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#195497 06/09/05 02:59 PM
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Hello, all! I am a newbie in more than one sense! New to the boards and new to Orchids!! I was always afraid to buy one. I mean, I can't see spending $25 on a flower that I may or may not be able to take care of. Well, I finally broke down and bought my first (A beautiful Phalanopsis) from Lowe's on clearance. I've since bought 6 more, have pollinated two (which I am patiently waiting for them to be ready to send to a flasking service), and am on the verge of ordering a flask of seedlings already ready for community pots! My problem is, I have set my babies outside under a tree a few times to get them out of the Air Conditioning and into the humidity (I'm in Louisville, KY and it's been hot and humid for over a week!). They seemed fine with that, but the other day I wanted to put them outside while I was gone to work, so I put them on the back porch instead. Apparently, this was pretty stupid, I think they got too much sun. Now some of the leaves are wilty and I'm quite worried. Any suggestions?? Thanx!


Angi
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I keep my orchids on top of a container of gravel that always has water in it. That should help with the humidity. My orchids are in clay pots. I purchased the biggest plant saucer I could find for this.

Hopefully someone else will be able to give you some advise on the wilt.

Connie


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From one orchid you've moved forward very fast indeed!! You've been bitten by the "Orchid Bug". I would hesitate to move your orchids in and out all the time since this stresses them. If you want to put them outside for the summer and leave them there, that would be fine. But putting them in theheat and humidity and then moving them into the cooler air conditioned and dry air is probably not good for them.

You didn't say, but were they in the sun? Sunburned leaves will turn black. Most of the time, this is just a problem with the areas of the leaves that were burned. Wilting may be caused by loss of moisture in the leaves. I would mist carefully (be sure not to get in the growing tip) and make sure that the humidity is high for a few days.


Susan Taylor
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Thanx, Connie! I do the same thing. Every couple of days I add hot water to the gravel to be sure it's humid, and I always make sure the water level isn't high enough to get into the pot.

Thanx again!

Angi

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Thank you, Susan. I'll try keeping them outside under the tree, I just worry about them being stolen since I put them under a tree in our front yard. The trees out back are in the back of the yard and not at all close to the house. I thing putting them on the back porch (afternoon sun) is what caused the problems to begin with. For the most part, the leaves are not black. On one plant, all of the leaves are wilted and yellowish. The other two have spots of yellow (they almost look like - when you have a scrape on your arm and put neosporin on it w/a band-aid, then remove it the next day)?! Sorry for the graphic image, but that is how they look to me.

What do you think about "SuperThrive"? I've never used it, but, then again, I've never owned orchids either!

I can't imagine the leaves drying out. I mist them pretty regularly and wipe them with a damp cloth (moistened with orchid food) once a week.

Thanks again for your help, and I am so glad I happened across this great forum!

Angi

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From what you're describing here, it might be better to try to rig something up to shade them more on the back porch than leaving them under a tree in front.

As for Superthrive, I use it, 1 ml. per gallon added to my regular fertilizer. All the growers I've talked to use it, so I decided to also. I have seen no dramatic changes in the orchids, but the rest of my plants love it.


Susan Taylor
BellaOnline Orchids Editor

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