Orchid Care Tips Blog

In this photograph from POE 2006, you can see a sampling of the kinds of amazing displays present. This particular one was a volcano exhibit in the show area.

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This was the Golden Gate Orchids display at Pacific Orchid Exposition 2006. Tom Perlite, who runs Golden Gate Orchids, in the SF Bay area, is one of my favorite Orchid growers/sellers anywhere. His greenhouses are packed with high quality Orchids, many being award winners. I’ve always been amazed at the quality. He has many compact and miniature Orchids, as well as very hard to find varieties. If you can get to visit his greenhouses, you can be sure you’ll see some prolific, amazing Orchids worth buying.

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This image is from the cafeteria upstairs in the Pacific Orchid Exposition 2006. This is the back part of the building and as you can see, this show is huge! It is in the Marina district of San Francisco, with this exhibition hall divided in two halves. The first half of the show when you walk in the door (furthest in this photograph) is the show area. Then, the other half, closest in this photograph, is the sales area. There is an amazing selection of exhibitors and sellers from around the world at this show. I have not yet heard of a better yearly show.

This is Odontonia Woodstir from the show area. It has large flowers on single arching stems. Odontonias prefer a colder environment at night than some other Orchids, enjoying temperatures down into the 50’s. In fact, that cooler temperature helps them bloom better during their blooming season. Flowers last 1.5-3 months depending on how care is, how many flower stems there are, humidity, and more. Flowers on this particular Orchid are about 3″ in diameter.

This is an Arpophyllum giganteum, a beautiful large Orchid from the show part. This Orchid species is easy to grow, likes intermediate temperatures, and medium light exposure.

This is Dendrobium specio-kingianum. It is an easy Orchid species to grow outdoors in the SF Bay area, Los Angeles, and other areas with similar temperatures. This plant can take temperatures overnight down into the 40’s and 50’s. It has small purple/white flowers as do most varieties of Dendrobium kingianum.

This is Masdevallia ignea displayed from one of my favorite Orchid growers, Golden Gate Orchids. This is a species which needs shade to medium light, good ventilation, and a good potting mix. These Orchids are really beautiful. Please note that since this Orchid is on display here, it is quite a number of Orchids put together in one pot.

If you have any questions, please post them in the comment field and I will answer within a day or two in the evening. More images and information coming every day to this blog.

I first have to thank Lia T. for these photos - amazing job she did at Pacific Orchid Exposition 2006!

This category, Orchid lessons learned from the Pacific Orchid Exposition 2006 event, is for information I can teach you about Orchids from these photos at Pacific Orchid Exposition 2006. I will plan to post something every evening with good insight for you to learn more about Orchids.

I had time years ago to also post a gallery of photos from Pacific Orchid Exposition here. Feel free to take a look and hopefully you learn some good information.
Ok, so now on with the photos!

Ten most popular Orchids for California weather

1. Cymbidium
2. Dendrobium nobile
3. Dendrobium kingianum
4. Some SLCs
5. Encyclia
6. Laelia
7. Some Paphiopedilums
8. Zygopetalums
9. Dendrobium speciosum
10. Laelia speciosa

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Ten Signs of an Unhealthy Orchid

1. A little plant on top of flower stem (keiki)
2. Brown edges on leaves
3. No roots
4. Roots shriveled and not white/thick/grey
5. Orchid is shrinking over time
6. Orchid hasn’t bloomed in over a year
7. Orchid has huge plant, few flowers or flower spikes
8. Plant leaves are very dark green
9. Plant leaves are very yellow and sunburned, calloused in middles
10. Pot has become too big for Orchid

You can find more about ideal Orchid care on our Website here in the meantime, and we will be posting to this blog most evenings about different Orchid topics for more detailed info.

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This is a Phalaenopsis Orchid that has seen better days. If this had been my Orchid, steps I’d take are below to bring this plant back to good times.

Problems seen here:

1. the humidity tray below this Orchid has no water and has fertilizer salts built up
2. the plant is in a pot that is slightly too big as the plant has actually gotten smaller over time!
3. the plant is in mix that has no water content whatsoever
General fixes:
1. clean out the humidity tray, fill with water
2. soak the plant well in water by watering over the sink or humidity tray so the bark gets saturated with water
3. Repot

To repot this plant:

1. get new pot that will just slightly constrain the roots when potted
2. get medium size Orchid bark at local garden store, soak just a bit more bark than you will need in water for a few hours
3. soak / water the plant
4. 1/2 hr later carefully remove the plant
5. confine roots with hand very carefully as roots will be brittle, and make them aim down in the new pot, touching pot bottom
6. while holding plant level in pot, sprinkle bark between roots from top, until pot is full
7. carefully push bark down so plan is firmly held in pot, without squishing roots
8. the way you know if the plant is anchored enough in new pot is if you very carefully lift the plant from base, it will hold bark and pot as one unit

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to post below and I’ll answer in comments field of the Blog entry.

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This is an Orchid Keiki.

Although Orchid Keikis may look exciting because they are a plant growing on top of your original plant, they really aren’t a good thing. The reason they develop is that the plant is under stress and it is trying to propagate itself in case the original plant you bought dies. Normally this plant above grows in a rainforest, and here it is hoping if it is now in a rainforest it can grab a nearby tree branch, cling on, and start a new plant of the same variety.

This plant you see the keiki above on is the blooming stem of a Phalaenopsis which was cut above a node. Nodes are the three notches that look like bamboo on the flower stem above. What happened when this plant finished blooming is that instead of sending a flower spike out the side of the node as Phalaenopsis plants do when they have good genes and enough core plant energy, this one spent that energy in distress mode.

If this were my plant, instead of worrying about growing this keiki in a pot and waiting 4-7 years for it to get to blooming size, I would cut this flower spike 1 inch from the base of the plant and take careful care of the plant.

One long root can be seen following down the stem of this plant, and it is looking for nutrients, water, and most importantly, humidity.

This particular plant was stressed for a number of reasons:

• was watered too much sometimes, and other times forgotten and not watered for weeks
• often too much or too little sun
• most important: this plant sits on a humidy tray which is often empty so does not give this Orchid what it needs with humidity like where it came from. The humidity tray needs to be filled when all of the water has evaporated.

Any questions or comments? Post Below and I’ll answer in the comments field of this Blog entry.

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