Gardening – September 7
Dear Orchid Doc:
Some time ago I wrote to you about acclimatising Dendrobiums, but you suggested we wait until the latter part of the year. Do you think we could start now?
— Jewel
Dear Jewel,
Yes, the temperature is getting cooler, but I’m asking you for a little more patience and start at the end of September.
Dear Orchid Doc:
I would like to know how often a Phalaenopsis blooms. I buy them all the time but they never bloom more than once.
— Novlette
Dear Novlette,
Your Phalaenopsis orchids need a shift in temperature of about 10 to 15 degrees. The temperature at nights should be about 10-15 degrees lower than the day temperature for them to initiate spikes. You’re in Gordon Town, so it is easier to have that much drop in temperature than on
the flat.
In Thailand, to be able to have spiking orchids at all times – healthy full-size Phalaenopsis are placed in a chill room until they burst “like a baby’s tooth”. This takes about 20 days. They are then removed.
Our energy bills are much too high in Jamaica to even contemplate that option.
If you would like to force your orchid to bloom again, before the spike dries, cut the spent stem about halfway down at an angle, then seal it with hot candle wax. You should have a bloom or better yet, a sucker within three months.
Betty’s Landscaping,
Farm Garden Supplies
161 Constant Spring Road,
Kingston 8, Jamaica, W.I.
Telephone:
1-876-322-4585, 870-0191,
931-8804, 755-2204
Fax:
1-876-931-8805