If you are growing your orchids indoors you may want to be more selective about the range of colours from your orchid blooms. With such a vast choice of hues and shades, it is possible to arrange your colour schemes to suit any room or personal choice. The following charts will give you some at-a-glance ideas for this.
Orchids that benefit most are lightloving, cool-growing types such as cymbidiums, odontoglossums, coelogynes, encvclias and dendrobiums, all of which have fairly robust foliage that may become a little spotted or marked throughout the course of several months but will not come to any harm. Those orchids with softer, wideleafed foliage, such as lycastes, anguloas and the deciduous calanthes, would very soon become notably spoiled by blemishes as a result of the effects of the weather.
Place pebbles or expanded clay pellets in the base to create your own individual tank effect. You now have a miniature orchid garden to house those tiny plants that would otherwise dry out too rapidly. Place this in a bright spot, but not too close to a window where it may overheat. It is a good idea to place a minimum/maximum thermometer inside the aquarium to assess the temperature range you have created.
During the summer, the aquarium can be left open at the top; close it down only when warmth needs to be conserved. By setting up a horticultural fluorescent light tube above the plants, it is possible to place the aquarium in an unlit corner that would otherwise be unsuitable for growing orchids. This idea can be adapted to a smaller or larger degree.
If you do not stand the plant on a damp base, you will need to remove it for watering and replace it after the pot has drained. The flowers of some orchids can also be highly scented, which adds immeasurably to their overall appeal.
Those orchids termed warm-growing include the shade-loving phalaenopsis and a number of the paphiopedilums. Generally, none of these is suitable for outdoor growing, except in the tropics. The temperatures at night are too cold for much of the summer, and the lush foliage of phalaenopsis will suffer from the elements, causing premature leafloss and the death of the plant in extreme cases. The paphiopedilums are altogether too soft-leafed to cope with outdoor conditions, and it becomes impossible to keep the centre of their growths from filling with water when it rains. In a short time this can result in rot to the centre of the growth.
It blooms during the autumn and is highly fragrant at night. Well-chosen colour combinations can create beautiful effects, as is shown by this display of pale pink Phalaenopsis schilleriana and the deep pink P. Mad Milva. Orchids can be displayed in most rooms in the house.
The pale lemon Phalaenopsis Barbara Moler x Spitzberg looks perfect in a blue bathroom. A Phalaenopsis Mad Milva will do well as the centrepiece of an orchid display, provided it is kept out of direct sunlight. The flowers are delightful with cerise pink petals and sepals, with a darker pink lip. - 16035
Orchids that benefit most are lightloving, cool-growing types such as cymbidiums, odontoglossums, coelogynes, encvclias and dendrobiums, all of which have fairly robust foliage that may become a little spotted or marked throughout the course of several months but will not come to any harm. Those orchids with softer, wideleafed foliage, such as lycastes, anguloas and the deciduous calanthes, would very soon become notably spoiled by blemishes as a result of the effects of the weather.
Place pebbles or expanded clay pellets in the base to create your own individual tank effect. You now have a miniature orchid garden to house those tiny plants that would otherwise dry out too rapidly. Place this in a bright spot, but not too close to a window where it may overheat. It is a good idea to place a minimum/maximum thermometer inside the aquarium to assess the temperature range you have created.
During the summer, the aquarium can be left open at the top; close it down only when warmth needs to be conserved. By setting up a horticultural fluorescent light tube above the plants, it is possible to place the aquarium in an unlit corner that would otherwise be unsuitable for growing orchids. This idea can be adapted to a smaller or larger degree.
If you do not stand the plant on a damp base, you will need to remove it for watering and replace it after the pot has drained. The flowers of some orchids can also be highly scented, which adds immeasurably to their overall appeal.
Those orchids termed warm-growing include the shade-loving phalaenopsis and a number of the paphiopedilums. Generally, none of these is suitable for outdoor growing, except in the tropics. The temperatures at night are too cold for much of the summer, and the lush foliage of phalaenopsis will suffer from the elements, causing premature leafloss and the death of the plant in extreme cases. The paphiopedilums are altogether too soft-leafed to cope with outdoor conditions, and it becomes impossible to keep the centre of their growths from filling with water when it rains. In a short time this can result in rot to the centre of the growth.
It blooms during the autumn and is highly fragrant at night. Well-chosen colour combinations can create beautiful effects, as is shown by this display of pale pink Phalaenopsis schilleriana and the deep pink P. Mad Milva. Orchids can be displayed in most rooms in the house.
The pale lemon Phalaenopsis Barbara Moler x Spitzberg looks perfect in a blue bathroom. A Phalaenopsis Mad Milva will do well as the centrepiece of an orchid display, provided it is kept out of direct sunlight. The flowers are delightful with cerise pink petals and sepals, with a darker pink lip. - 16035
About the Author:
Garden Orchids suitable for growing in a small growing case are Coelogyne corymbosa, Cirrhopetalum guttulatum, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, Encyclia polybulbon, and Ludisia discolor.
