kitfox
Well-Known Member
Our conditions are probably similar, especially in your southeast window. All my Phrags are in a 20 foot south-facing bay window or one of the other two south facing windows, I find even my fischeri likes it there as long as it has a bigger guy in between it and the window.
As to watering I doubt you will ever water a Phrag too much in our humidity profile! Don't worry about that! Greenhouses and grow rooms are different, but living spaces in temperate climate winters can have humidities easily drop below 40%.
Your media isn't bad; I am using 100% Grodan cubes for the Millbrook, topped with a layer of sphagnum moss. Just watch your orchiata, it may only last 12 months if you keep the plant happy and wet...wet is good, but you need airspace as well, and as the bark breaks down, your media will compact and airspace will diminish. No oxygen around the roots equals dead roots and dead plants.
Also. a little more controversial maybe, but I don't ever water with extremely low TDS water (RO or DI), I want a bit of buffering in the water I use. Rinse yes, but not maintenance watering. I will use rainwater for flushing, but I always use a minimum of 50 ppm TDS for watering. In fact, I like adding ferts to bring it up to 100ppm for every watering on my Phrags. I try not to distinguish care for any of my Phrags, and a little buffering provided by some salts helps keep the ones that prefer higher pH's from ever going acid. Again, this is my opinion, but I know from my aquarium days, the purer the water, the easier it is for the pH to crash. Even the extremely pure water of the Rio Negro has TDS values well over 20 ppm seasonally. A little calcium carbonate is your friend..and your orchid's!
As to watering I doubt you will ever water a Phrag too much in our humidity profile! Don't worry about that! Greenhouses and grow rooms are different, but living spaces in temperate climate winters can have humidities easily drop below 40%.
Your media isn't bad; I am using 100% Grodan cubes for the Millbrook, topped with a layer of sphagnum moss. Just watch your orchiata, it may only last 12 months if you keep the plant happy and wet...wet is good, but you need airspace as well, and as the bark breaks down, your media will compact and airspace will diminish. No oxygen around the roots equals dead roots and dead plants.
Also. a little more controversial maybe, but I don't ever water with extremely low TDS water (RO or DI), I want a bit of buffering in the water I use. Rinse yes, but not maintenance watering. I will use rainwater for flushing, but I always use a minimum of 50 ppm TDS for watering. In fact, I like adding ferts to bring it up to 100ppm for every watering on my Phrags. I try not to distinguish care for any of my Phrags, and a little buffering provided by some salts helps keep the ones that prefer higher pH's from ever going acid. Again, this is my opinion, but I know from my aquarium days, the purer the water, the easier it is for the pH to crash. Even the extremely pure water of the Rio Negro has TDS values well over 20 ppm seasonally. A little calcium carbonate is your friend..and your orchid's!
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