SlipperKing
Thank you, Rick! I bet you can relate to the hot weather, being from Texas.
Thank you, Rick! I bet you can relate to the hot weather, being from Texas.
Greetings from a new kid on the block...
- Thread starter VickiC
- Start date
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goldenrose
Thank you, goldenrose and hi to a fellow Sunglo owner! I'd really love to see your greenhouse! Please? I know I could pick up some great tips as to how you have arranged yours...and of course, I'd love to see your orchids. Same goes for everyone. The weather is overcast today, but when it's sunny, I'll take pictures...I'm sure they will come out better then. I certainly don't have the best camera...far from it. I'm just learning, so I feel sure in time I'll figure out the nooks and crannys you speak of. Oh, and the size.....mine is 10.3 x 17.6 (7.7 height, as I guessing all models are ??)
Vicki
Thank you, goldenrose and hi to a fellow Sunglo owner! I'd really love to see your greenhouse! Please? I know I could pick up some great tips as to how you have arranged yours...and of course, I'd love to see your orchids. Same goes for everyone. The weather is overcast today, but when it's sunny, I'll take pictures...I'm sure they will come out better then. I certainly don't have the best camera...far from it. I'm just learning, so I feel sure in time I'll figure out the nooks and crannys you speak of. Oh, and the size.....mine is 10.3 x 17.6 (7.7 height, as I guessing all models are ??)
Vicki
SlipperFan
Hi Dot....thank you for welcoming me! I'm so pleased that all of you are very friendly!
No, my Paph was not in bloom. Actually, it small. I wish I could have seen it "in person", but I've seen pictures. If I'm VERY lucky, maybe I can rebloom it ??, but I've got a very bad feeling that my growing conditions won't make it happy?? I agree, it's indeed a lovely flower, .
Vicki
Hi Dot....thank you for welcoming me! I'm so pleased that all of you are very friendly!
No, my Paph was not in bloom. Actually, it small. I wish I could have seen it "in person", but I've seen pictures. If I'm VERY lucky, maybe I can rebloom it ??, but I've got a very bad feeling that my growing conditions won't make it happy?? I agree, it's indeed a lovely flower, .
Vicki
JeanLuz
Thank you, Jean! Luxemborg....awesome! I will include pics of my Catts, but I know you won't be impressed. Most of them are small and none are blooming. I had two that rebloomed last year, but none so far this Summer. I was pleased that I had a rather pretty display of Phals last fall and Winter, though. Got 1 Den. in bloom now, 1 still in bud...2 blooming Onc. That's it. Not much.
Vicki
Thank you, Jean! Luxemborg....awesome! I will include pics of my Catts, but I know you won't be impressed. Most of them are small and none are blooming. I had two that rebloomed last year, but none so far this Summer. I was pleased that I had a rather pretty display of Phals last fall and Winter, though. Got 1 Den. in bloom now, 1 still in bud...2 blooming Onc. That's it. Not much.
Vicki
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2006
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Hi Vicki! Glad you made it, congrats on the urbanianum!
D
Drorchid
Guest
Welcome Vicki and greetings from Minnesota!
Robert
Robert
Heather
Hi Heather!
I'm glad to be here.....thanks again for your help. Oh, I am so afraid that I'm not gonna be able to give my new urbanianum the justice it deserves. As I was telling Dot, my new Paph may not be happy with my growing conditions.
Vicki
Hi Heather!
I'm glad to be here.....thanks again for your help. Oh, I am so afraid that I'm not gonna be able to give my new urbanianum the justice it deserves. As I was telling Dot, my new Paph may not be happy with my growing conditions.
Vicki
Rick
Well-Known Member
Hey Vicki good to meet you.
I'm in Nashville, TN, and some other folk on the forum are in Memphis.
Orchid Babies is in Birmingham Al.
Are you near Huntsville? Both Huntsville, and Birmingham still have active orchid societies, with some very good growers in both societies.
The Huntsville society is HODOS (Heart of Dixie Orchid Society). I think they still have a website going if you want to contact them.
Heat is considerable here too with most days this summer in the mid 90s to 100. A greenhouse without cooling gear will easily clear 100+ on a sunny day. I also have a small GH and I use a combination of 50% shadecloth, evaporative cooling, and a fogger to keep things cool(er) and humid. So far my max temp in the GH has been about 92, and still keeping humidity in the 60-70% range despite ambients getting down to about 40%.
