Tag: growing terrestrial orchids

Terrestrial Culture – November

Though a bit behind time, but for completeness, Les Nesbitt’s culture notes for November 2019 from the November 2019 NOSSA Journal are reproduced below.

After the first week in November, pots dry quickly and it is hard to keep pots moist. Water green leaves, let the others dry off as plants die down. Late species in flower this month are Diuris drummondii, rufa group Pterosylis & Microtis. Seed pods ripen quickly now, so check every couple of days.

Repotting can start at month’s end although Dec – Jan is the ideal time if there are only a few pots needing to be done. Repot orchids with large tubers first as they are more prone to rotting if there is prolonged hot wet weather this month. We usually get at least one thunderstorm before Xmas. Until the old tuber has completely dried up it can go mouldy and infect the new tuber alongside. This especially applies to the slow multipliers such as Diuris and Thelymitra that have large tubers.

Gather potting mix materials and pots ready for the summer activities as this growing season comes to an end.

TYPES OF POTTING MIXES

Terrestrial growers all have their favourite mix that works for them. Some recipes are:

~ Half premium native potting mix and half sand.
~ Sand, buzzer chips, mountain soil (see ANOS cultivation booklet).
~ 50% sand, 20% Hills soil, 30% organic matter ( seed & cutting mix, native potting mix, smashed gum leaves).
~ Eco terrestrial mix (fine composted pine bark) and perlite.

Some species require adjustments to the mix for optiumum results. Caladenia like more sand, Diuris & Pt nutans 30% clay, Acianthus pusillus more organic matter. The mix must be free draining in Winter yet retain moisture in Autumn and Spring. Most growers reuse some of the old mix, (up to 50%) to which new ingredients are added at repotting time. The reason for this is to carry over any fungus in the old mix. Add a little blood & bone fertilizer and native slow release pellets. Most of the orchids in cultivation prefer a slightly acid soil mix.

Locate a source of Casuarina trees in your area and collect the fallen needles. These trees grow all over Adelaide. Chop the needles into lengths of 1 – 5 cms and store in a dry place.

POTS

The ideal size pots for terrestrials seem to be 125mm & 150mm standard pots that are about 150mm deep. Smaller diameter pots dry out quickly and it is difficult to keep the mix moist in Spring. Shallow clay pans can be used for specimen show pots.

November is a good month to flask seed of Diuris for planting out next autumn. Terrestrial seed can be sown in flasks at any time of year but some months are better than others to match tuber development in flask with optimal deflasking in April.

September Terrestrial Orchid Culture Notes

Continuing Les Nesbitt’s notes from the NOSSA Journal, this month he reminds us that not only is it a busy month but it is the month of the NOSSA Spring Show.

September is the busiest month of the year in the terrestrial house. apart from orchid shows every weekend there are numerous tasks to perform. The days are getting longer at a rapid rate. Day length increases by 2 hours in the 6 weeks from the 1st Deptember. Equinox is about the 21st September.

Early Spring weather is changeable from cold, windy & wet to warm & sunny. Give plants as much sun as possible as new tubers are developing rapidly. Hand watering may be necessary if there is no rain so get the hose out of winter storage. Do not let the post dry out this month. There are lots of flowers everywehere. Take photos as some flowers are fleeting and may only last one day. Different pollinators are about for the more colourful terrestrials that start flowering in spring.

Prepare your flowering plants for the NOSSA Spring Show. It is fun to put in a display even if you only have one or two plants. You learn a lot from other growers. We certainly need new exhibitors each year. Seek new species to add to your collection at the NOSSA Spring Show. Be there at 10am Saturday morning for the hard to get species which are always in short supply.

Spring is an ideal deflasking period but get it done in the first 2 weeks to give sufficient growing time to harden the plants and for tiny seedling tubers to form before the summer dormancy.

