Spring and Summer Orchid Care

Primal urges motivate us into spring cleaning, repotting, dividing, and spraying for this, that and those.

Step one is to read or reread our newsletters that go into some detail about dividing, repotting, fertilizing, sharing your orchids, upgrading your collection - basically Orchids 101 with a few personal twists.

The seasons of spring and summer are the best growing times of the year. It's time to rejuvenate your orchids that lapsed during the long, cold, dark winter. Also, it's time to motivate your collection into larger, stronger, more vigorous plants to produce those quality blooms in quantity. More and stronger new growth develops into superior flowers. That is why we grow orchids, isn't it?

Shading is critical during these long days. As the angle of the light is shifting, be aware of when and how long your orchids get sunlight. Sunburn can happen rapidly. The same location as last year might get more light this year because a tree was trimmed or even removed. You may still have cool nights, which means you do not live in Florida! But the sun is intense and drives up the heat rapidly in a greenhouse. Remember that an old term for a greenhouse is "Hot House"! Don't neglect your fans, vents and shade materials.

Fall and Winter are coming, so get those orchids fired up while you can. As you have noticed, orchids are not your fastest growing plant. They take their time responding to the good things you do for them, so get to it!

Using the moon gardening calendar it is possible to increase the speed as well as the success rate of Orchids growing.