Supposedly the living should be easy now, for people and those of us growing orchids. For sure, we do not have to worry about cold weather or the diseases that come with it. Of course, summer presents another set of issues that must be managed.
If you grow outside in a greenhouse you must be sure you have proper
ventilation and air circulation to prevent an array of bacterial rots.
Many greenhouses pull air through wet pads to cool their greenhouse.
This can be very effective in avoiding those extreme high temperatures.
One problem in summer is that the outside humidity gets so high that
cooling pads become ineffective and only serve to maintain a very high
humidity in the greenhouse, which can cause problems.
Most of the orchids we grow thrive in humidity around 60%. When humidity
is high, cooling pads maintain a higher that ideal humidity, which
promotes bacterial rots. Each summer there are new growths that suddenly
get soft and turn black when temperature and humidity are at their
maximum. The key to avoiding these rots is to properly space orchids,
have continual air exchange, and stop fertilizer applications that
contain ammonia.
If you are one of the large group that grows outside, air circulation is
not a problem. You will, however, need to watch for rots when there is a
stretch of rain every day that keeps the medium in pods saturated. The
only orchids I put outside are those in open baskets, mounted or in lave
rock. If you grow in bark, sphagnum or other medium that retains
moisture growing outside requires careful diligence.
Many years ago, I purchased a greenhouse that had removable sides. In
winter, sides were secured and a warm environment maintained, while in
summer air flowed freely through the greenhouse day and night. My
greenhouse today utilizes the same approach with the addition of 12’
height in the greenhouse and ceiling fans to keep air moving when it is
really hot.
At the other end of the spectrum are hobbyists that grow indoors, in
windows or under lights. When heat is greatest outside, air conditioners
run more to keep your home cool. Unless there is special machinery that
maintains humidity at a specific level, the humidity becomes extremely
low, which causes both your orchids and sinuses to dry out fast. The
drying is obvious if one looks carefully at roots along the edge of the
pot. Instead of having green root tips, they will be black or brown,
indicating that there is not enough moisture in the air even though the
medium may be saturated.
There are some solutions. Place your orchid in its pot inside a larger
clay pot. Place a few small rocks or marbles in the clay pot first so
there is some space between the bottom of the orchid and the clay pot.
Sit the clay pot in a saucer of water; enough to wet the bottom of the
clay pot, but not the orchid pot. The clay pot will wick water up and
maintain higher humidity around your orchid. It is best to use R/O,
distilled or deionized water to remove salts from water now. If not, the
clay pot will turn white from evaporation of water leaving the salts
that were dissolved in the water. The harder the water, the faster this
will occur.
It is always surprising to visit a long-time orchid hobbyist whose
growing conditions violate all of the basic rules that promote orchid
growth. These hobbyists employ the “survival of the fittest” approach.
They buy orchids and if they do not grow under their conditions they are
discarded and replaced by others. Often, one will find many divisions of
the same clone in these collections because they survive. This is a good
place to find hardy orchids, perfect for the new hobbyist. Be aware
though, the normal progression of hobbyists is to start with a few very
hardy orchids slowly adding harder to grow orchids and finally adding
impossible to grow orchid species. That is what makes this such an
“enjoyable” hobby.