Notes on Tuber Removal

Start tuber removal after the middle of the month. In a wet year you may have to move pots under cover a week earlier to dry out a bit before knocking them out. working with mud is a real pain and not recommended. Use this method to propagate the slow multiplying terrestrials that are amenable. those recommended for slow multiplying are Diuris (punctata & behrii), and rufa group Pterostylis (cycnocephala & biseta).

Knock out the pot and carefully remove most of the soil from the plant. Find the new tuber which is usually whiter smoother than the old tuber. Hold the junction of the old tuber and plant stem firmly with one hand and grasp the new tuber with thumb & finger of the other hand. Twist & pull the new tuber which will separate from the plant. If the old tuber and leaves break apart you have stuffed up. Repot the plant & old tuber and water the pot. The new tuber can be buried in the same pot or potted up separately in another pot. Keep the plant watered for at least six weeks or as long as the leaves stay green. The plant may form one or two small new tubers before going dormant. In January you can repot and see how well the method worked.

Monthly Terrestrial Orchid Culture – June

It’s June and the the orchids tubers are on the move. And yes there are some tasks for this month but as can be seen by Les Nesbitt’s notes in the June 2019 NOSSA Journal (Volume 43 N0 5) there is not a lot to do.

Diplodium robustum  (syn Pterostylis robusta) – one of the cauline greenhoods


June is cold, often with frosty mornings and sunny days. Terrestrials can take -20C but any colder results in permanent damage. If you live in the country, you may need a solid roof for frost protection. Frosts are rare these days in Adelaide. I have black rubbish bins full of water under the benching in my glasshouse to moderate the temperature. The bins absorb heat in the daytime and radiate it out at night. If it is not frosty it will be cold wet and cloudy. Growth will be slow and there are few flowers out. There is not a lot to do in the terrestrial house.

Pterostylis robusta and Acianthus pusillus flower this month. If there are no flowers this year, they probably aborted due to high temperatures or excessive dryness over summer/autumn. Try putting the pots under the bench in a cooler position next summer.

The last of the terrestrial orchid leaves should appear this month although there are always a few stragglers. Tubers that formed in the bottom of a pot have a long way to grow to reach the surface. Sometimes they come out the drainage holes. If no plants appear, do not throw the pot away. Sometimes orchids take a year off and send up a leaf the following year. They are capable of forming a new tuber from the old without making a leaf. Gather together the “empty” pots in a corner. They can be left for another year or you can knock them out next month to try to establish what can be improved. Most weeds have germinated by now so weeding gets easier.

It is hard to drag yourself away from the heater this month but at least once a week go out on a wet night with a torch and examine your orchids for slugs, snails, earwigs, cockroaches, grubs and beetles. They always feed on your best orchid buds.

The SAROC Fair is in June. Clean up your flowering pots for the NOSSA stand. Other orchid clubs hold winter shows in June & July. Go along and see if there are any interesting terrestrials on the trading table.

Monthly Terrestrial Orchid Culture—March

As stated last month, this is the second in the series of terrestrial culture notes for growing orchids in Adelaide.

Terrestrial Culture—March

Les Nesbitt

The growing season is underway although much of the activity is underground out of sight early in the month. Repotting should be completed by now. Repotting tubers with long shoots is a tricky business requiring very gentle handling. Broken shoots and the death of some plants can result. It is better to leave them until next summer.

The weather can be hot up until equinox on about March 21st.  Be aware that autumn is a time of rapid change. Day-length decreases by 2 hours in the 6 weeks from the 1st of March. Our orchids respond to the longer cooler nights faster than we do. All pots should be in their growing positions for the coming winter. Increase watering in March so that by equinox the mix is damp right through to the bottom of the pot. The first Eriochilus cucullatus flowers are usually open by the last day of March with the majority blooming in April. The buds resemble a grain of wheat when they first emerge.

Eriochilus collinus
Eriochilus collinus (syn Eriochilus sp Adelaide Hills, Eriochilus aff cucullatus)

Thrip can be a major problem this month. Thrips love to suck on the flowers and will cause the flowers to shrivel up in a day or two. If using a pressure pack fly spray to kill thrips, hold the can at least half a metre away or you can freeze the flowers with the propellant. Repeat the spray every few days.

