C
Corbin
Guest
Hi all,
My name is Ed and I have been growing a mixed group of Phals. And Phaps. for a couple years now so I am a real new to this. I have been reading books and all the information on the web I could find.
I live in a small apartment in Atlanta, Ga. I had been growing the orchids on my small balcony but the combination of not enough light (to many trees) and the cold spring we had this year forced me to build a light stand. The stand is 20 inches wide and 48 inches long. It has two shelves and four 48 inch florescent lights suspended above each shelf. The lights are on pulleys and have a range from zero to about twenty four inches of clearance above the shelf below.
I grow my Phals. In straight sphagnum moss and my Phaps. in a bark mix. After reading the Wellenstein‘s article about coconut chip mix I acquired the ingredients to make the mix. I potted one of my Maudiae orchids in the mix to see how it would work for me. The next thing I know the leaves on the new growth were growing out a very pale creamy color. Even though I had purchased pre washed and had washed them myself three times I thought the coconut mix was the problem. I repotted the plant in the bark mix but the problem persisted. I started rereading the Wellenstein‘s articles again and found a paragraph that led me to believe the plant was getting to much light. I found this odd as several books and numerous articles on the web make the statement that you can not give orchids to much light with fluorescents. I moved the plant down to the bottom shelf where I had the light higher above the growing shelf and the leaves have started turning darker green and now almost look completely like the leaves of the old growth.
The point is that I have found a lot of contradictory “instructions” for growing orchids so I really need this forum to help me sort through some of these issues. Also I see lots of information about this orchid needs this many foot candles and this one only needs this much but little specific information on how to space florescent lights above specific orchids. Right now I have two Maudiae orchids, a gratrixianum that is slowly opening a bloom on its first growth, and a multigrowth spicerianum that hopefully will bloom next spring.
I am looking forward to participating in this discussion board and to learning from everybody’s experience.
My name is Ed and I have been growing a mixed group of Phals. And Phaps. for a couple years now so I am a real new to this. I have been reading books and all the information on the web I could find.
I live in a small apartment in Atlanta, Ga. I had been growing the orchids on my small balcony but the combination of not enough light (to many trees) and the cold spring we had this year forced me to build a light stand. The stand is 20 inches wide and 48 inches long. It has two shelves and four 48 inch florescent lights suspended above each shelf. The lights are on pulleys and have a range from zero to about twenty four inches of clearance above the shelf below.
I grow my Phals. In straight sphagnum moss and my Phaps. in a bark mix. After reading the Wellenstein‘s article about coconut chip mix I acquired the ingredients to make the mix. I potted one of my Maudiae orchids in the mix to see how it would work for me. The next thing I know the leaves on the new growth were growing out a very pale creamy color. Even though I had purchased pre washed and had washed them myself three times I thought the coconut mix was the problem. I repotted the plant in the bark mix but the problem persisted. I started rereading the Wellenstein‘s articles again and found a paragraph that led me to believe the plant was getting to much light. I found this odd as several books and numerous articles on the web make the statement that you can not give orchids to much light with fluorescents. I moved the plant down to the bottom shelf where I had the light higher above the growing shelf and the leaves have started turning darker green and now almost look completely like the leaves of the old growth.
The point is that I have found a lot of contradictory “instructions” for growing orchids so I really need this forum to help me sort through some of these issues. Also I see lots of information about this orchid needs this many foot candles and this one only needs this much but little specific information on how to space florescent lights above specific orchids. Right now I have two Maudiae orchids, a gratrixianum that is slowly opening a bloom on its first growth, and a multigrowth spicerianum that hopefully will bloom next spring.
I am looking forward to participating in this discussion board and to learning from everybody’s experience.
