchids (Phalaenopsis and Vandas) are most suseptible to crown rot—a fungal infection that is caused by water pooling in the center (or crown) of the plant.

Crown rot can cause immense damage to an orchid and must be treated immediately.  One solution  is to use hydrogen peroxide (3%).  You can treat the crown rot with full strength hydrogen peroxide, repeating every 2-3 days until the rot no longer fizzes and bubbles with the hydrogen peroxide application.  Sprinkling cinnamon from your kitchen cabinets can also be used to treat the fungus.

Of course, prevention is the best medicine, even when it comes to orchids.  Crown rot is 100% preventable.  Water your orchids early in the day, so that the plant has time to dry off before night time and provide your plants with proper air circulation.  Most importantly, always take the time to inspect the crown of your orchids regularly.  Take a tissue and soak up any water that has pooled in the crown.

(If you do decide to remove severely damaged orchid leaves, make sure you sterilize the blade for each cut.)

Want to receive more tips on caring for orchids?  Sign up for Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Email Tips–you’ll learn everything you need to know straight from the expert!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

To spray your orchid plants to deter insects – in place of more toxic chemicals.

4 cups canola oil or vegetable oil
7 table spoon eucalyptus oil
2 cups water
2 teaspoon dish soap

Mix together & shake well. To use add 3 tablespoon of mixture to 4 cups of water and spray.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

Bill and I are really making a conscious effort to change the way things operate in our household.   I’ve already phased out all of our previous household cleaners with natural cleaning solutions and I’ve been so pleased with the results I thought I’d continue the work outdoors.

We are in the process of transitioning the garden into a more environmentally friendly place–finding options for natural pesticides and fertilizers (that really work).

It may come as a surprise, but we’ve actually saved money transitioning our home and garden into greener spaces.   Natural and environmental friendly does not necessarily  mean more expensive!

One of my absolute favorite natural secrets is vinegar.  It is super cheap, widely available and has so many great uses around the house and garden!

White distilled vinegar provides many safe and natural ways to protect and enhance your garden and gardening tools. Not only will you feel good about keeping children and pets (and you!) away from pesticides and other chemicals, you’ll feel great about the low cost of vinegar compared to those other products.

25 Clever Uses for Vinegar in the Garden

1. Kill weeds and grass growing in unwanted places by pouring full-strength white distilled vinegar on them. This works especially well in crevices and cracks of walkways and driveways.

2. Give acid-loving plants like azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas and gardenias a little help by watering them with a white distilled vinegar solution now and again. A cup of white distilled vinegar to a gallon of tap water is a good mixture.

3. Stop ants from congregating by pouring white distilled vinegar on the area.

4. Discourage cats from getting into the kids’ sandbox with white distilled vinegar.

5. Preserve cut flowers and liven droopy ones by adding 2 tablespoons white distilled vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar to a quart of water in a vase.

6. Get rid of the water line in a flower vase by filling it with a solution of half water and half white distilled vinegar, or by soaking a paper towel in white distilled vinegar and stuffing it into the vase so that it is in contact with the water line.

7. Clean out stains and white mineral crusts in clay, glazed and plastic pots by soaking them for an hour or longer in a sink filled with a solution of half water and half white distilled vinegar.

8. Remove crusty rim deposits on house planters or attached saucers by soaking them for several hours in an inch of full-strength white distilled vinegar.

9. Clean a birdbath by scrubbing it often with undiluted white distilled vinegar. Rinse well.

10. Get rid of rust on spigots, tools, screws or bolts by soaking the items overnight or for several days in undiluted white distilled vinegar.

11. Neutralize garden lime by adding white distilled vinegar to the area.

12. Avoid skin problems after working in the garden by rinsing your hands in white distilled vinegar.

13. Increase the acidity of soil by adding white distilled vinegar to your watering can.

14. Eliminate anthills by pouring in white distilled vinegar.

15. Cure a cement pond before adding fish and plants by adding one gallon of white distilled vinegar to every 200 gallons of water. Let sit three days. Empty and rinse thoroughly.

16. Sanitize outdoor furniture and picnic tables with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar.

17. Kill slugs by spraying them with a mixture of 1 part water and 1 part white distilled vinegar.

18. To catch moths use a mixture of 2 parts white distilled vinegar and 1 part molasses. Place mixture in tin can and hang in a tree.