Pull out any weeds that germinate while they are still small. The early Greenhoods will be showing leaves and some of the blue tag Diplodiums may be showing buds. The Greenhoods will like a weak soluble fertiliser sprayed on their new leaves as they develop.

Deflasking can be done after equinox. April is the best month to deflask terrestrials as it is cooler and more humid with enough sun to harden the leaves before the cold and damp of winter. Flasks are often the only way to get the slow multiplying terrestrial orchids. Seedlings in flask that have tiny tubers establish more successfully.

Diuris tricolour in flask

Remove the second layer of shadecloth at the end of the month or first week in April. Keep up the night time hunts for pests which get more active as the nights cool.

Autumn is a good time to build or extend a terrestrial growing area. A terrestrial house should be sealed to keep out birds and animals and have shadecloth or wire mesh sides to allow the breeze to move through. I prefer a roof of angled 50% shadecloth. Other growers use a solid roof of plastic sheeting. A solid roof means you have to water your pots by hand, which is more work. It is very important that winter sun reaches your plants so site the shadehouse away from the winter shadows of buildings, high fences and evergreen trees. Galvanised mesh benching about 750 mm high will deter slugs and snails and is a convenient height for observing the pots.

food healthy nature forest
Photo by PhotoMIX Ltd. on Pexels.com

Monthly Terrestrial Orchid Culture – February

The following article by Les Nesbitt is from Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia, February 2019 Volume 33 No 1. It is the first of a monthly series that Les is planning to produce for this year.

It should be noted that February in Australia is late summer and dry; and that this article has been written for Adelaide growing conditions. Many of the terrestrial orchids have been dormant.

Terrestrial Culture — February

The excitement is building with the new growing season about to commence. First leaves on the early species may show this month so start looking. Look with your eyes not your finger. Many a new shoot has been broken by that dastardly finger. Keep the blue tag pots moist. Blue tag orchids include Diplodiums, Ptst. baptistii and Corybas hispidus, all species from the East Coast of Australia.

Repotting and Watering

Finish repotting as soon as possible. Many tubers start shooting this month and are easily damaged by handling. Move all pots to their growing positions for the coming winter. For local orchids adapted to a dry January-March, commence watering in the last week of February and increase watering in March. The water will run down the side of a dry pot and out the drainage holes leaving a dry plug of mix in the middle where the tubers are. Watering three days in a row should wet the pot right through. Continue light watering weekly, so pots do not dry out completely again. Top up the cut she-oak needle layer on pots as needed. This is very important for the fungus dependent species which do not get repotted often.

Diuris tricolour in pot
Topped with she-oak cuttings

Hunting the Grubs and Slugs


Start the nightly visits to pick off the slugs, snails, earwigs and grubs. Hunts are more successful on cooler nights after rain or watering. If the new shoots get eaten off as soon as they appear you might not even see them and wonder why your orchids did not come up.

Labelling

If the names on labels are starting to fade rewrite them before the name is lost. Remember to pot up any spare tubers for raffles, stalls and the tuber bank later in the year.

Diplodium


The cauline group of greenhoods (Diplodium) from the eastern states are the first to shoot and ideally should have blue tags and have been repotted in January with watering commencing at the end of January. There are some 38 species in this group. Some come from high altitudes in NSW/Vic and start flowering there in February. They flower in March/April/May in Adelaide.

