Orchid growing in 'Darkest Africa'

[Trithor]

That's a superb collection! I'm not sure, but I think SA shouldn't be as uniformly hot and humid as tropical countries right at the equator, given that things like Disas grow in SA. So temperature should not be a limitation.

Johannesburg lies about 550km from the sea, sepparated from the sea by a mountain range (Drakensberg). It lies on a plateaux at about 1400m above sea level. As a result, the weather does not benifit from oceanic moderating influences, and so temperatures can vary a great deal from one season to another, but also from day to night. In winter we often are arround 0 centigrade or just below, but day time temperatures can easily climb into the mid 20's. Sunlight is strong, so greenhouse temps can easily climb into the mid 30's. The very dry air in winter makes it difficult to draw cooler air from the outside (need a lot of humidification, but need to be careful with water as temps drop rapidly at sudown)

 

[paphioboy]

I think with good insulation, you can grow almost anything there. The day-night temp difference definitely helps the multis bloom where you are. Over here, some stay vegetative unless a sudden cool spell occurs

 

[Trithor]

Dont know about orchid growing in Penang, but some of the best food I have ever eaten was in Penang, I might consider swapping that for ease of multi flowering, ...... ummmmm, nah!