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CULTURE TIP

Try to water in the morning, so the plants have all day to drink up. Don't splash—it can spread fungal & bacterial disorders.

Don't rely on a watering "schedule" and expect all of your plants to remain happy—unless, of course, all of your plants are of the same size and variety and sit on the same shelf. Few plants can stay wet for very long without serious root damage resulting. Likewise, few can dry out for a long time without getting hurt. You must learn to test whether plants need water; you must learn to recognize when most of the medium is "moist"—holding a thin film of water—as opposed to "wet"—holding more water than air.

What's Blooming?

The plants below are generally in bloom at the given times of year here in the Northeast. Your mileage may vary!

January

Nobile-type dendrobiums should be showing buds in January. Once buds form, you may raise nighttime temperatures slightly (to the mid 50s or low 60s) to speed blooming, or keep overall temperatures low to postpone and prolong blooming if you have a specific date in mind.

Many other dendrobiums are still resting prior to spiking and blooming: D. capillipes, D. loddigesii, D. parishii (all deciduous) and D. bellatulum, D. kingianum, D. senile (all evergreen) among others. Mist them well, but don't water them, until buds form, at which point you can start watering them again, more frequently as root tips reawaken. The pseudobulbs of D. aggregatum and D. jenkensii should shrivel slightly.

Things in bloom: Angraecums including A. leonis, A. sesquipedale, and hybrids; many minicatts; equitant oncidiums; phalaenopsis that spiked in late October; cool-growing paphiopedilum species and complex hybrids; Paph. fairieanum, P. sukhakulii; Rhyncostylis gigantea; Sophronitis cernua.

February

Nobile dendrobiums should be in bud or in bloom. Other deciduous dendrobiums, such as D. capillipes, D. bellatulum and D. senile, should be showing bud formations as swellings at the nodes (old leaf axils) of the stems; D. aggregatum (alias jenkensii) (alias lindleyii) should be spiking.

Complex hybrid paphiopedilums are budding or blooming now. Keep the plants cool (nights in the 50s, days no warmer than 80F) so the flowers will last as long as possible.

Things in bloom: Ansellia africana; Ascocentrum species (A. ampullaceum, A. miniatum) and hybrids; Barkeria species including B. spectabilis, B. palmeri, B. skinneri; nobile dendrobiums; some rupicolous laelias, including L. blumenscheidii, L. flava, L. rubescens; Oerstedella centradenia; numerous paphiopedilum species are spiking; Platyclinis (Dendrochilum) uncata, Dendrochilum bicallosum; phalaenopsis that spiked in early November; cattleya hybrids, including many clones of SLC Hazel Boyd and SLC Jewel Box.

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Scot Shugart, Melitte Buchman
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Original art courtesy Angela Mirro, copyright Š1998-2006 Angela Mirro
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