Diplodium in cultivation
Diplodium robustum – one of the cauline greenhoods, with both flowering and non-flowering plants


Points to note about Diplodiums:

  • Flowering plants look different to non-flowering plants. Flowering plants have small pointed leaves on the flower stem. Nonflowering plants have a rosette of rounded leaves flat on the ground. Usually there are only a small percentage of flowering plants.
  • They flower early in the growing season. Most flower in autumn with a few stragglers in winter. None flower in spring.
  • The rosette plants multiply and are easy to grow in regular terrestrial mixes. New tubers form in Autumn.
  • Diplodiums are not easy to flower in Adelaide. Flowers abort if too hot and/or too dry. Grow them in the coolest shady area there is. Keep pots shaded until late March. Local species are easier to flower as they flower in winter.
  • Poor tuber development from flowering plants is common. These plants sometimes die after flowering.
  • Flowering plants can be tall & slender and may need supporting with a wire cylinder. Stakes can damage the developing new tubers.

 

For additional information on growing terrestrial orchids click here 

Gleanings from the Journals: Terrestrial Potting Mixes

The following article by Les Nesbitt was published in May 2017 Native Orchid Society of South Australia Journal Volume 41 No 4. The article relates to Australian Native Orchids.

Suggested potting mixes for potted native terrestrial orchids have changed greatly over the years as some ingredients such as peat moss have become too expensive or difficult to obtain. Basic requirements are that the mix should be free draining yet retain moisture and should have an organic component that breaks down slowly and does not go mushy in winter. Most species are not too fussy and will grow in a variety of mixes.

Those tubers that desiccate in summer do better in a heavy mix that contains clay. Examples are Diurus behrii, D. punctata and Pterostylis nutans.

Tubers that rot easily in wet soil in Spring prefer an open coarse sandy mix. An example is Thelymitra antennifera.

A dry mix containing a higher proportion of sand is usually recommended for Caladenia and Glossodia species grown in pots. In contrast these orchids grow in clay soil on my property in the Adelaide Hills but there excess water can run off. In pots, excess water has to drain through the potting mix.

An organic component is vital to feed orchid fungi.

Some Basic Ingredients:

  • Washed sand with rounded particles. (Not sharp sand as this sets hard in summer.)
  • Soil (sandy loam, clay based loam, mountain soil)
  • Native seedling mix (Bark based – sieve to remove splinters)
  • Native potting mix (can be sieve* to remove larger particles)
  • Chopped and sieved* gum leaves
  • Perlite or isolite (but will make tubers harder to identify at repotting time)
  • Composted leaf mould & buzzer chips (but needs to be gathered now for use next summer)
  • Cauarina (She-oak) needles chopped for surface mulch

Some Suggested Potting Mixes

  1. ANOS-Vic dry mix – 2 parts coarse sand, 1 part coastal sandy loam, 1 part composted buzzer chips, 1 part leaf mould
  2. 100% native potting mix. (Works for drought resistant tubers, viz. Pterostylis curta & P. pedunculata)
  3. Native potting mix (sieved*) and isolite
  4. Native potting mix and sand
  5. Les Nesbitt’s current mix of 50% sand, 20% hills soil, 25% seedling potting mix (sieved), and 5% chopped & sieved* string bark gum leaves.
  6. Dry mix, 50% coarse sand, 25% perlite & 25% native potting mix
  7. Heavy mix, 50% clay soil, 30% sand and 20% organic matter

* Use a 5mm sieve

thelymitra-plants-1.jpg

Thelymitra in cultivation

Culture of Fungi Dependent (FD) Terrestrials

This is the last of the three terrestrial fact sheets in Culture Notes that NOSSA has produced on growing terrestrial orchids.  All three facts sheets can be downloaded – Click on the following for Fungi Dependent, Slow Multipliers and Fast Multipliers.

Orchid 1 Arachnorchis tentaculata
Arachnorchis tentaculata, common name King Spider Orchid or Large Green Comb Spider Orchid

FLAGBEARER SPECIES: Caladenia tentaculata (synonym Arachnorchis tentaculata)

Some 3/4 of Southern Australian terrestrial orchids are fungus dependent throughout their life cycle. Orchids that are fungus dependent have very specific cultural requirements. The fungus must be grown in the pot with the orchid. Sometimes a third entity such as a shrub or tree is involved in the fungal relationship.