19. Keep rabbits from eating your plants. Put cotton balls soaked in white distilled vinegar in a 35mm film container. Poke a hole in the top and place in the garden.

20. Remove berry stains on your hands by rubbing them with white distilled vinegar.

21. Clean plastic patio furniture with a solution of 1 tablespoon white distilled vinegar to 1 gallon of water.

22. Wash fresh vegetables with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of white distilled vinegar in 1 ½ quarts of water.

23. When cleaning an outdoor fountain, soak the pump in white distilled vinegar to remove any mineral deposits.

24. Clean a hummingbird feeder with white distilled vinegar—soap or detergent can leave behind harmful residue.

25. Remove mold from terra cotta pots by soaking in a solution of 1 cup white distilled vinegar, 1 cup chlorine bleach, and 1 gallon of warm water before scrubbing with a steel wool pad.

* Traditional white distilled vinegar found at your local supermarket is 5% acidic.  You can purchase a stronger 20% acidic vinegar (great for killing weeds) at a local nursery, farm supply company, or wherever organic gardening supplies are sold.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Courtesy of Vinegar Tips

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

USE FOAM PACKING PEANUTS TO HELP YOUR ORCHIDS GET BETTER AIRFLOW TO THEIR ROOTS

Using Styrofoam packing peanuts (not the biodegrable ones) at the bottom of your pot when you repot an orchid can help provide airflow to your orchids roots!  A few packing peanuts placed at the bottom of the pot allows air to get to the roots and prevents the roots from sitting in soggy saturated potting medium.

Packing peanuts can also be used in a decorative larger pot (allow at least 1″ all around the actual pot your orchid is planted in) to help hold up and stablize your orchid.  Simply use packing peanuts below and around the pot your orchid is planted in, to fill the space in the decorative pot.  Then simply cover lightly with moss.

** Sign up for Ryan’s Growing Orchids Email Newsletter to receive even MORE Tips to about how to repot your orchid.

Of course, you can get all the tips & secrets right now in his book… (including all his “juiciest” primo tips – which are NOT covered in his newsletter…)

The book is available in either downloadable, ebook format, or as a “real” hard copy book sent
to you in the mail.

AND, for a limited time, you’ll receive 2 FREE BONUSES with your book when you order today.

To order or simply learn more, visit: Orchids Made Easy.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Sacramento Orchid Society

I’m continuing my series on orchid by writing about terms every person growing orchids should know and understand.  Today’s orchid anatomy and term lesson is pseudobulb.

The pseudobulb is a storage organ derived from the part of a stem between two leaf nodes.

It applies to the orchid family, specifically certain groups of epiphytic orchids, and may be single or composed of several internodes with evergreen or deciduous leaves along its length.

In some species, it is hardly swollen at all and looks like a normal stem with many leaves while at the other extreme, some genera such as Bulbophyllum have single, spherical pseudobulbs with one (or two) leafs at the apex of each.

Whether cane-like (with many joints) or spherical (with one or few joints), they are all produced from a long lived creeping stem called a rhizome which may itself be climbing or pendulous.

The pseudobulbs are themselves relatively short lived (1–5 years), but are continually produced from the growing tip of the rhizome.

The other growth habit used by tropical epiphytic orchids is known as monopodial orchid.

Want to learn a few tricks about how to care for orchids?  Sign up for Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Email Tips–he shares his best secrets with his readers.  You’ll learn secret orchid care techniques expert growers use to super-charge their plants!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Wikipedia

The world’s smallest known orchid (pictured)—just over 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) across and nearly see-through—has been discovered nestled in the roots of another flower in Ecuador.

Lou Jost, an ecologist with the EcoMinga plant-conservation foundation, has studied the plants of the South American country’s mountainous forests for 15 years.

Earlier this year he’d collected an orchid of a larger species to study in his greenhouse. “Several months later I saw this tiny plant,” he said.

Ecuador’s mountains are havens of biodiversity, where plants on one mountain may be entirely different from those on a neighboring peak.

In the region where the tiny orchid was found, Jost also recently discovered 28 new orchids in the Teagueia genus, a group previously thought to contain only 6 species. Ecuador as a whole is home to 4,000 known orchid species—a thousand of them discovered in the past 12 years alone.

