Markedg
Member
Hi All, I live in Dublin, Ireland and I have been growing orchids for awhile. I was born in the US and grew orchids, esp. paphs under lights with no problem. After 17 years living in Ireland, I finally had a 10'x12' greenhouse built a few years ago. I have a mixed collection, paphs, a few phrags, cattleyas, dendrobiums and most of them are doing well and flowering. I have 60% shade cloth, electric heat and a humidifogger which keeps the humidity at 70% or so.
I like paphs, especially the multiflorals and brachys and I have gotten most of them from Sam Tsui of Orchid Inn on one of his trips to Europe. I have them potted in a medium bark and perlite in equal quantities. Now here are my queries. The multiflorals leaves are a very light green(this may be a bit too much light) and are doing well(for the most part). One of them, on one of the oldest leaf, started to go brown from the tip to the crown, it was dry and not wet and I promptly removed the leaf. I have read that this could be due to over fertilising but I only feed seldom and I have not done that so far this year. I have a few phrags and I know that if this happens with these, it is not enough water. Could this browning be due to not enough or too much water in the medium? Fine bark is a bit hard to get in Ireland and the shipping costs from the UK would be prohibitive. In regards a good potting medium, would just the straight medium bark be okay? or should I adding something else? I would like to be able to keep them moist without overwatering so I don't rot the roots. I tend to water 1x a week in summer and maybe every 2 weeks in winter. Sorry about the long post and I do appreciate any help you can give me.
I like paphs, especially the multiflorals and brachys and I have gotten most of them from Sam Tsui of Orchid Inn on one of his trips to Europe. I have them potted in a medium bark and perlite in equal quantities. Now here are my queries. The multiflorals leaves are a very light green(this may be a bit too much light) and are doing well(for the most part). One of them, on one of the oldest leaf, started to go brown from the tip to the crown, it was dry and not wet and I promptly removed the leaf. I have read that this could be due to over fertilising but I only feed seldom and I have not done that so far this year. I have a few phrags and I know that if this happens with these, it is not enough water. Could this browning be due to not enough or too much water in the medium? Fine bark is a bit hard to get in Ireland and the shipping costs from the UK would be prohibitive. In regards a good potting medium, would just the straight medium bark be okay? or should I adding something else? I would like to be able to keep them moist without overwatering so I don't rot the roots. I tend to water 1x a week in summer and maybe every 2 weeks in winter. Sorry about the long post and I do appreciate any help you can give me.