Care of Cattleya Written by Robert Roy
Cattleya Care a bit more in-depth This month we are going to go into some detail about care of cattleya orchids. These orchids are probably easiest to care for and like all plants need water, light and fertilizer. Playing some nice music or talking to them doesn't hurt either. Most of wild cattleyas grow in rain forests of South America, namely in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. They flourish in Andes from altitudes near sea level to high altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These orchids are truly epiphytes or air plants. So, they are used to being partly covered by canopy of rain forest and get considerable humidity and bright light to grow. Being in forest as noted above they are used to diffuse light all be it bright light. They generally do not have direct mid day sunlight. The bright light helps them to develop hard pseudopods. The pseudopods are orchids main way to hold water which is so important for their growth and life. It is from pseudopods that orchid flowers come from. Being in forest and at various altitudes there are a wide range of temperatures that these plants are used to. In winter and higher altitudes these plants become accustom to temps which can go as low as 50 - 55 degrees in winter and as high as 80-90 degrees in summer. Humidity is friend to cattleyas. We can understand this from being in rain forests. Most cattleyas do well with being set on humidity trays. These are metal or plastic trays that are filled with pepples and then half full with water. The plant roots cannot sit in water for a long period of time or else they will get root rot. Allow for good air circulation but not sitting in direct aim of an air vent.
| | Dendrobium Orchid CareWritten by Robert Roy
Dendrobium Care from: http://www.orchids-plus-more.com This month I am focusing our attention to care of Dendrobiums. These are one of most popular of retail orchid plants. They are a true epiphyte or air plant. There pseudopods can gather and hold water very efficiently. Generally there will be a hybrid phalaenopsis and dendrobium, commonly known as Dtps. Potting This needs only to be done every two to three years and it should be with a porous, free draining media. This may be a combination of wood chips, small stone and and pieces of styrofoam peanuts. This will allow draining of water and fertilizer. Dendrobiums seem to grow best when pot is smaller than size of orchid plant. Lighting The dendrobium orchids require about 50% sun or bright light. They will do well in an east or west window as well as a shaded south window. They also do well under 4 - 40 watt fluorescent lights directly over plant. Temperature These plants need a difference in temperature between night and day. Preferably this difference should be about 10 - 15 degrees. The night temps they like is 60-65 with days between 80 - 90.
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