The newfound orchid, part of the Platystele genus, hasn’t yet had the type of scientific review that would lead to its official designation as a new species. But, Jost said, orchid expert Carl Luer, a researcher affiliated with the Missouri Botanical Garden, agrees that the plant is a unique species.

The bloom has, for now, no name. “It’s just sitting here with lots of others that need to be described,” Jost said. “These forests are just filled with new things.”

Want to learn a few tricks about how to care for orchids?  Sign up for Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Email Tips–he shares his best secrets with his readers.  You’ll learn secret orchid care techniques expert growers use to super-charge their plants!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ NationalGeographic.com

How Do Orchids Grow?

There are two basics growth types for orchids–Monopodial and Sympodial.

Monopodial (Latin for “single foot”): Orchids with a main stem that continuously grow upward.  Flower spikes, or inflorescences, alternate from one side of the stem to the other.  Angraecus, Phalaenopsis, and Vandas are monopodial orchids.

Sympodial (Latin for “many footed”): Orchids that grow sideways along the surface.  Psuedobulbs grow from the base (the connecting stem is called a rhizome) and mature at the end of the growing season by flowering.  Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Paphiopedilums are sympodial orchids.

Learn more about these Orchid varieties with Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Cheat Sheets. They come in so handy when I just want a quick refresher on orchid care!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

There is a big debate going on out there in the world of orchid care. The topic? Orchid care and ice cubes.

I know this method works for some, but most AOS orchid growers I’ve spoken to live by the drench and drain method. (You can read my post on watering orchids if you haven’t already read it: Orchid Care: How to Water An Orchid.)

So, what’s so wrong about watering your orchid with ice?

Officially….nothing. I couldn’t find any hard evidence that proved watering your orchid with ice would cause serious damage to your plant.

Why should you not use ice to water your orchids?

There are a host of reasons….

1. Most experienced orchid growers will tell you that the first major reason would be the sudden change in temperature. A rapid change in temperature can cause orchid bud blast, that’s why I recommend watering orchids with room temperature water.

2. Cold and wet roots can invite pests and diseases. These problems can spread from plant to plant.

3. Overwatering Orchid/Underwatering Orchid issues. Ice cubes vary in size and the environment varies from one windowsill/counter/shelf to another.  So, using 3 ice cubes every other day might be too little for one orchid and too much for another.

My orchids have been happy for years using the drench and drain method.  I’ve watched them bloom year after year and have had few (if any) water related problems.

What do you think about using ice cubes to water your orchids?  Does it work for you?

Of course, everything you need to know to about orchid care is covered in Ryan’s Orchids Made Easy book. (Including a few VERY important things you need to watch out for involving watering and temperature— and one thing even experienced growers often overlook.)  Sign up for his Free Orchid Care newsletter HERE.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

I recently received an email from a reader in California wanting to know a little more about Vanilla Orchids.  I’ve never cared for a vanilla orchid before, so I decided I would take the opportunity and learn a little more about them.  I ran across a great Vanilla Orchid Care Sheet that instructs you on harvesting the vanilla pods and thought I’d share it with you!

Natural vanilla comes from the seed pod of an orchid plant. Vanilla planifolia is a vigorous, vining orchid that can reach up to 300 feet. Keep the plant in a warm, brightly lit area with plenty of water. The vanilla plant starts producing fruit only when it is mature, generally larger than 10 feet. The vine produces greenish-yellow flowers at the leaf axils, in clusters from which one or two open at a time over a two week period. They are short lived and must be pollinated during the first day when they are fully open and most receptive. Fruit pods grow to about 6-9 inches long and are harvested in about 8-9 months after flowering.

To pollinate the vanilla use two toothpicks. Remove the entire pollen cap from under the hooded anther on top of the column with one and place it on a clean piece of paper. Now rub the end of the toothpick on the hairlike portion of the frilled petal lip. Its sticky secretion acts as an adhesive in picking up the pollinia. The drawing shows where to find the pollinia in the pollen cap. Pick it up with the sticky toothpick.

Pry and hold open the top flap of the rostellum with the other toothpick. Place the sticky end of the first toothpick (with pollinia) up and into the stigmatic opening under the rostellum flap. Remove the toothpicks and the rostellum flap snaps closed, trapping the pollinia.

