orchids in retrospective
Sep. 24th, 2004 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lotsofplantsOr, what my plants did on their summer vacation.
I learned some things from putting almost all my orchids outside for the summer.
1. Orchids like sun and humidity. Good growth, some flowering for the first time.
2. Bulbophyllums are even sneaker about stealth flowering when outside under a rhododendron. I misssed several, based on the spent spikes. Including one I *really* wanted to see. Bah. Maybe it will do it again over the winter.
3. Rubber trees also like being outside. Mine is now twice as tall as it was when it went outside. This could be problematic if repeated next year.
4. Thrips are evil, evil little insects. They are most fond of Dendrobiums, and may have killed a couple before they went outside for the summer. I am seriously considering using some evil pesticides, as they appear to still be in residence in my growing area.
5. Plants outside acquire pets. Including sowbugs, slugs, and spiders.
6. Sowbugs are noctournal. If you turn on the kitchen light, they will scurry for cover much like small, not-disgusting or disease bearing cockroaches. They are then easily captured and returned to the wild.
7. Slugs are also noctournal. If you drop them in the toilet to dispose of them, they sink. However, you should flush promptly. If you wait while hunting for more, the first ones will climb out of the bowl in your absence.
8. Some spiders will lay egg sacks on flower pots. One variety seems to then guard them until they hatch. The other leaves them to fend for themselves. Once the babies have dispersed, those orchids will get to come in, too.
9. Flowers are tasty! At least, many things seem to be interested in eating them.
10. The previously noted propensity of houseplants to multiply when moved, so that they will not fit back into the same space they all fit into before, is well noted. It may be exponential when they are removed from the growing area for the summer. I have approximately 14 square feet of orchid on my kitchen floor at the moment. I have approximately 20 square feet of shelf space for orchids, a third of which is currently full of plants. As soon as I take the ones outside out of their close-packed trays, they will take up even more room. I'm not sure how to solve this.
I learned some things from putting almost all my orchids outside for the summer.
1. Orchids like sun and humidity. Good growth, some flowering for the first time.
2. Bulbophyllums are even sneaker about stealth flowering when outside under a rhododendron. I misssed several, based on the spent spikes. Including one I *really* wanted to see. Bah. Maybe it will do it again over the winter.
3. Rubber trees also like being outside. Mine is now twice as tall as it was when it went outside. This could be problematic if repeated next year.
4. Thrips are evil, evil little insects. They are most fond of Dendrobiums, and may have killed a couple before they went outside for the summer. I am seriously considering using some evil pesticides, as they appear to still be in residence in my growing area.
5. Plants outside acquire pets. Including sowbugs, slugs, and spiders.
6. Sowbugs are noctournal. If you turn on the kitchen light, they will scurry for cover much like small, not-disgusting or disease bearing cockroaches. They are then easily captured and returned to the wild.
7. Slugs are also noctournal. If you drop them in the toilet to dispose of them, they sink. However, you should flush promptly. If you wait while hunting for more, the first ones will climb out of the bowl in your absence.
8. Some spiders will lay egg sacks on flower pots. One variety seems to then guard them until they hatch. The other leaves them to fend for themselves. Once the babies have dispersed, those orchids will get to come in, too.
9. Flowers are tasty! At least, many things seem to be interested in eating them.
10. The previously noted propensity of houseplants to multiply when moved, so that they will not fit back into the same space they all fit into before, is well noted. It may be exponential when they are removed from the growing area for the summer. I have approximately 14 square feet of orchid on my kitchen floor at the moment. I have approximately 20 square feet of shelf space for orchids, a third of which is currently full of plants. As soon as I take the ones outside out of their close-packed trays, they will take up even more room. I'm not sure how to solve this.
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-24 06:47 pm (UTC)2. faugh
3. maybe the neighbor switched with you...
4. grr!
5. yay!
6. mhm mhm
7. gghghgh gh
8. hmh
9. mmmm
10. start an orchid foster program?
no subject
Date: 2004-09-24 08:32 pm (UTC)And as to 10, I actually seem to have started one. Or something. I have about twenty orchids which are not mine. Some of them I get to flower, give back, and get again when they're done. Some I'm just babysitting until their owner gets back from Japan. And tomorrow I'm loaning my Mom one of the ones in flower (Mtdm Pupukea Sunset) so she can enjoy it for the next month or so.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-25 02:40 am (UTC)Yay, I say.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-25 08:44 am (UTC)Also, are there any plants that *like* being started indoors (or out) in the winter?