The mainstay of cooling in southern states is the evaporative (or swamp) cooler. Most of the experienced folks down here have swamp coolers that cover about 1/2 of their GH's back wall. Misters and foggers are also pretty common. And a lot of folks shy away from the cool growers. A few extreme GH's actually have full blown AC.
I'm in Nashville, TN, and some other folk on the forum are in Memphis.
Orchid Babies is in Birmingham Al.
Are you near Huntsville? Both Huntsville, and Birmingham still have active orchid societies, with some very good growers in both societies.
The Huntsville society is HODOS (Heart of Dixie Orchid Society). I think they still have a website going if you want to contact them.
Heat is considerable here too with most days this summer in the mid 90s to 100. A greenhouse without cooling gear will easily clear 100+ on a sunny day. I also have a small GH and I use a combination of 50% shadecloth, evaporative cooling, and a fogger to keep things cool(er) and humid. So far my max temp in the GH has been about 92, and still keeping humidity in the 60-70% range despite ambients getting down to about 40%.
The mainstay of cooling in southern states is the evaporative (or swamp) cooler. Most of the experienced folks down here have swamp coolers that cover about 1/2 of their GH's back wall. Misters and foggers are also pretty common. And a lot of folks shy away from the cool growers. A few extreme GH's actually have full blown AC.
G
goldenrose
Guest
You know with my husband's point & shoot I could probably take pics. Mine is only 7.5' x 12.5', I try to use every square inch! The height is standard, we put it on 3 courses of wolmanized 4 x 4's so I'm at about 8'. Hopefully next year we can start over, I'm looking to go 14 x 20, cross your fingers.
Rick
Hi Rick.....good to meet you, too!
I'm about 50 mi. south of Huntsville and about the same from B'ham...about mid-ways (give or take a few miles). I'm just south of Cullman, about 5-6 miles. In case you're not familiar with it Cullman, it is in NE Al. Certainly not a metropolis.
Ok, call me stupid, but I'm not familiar with other members yet.....is Orchid Babies one of the members, if not, who or what??
I've never been to an orchid show. I would like to, though. I'm not crazy about driving in Huntsville or B'ham anymore (it's been quite awhile.....years....., but I often spent time at Madison Square, Otters and Club V back in my younger days). Also, Redstone (my husband is military retired). Anyway, pigs would fly first before he would go along with me to a show. I'd have to really get driving-brave or bribe a friend to keep my company.
I'll checkout the HODOS website. Thanks for clueing me in.
Since you're in Nashville, you know exactly what I'm talking about, as far as heat goes. Most mid-summer day temps in our area are similar to yours...approx. 90-99. Generally, approx. 95 or so in my gh. I really feel sorry for my orchids. As for humidity, the gh is usually between 60-80%. I have 60% Aluminet shadecloth, a portable swamp cooler (it would have been nice to have one outside, but mainly $$), my kit greenhouse came with an exaust fan and 1 vent, but I have no upper vents. My greenhouse acct. went into shock when I bought the gh itself and hasn't recovered since. lol The evap. cooler helps somewhat, but leaves some to be desired (a tad too much humidity around here for it to work at it's maximum). I also have two large fans...one under each bench. I've heard that some people use airconditioners, as you mentioned, to cool but also foggers to add the humidity back. I'd like to have a fogger, maybe an Aquafog ?? but for now, I only have very inexpensive tubing with nozzles running along the outside of the benches. They help some, better than nothing at all. Since I'm very sure you are a much more experienced grower than me, I really would appreciate any tips you may have for additional cooling, other than choosing warm growers.
Thanks for your reply,
Vicki
Hi Rick.....good to meet you, too!
I'm about 50 mi. south of Huntsville and about the same from B'ham...about mid-ways (give or take a few miles). I'm just south of Cullman, about 5-6 miles. In case you're not familiar with it Cullman, it is in NE Al. Certainly not a metropolis.
Ok, call me stupid, but I'm not familiar with other members yet.....is Orchid Babies one of the members, if not, who or what??
I've never been to an orchid show. I would like to, though. I'm not crazy about driving in Huntsville or B'ham anymore (it's been quite awhile.....years....., but I often spent time at Madison Square, Otters and Club V back in my younger days). Also, Redstone (my husband is military retired). Anyway, pigs would fly first before he would go along with me to a show. I'd have to really get driving-brave or bribe a friend to keep my company.
I'll checkout the HODOS website. Thanks for clueing me in.