The seed pods, or “beans”, will take six to nine months to mature and should grow up to nine inches in length. Beans are ready to harvest when the green tips begin to turn yellow. They will have no vanilla fragrance until the curing process activates the enzymes and produces vanillin.

Kill the seeds by placing them in boiling water for about two minutes. Find a piece of clean wool and lay the pods on the cloth in the morning sun. About noon wrap the pods in the cloth, allowing them to sweat. Put them in an airtight box overnight. Repeat the process until the pods shrink, turn dark brown, and give off a slight vanilla odor. They will be very rubbery at this stage. Store the pods in a container that is air tight and light proof.

Discard the beans if they split or develop mold since the mold may develop a toxic substance. Prevent mold by daily rubbing the beans dry with a cotton cloth.

To use the beans, boil them in water for about 15 minutes. Split the beans lengthwise with a knife several times, then place 5 to 6 beans in a 750 ml bottle of vodka or bourbon for thirty days. If you wish, you can add more vodka or bourbon as the vanilla extract is used.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Vanilla Orchid Culture Sheet

Orchids and growing or planting fragrant varieties.

Aerangis
These are smaller sized orchids that are very fragrant in the evening hours.

Aerides
These tall lanky orchids can have good fragrance that need to be careful because some of them do not.

Ancistrochilum rothschildianum
This is a small species that is deciduous during winter.

Brassavola
The popular lady of the night orchid is out of the Brassavola species which include other orchids that give off their sense in the night.

Brassia
Not only smells good but it is striking to with its large spiderlike flowers.

Brassidium
These brassia hybrids are nicely scented and very popular today.

Brassocattleyas
A cross between cattleya and barcarole, these files can be very strongly scented.

Catasetum
This large deciduous plant bears male or female flowers and has many species that are quite fragrant concluding the tenebrosum and pileatum. There are also many popular hybrids that are very fragrant as well.

Cattleya
The most fragrant species this orchid can be iricolor, bicolor, dowiana, labiata, maxima, schilleriana, warscewiczii and mossiae. Some of the hybrids can be intensely fragrant.

Clowesia
These orchids lose their leaves during the winter time and have many species which are scented.

Dendrobium
A popular genus of orchid having tall canes which those leaves in winter. Most of this species of orchid or scented and you might recognize some of the more popular ones which include monoliforme, speciosum, nobile, kingianum, loddigesii and parishii.

Dendrochilum
these orchids have chains of tiny flowersand many of the species assented including the magnum, glumacaeum and cobbianum.

Gongora
These small and highly fragrant species can be rather short-lived.

Haraella odorata
These of a popular miniature orchids which are very fragrant.

Sedirea japonica
Cultivated in Japan these orchids can be on the small side and rather long but are highly fragrant.

Vanda
these orchids are harder to grow in northern regions and a big long a real roots. The smaller scented species include suavis, denisonia, cristata and tessellata.

Zygopetalum
Consisting of complex hybrids the species are highly scented with wonderful fragrance.

Planting orchids or growing them in pots can be a challenging but rewarding experience and with these species you’re sure to get a nose-full!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Article Base Gardening

Answer: Plants with lost name tags are a common occurrence in the orchid world. Though the original grower always puts a ‘genera/hybrid/variety’ identification label on each plant in production, it seems that this important information often gets lost along the way.

Over the years, the orchid may be re-potted and split into pieces but the owner doesn’t write a new tag for each division. Before long, there are nameless plants in circulation everywhere.

Some orchids are immediately identifiable by an expert seeing the flowers. Occasionally, the foliage alone yields the name. The vast majority of no names, however, remain as such due to the hundreds of thousands of possible hybrids.

A rank novice can determine the genera of common orchids strictly from the foliage. Cattleyas, dendrobiums, and oncidiums all have tell-tale pseudo-bulb shapes while phalaenopsis and paphiopedilums have uniquely tapered leaves. Even less common types such as cymbidiums, miltonias, and vandas are easy to identify.

The exact hybrid name is much more challenging unless the plant was mass-produced by cloning, in which case the variety might also be known.

Need to identify an orchid?  Check out Ryan’s Free Orchid Care Sheet Cheats when you purchase his book Orchids Made Easy.   Learn more about his free growing orchids email newsletter here.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Arthur Chadwick Richmond Times Dispatch

1. Keep your orchids away from ripening fruit.

When fruit ripens, it releases ethylene gas, and ethylene gas can cause the flowers on your orchid
to fade… and many times even collapse!

3. Keep your blooming orchids cool.

You can extend the blooming period of your orchids by introducing them to *slightly* cooler temperatures – not above 75F (24C) – once they begin blooming.

4. Keep blooming orchids away from pollinating insects.

As soon as orchid flowers come in contact with bees or other flying insects, they’ll begin to die
almost immediately after they’re pollinated.

** Sign up for Ryan’s Growing Orchids Email Newsletter to receive even MORE Tips to Strrrretch the blooming period of your orchid even further…

Of course, you can get all the tips & secrets right now in his book… (including all his “juiciest” primo tips – which are NOT covered in his newsletter…)

The book is available in either downloadable, ebook format, or as a “real” hard copy book sent
to you in the mail.

AND, for a limited time, you’ll receive 2 FREE BONUSES with your book when you order today.

To order or simply learn more, visit: Orchids Made Easy.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

The tallest orchids in the world belong to the Sobralia genus.  The tallest orchid is the Sobralia altissima of Peru.  This beautiful orchid can grow up to 44 feet tall.  Its flowers can measure up to 6 inches across!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

Here’s a reblog post from the Just Add Ice blog:

It happens. You drop something on your orchid plant, or perhaps the whole pot gets knocked over or dropped. Maybe it gets damaged on the way home from the nursery, or a pet or child gets a little to inquisitive. Whatever the case, orchids survived and thrived in the wild for a long, long time, so they can’t possibly be as fragile as they seem. Here’s how to deal with broken leaves or stems with proper orchid care.

A broken leaf shouldn’t cause any harm to your Phalaenopsis orchid plant. But if you want to cut it off for display purposes, you should do it carefully. Use a sterile knife or scissor to prevent infection, and cut it a half-inch from the central stem.

If one of the flowering stems has broken, you might be tempted to wrap some tape around it and pretend it didn’t happen, but it’s not likely to stay unnoticed for long. Besides, leaving it like that invites infection, which could do a lot more damage.

Instead, cut the orchid flower spike above where it has broken, and put it in a vase with water, like you would with any cut flower. Then, remove the remaining broken flower spike down to the base of the orchid. This will encourage new flower spikes to grow.

Many orchid lovers recommend putting some cinnamon on the broken end for it’s antimicrobial properties.  (Read about my Listerine Orchid Care home remedy here). New blossoms may take up to a year to appear, but as long as the leaves and roots of your orchid are healthy, you will get new flowers eventually!

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Just Add Ice Blog Tip

Question: Can orchids take the blazing hot summer days we have been having lately? — Max C.

Answer: For the most part, epiphytic plants of all kinds love the summers with their high humidity, gentle breezes and warm temperatures.

But this year might be the exception, as triple-digit thermometer readings have become the norm. Orchids are commonly found in tropical cloud forests that rarely exceed 90 degrees.

Cultural extremes can cause botanical stress whose symptoms vary from yellowing leaves to shriveled pseudo-bulbs to droopy flowers. Though permanent damage is not likely to occur, plants may get “stunted” for a year or two before they regain their vigor.

Orchids are slow growers, so they need optimum conditions so they will bloom annually. Daily temperatures of 105 degrees for weeks at a time will certainly stress most orchids.

There are several options when summers get unbearably hot:

•Keep the plants in the shade during the heat wave. Although the light levels may be lower than normal, the temperature will be reduced.

•Spray the leaves with tepid water several times a day (cold water will shock plants) being careful not to let any phalaenopsis crowns remain wet at nightfall.

•Increasing the air movement around the plants can lower leaf surface temperatures. Hanging plants from tree limbs or using an outside fan can assist with this effort.

•As a last resort, bring the plants inside until seasonal weather returns.

You’ll find an extensive temperature chart detailing the ideal temperature fluctuations of over 20+ orchids on page 26 of Orchids Made Easy.  Learn more about his free growing orchids email newsletter here.

Warmest wishes from sunny Florida,

Carol
The Orchid Care Lady

+ Arthur Chadwick Richmond Times Dispatch