Since you're in Nashville, you know exactly what I'm talking about, as far as heat goes. Most mid-summer day temps in our area are similar to yours...approx. 90-99. Generally, approx. 95 or so in my gh. I really feel sorry for my orchids. As for humidity, the gh is usually between 60-80%. I have 60% Aluminet shadecloth, a portable swamp cooler (it would have been nice to have one outside, but mainly $$), my kit greenhouse came with an exaust fan and 1 vent, but I have no upper vents. My greenhouse acct. went into shock when I bought the gh itself and hasn't recovered since. lol The evap. cooler helps somewhat, but leaves some to be desired (a tad too much humidity around here for it to work at it's maximum). I also have two large fans...one under each bench. I've heard that some people use airconditioners, as you mentioned, to cool but also foggers to add the humidity back. I'd like to have a fogger, maybe an Aquafog ?? but for now, I only have very inexpensive tubing with nozzles running along the outside of the benches. They help some, better than nothing at all. Since I'm very sure you are a much more experienced grower than me, I really would appreciate any tips you may have for additional cooling, other than choosing warm growers.
Thanks for your reply,
Vicki
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goldenrose
FINGERS CROSSED FOR YOU! When I initially mentioned to people that I was getting a greenhouse, they made it a definite point to tell me "There's no such thing as one too big...the bigger the better, so be sure to get as large as you can", and I have already found that's very true but the one I have is all that I could afford. I doubt that I'll ever be able to start over, unless some kind of catastrophe happens to it (goodness forbid).
Vicki
FINGERS CROSSED FOR YOU! When I initially mentioned to people that I was getting a greenhouse, they made it a definite point to tell me "There's no such thing as one too big...the bigger the better, so be sure to get as large as you can", and I have already found that's very true but the one I have is all that I could afford. I doubt that I'll ever be able to start over, unless some kind of catastrophe happens to it (goodness forbid).
Vicki
Orchidbabies is a vendor, specializing an Paphs and Phrags run by the Baileys.
NYEric
Oh! Thanks for letting me know!
Oh! Thanks for letting me know!
Orchidbabies is a vendor, specializing an Paphs and Phrags run by the Baileys.
Rick
Well-Known Member
I use an Aquafog (I think 350) . I used to use misters, but almost floated my house of its foundations.
The fogger uses a fraction of the water (as misters) to get the same effect.
I still prefer to get most of my cooling and humidification from the wet pads though since I have very crusty well water that the fogger leaves white deposits on the plant leaves when it runs a lot.
The fogger uses a fraction of the water (as misters) to get the same effect.
I still prefer to get most of my cooling and humidification from the wet pads though since I have very crusty well water that the fogger leaves white deposits on the plant leaves when it runs a lot.
Rick
You mentioned something I haven't even thought about.....we have very crusty well water, too, so I would probably have the same problem with deposits on my plant leaves as you do. Hmmm....I need to mull the fogger thing over a little more.
Just yesterday I was trying to figure out how I can clean my clogged mister nozzles. They're made of very inexpensive plastic or some sort of synthetic material. They came with the tubing.....I wouldn't have chosen them. I wish I had brass and/or stainless, but I think the ones that the company offers as replacements are too expensive for such an inexpensive system....far from top quality. One of these days... Anyway, I called them to find out the best way to clean the nozzles and the lady said soak them overnight in vinegar. I did that last night, but it didn't help at all. I tried soaking in CLR a few hours today, but no help there, either. Guess it's back to the ole drawing board. lol That is, unless you or someone can give me some better advice.
You mentioned something I haven't even thought about.....we have very crusty well water, too, so I would probably have the same problem with deposits on my plant leaves as you do. Hmmm....I need to mull the fogger thing over a little more.
Just yesterday I was trying to figure out how I can clean my clogged mister nozzles. They're made of very inexpensive plastic or some sort of synthetic material. They came with the tubing.....I wouldn't have chosen them. I wish I had brass and/or stainless, but I think the ones that the company offers as replacements are too expensive for such an inexpensive system....far from top quality. One of these days... Anyway, I called them to find out the best way to clean the nozzles and the lady said soak them overnight in vinegar. I did that last night, but it didn't help at all. I tried soaking in CLR a few hours today, but no help there, either. Guess it's back to the ole drawing board. lol That is, unless you or someone can give me some better advice.
E
Ernie
Guest
Welcome from Chicago... errr, I mean Orlando!