A minimum disturbance culture is used.

Limited numbers are available each year. Other fungus dependent species are rarely available. Those in cultivation have mostly come from rescue digs in the past. NOSSA has started a seed kit project to help overcome this vacuum.

GROWTH HABIT: Australian ground orchids follow an annual growth cycle comprising 6 – 8 months as growing plants under cool (5 – 20°C max, 0 – 14°C min) moist conditions and 4 – 6 months as dormant tubers in hot dry (18 – 42°C max, 12 – 30°C min) conditions. The new tuber is produced in winter – spring. Each tuber sends up a shoot to the surface in Autumn and leaves grow rapidly in late Autumn/early Winter as temperatures fall and the rains set in. Sometime in October/November the leaves go yellow and then brown and dry as the days get longer, hotter and drier in late Spring.

LIGHT/SHADE: In Adelaide they thrive in a shadehouse of 50% shadecloth. Some species prefer heavy shade, others full sunlight, but most will adapt to a wide range of light intensity.

If the leaves and stems are weak and limp or if the leaf rosettes are drawn up to the light then the shading is too dense and the amount of light should be increased. FDs are mostly spring flowering and like higher light intensities at flowering time. flowers may have pale colours if placed in heavy shade, even temporarily, when buds are just starting to open.

In very cold areas an unheated glasshouse may be required for frost protection although light frosts do not worry the majority of species.

AIR MOVEMENT/HUMIDITY: All species like good air movement and will not thrive in a stuffy humid atmosphere especially if temperatures are high.

POLLINATION/SEED COLLECTION: FDs seldom multiply so must be propagated from seed.

Flowers on the strongest plants of the same species growing in pots are cross pollenated by hand to set seed pods. The flowers collapse in a day of so and pods ripen in 4-8 weeks. Pods are collected as they change colour from green to brown, which happens quickly on a hot day in October/November. Tea bags can be tied over the pods to catch the dust like seed if frequent visits to site are not possible.

Pods are stored dry in paper envelopes indoors over summer. Seed can be sprinkled on mother pots or scattered on bush sites.

SEEDLING CARE: Seedlings can be raised by sowing seed around potted mother plants.

At Easter time, just before the rainy season begins, the dust-like seed is mixed with fine sand in a pepper shaker (minimizes seed loss) and sprinkled on top of the pots and watered in. Germination occurs in Autumn/Winter as that is when the fungi are most active. Tiny leaves appear from July to October. The seedlings form miniscule tubers on droppers about 1 – 2cm below the surface. Seedlings take up to five years to reach flowering and are best left undisturbed until larger.

WATERING: The soil should be kept moist at all times during active growth by watering gently if there is no rain. Hand watering is especially necessary in spring as soil in pots dries out more rapidly than in the garden. Watering must be done slowly so that the mat of needles on the surface of the pot is not disturbed. Slugs and snails love these plants and must be kept under control. Raising the pots off the ground on galvanised steel benching is very effective in controlling these pests.

After the leaves have turned yellow, let the pot dry out completely to dry up the old roots and tubers otherwise they may turn into a soggy mouldy mess and rot may destroy the adjacent new tubers.

REPOTTING: The plants are not repotted but left in the same pot year after year.

SUMMER CARE: Keep the pots shaded and allow the pots to dry out between light waterings until mid-February when they should be set out in their growing positions and watered a little more often. The tubers of some species will rot if kept wet during the dormant period, others will produce plants prematurely which are then attacked by pests such as thrip and red spider and fungal diseases in the warm weather.

A thin layer of new leaf litter is placed on top of the existing leaf litter each summer to feed the fungus.  Chopped gum leaves or sheoak needles are suitable.

FERTILIZING: NO FERTILISER

OTHER CULTURE NOTES:

CULTURE OF SLOW MULTIPLYING (SM) TERRESTRIALS

Pots of Thelymitra nuda cultivated by Les Nesbitt
Thelymitra nuda

The second fact sheet in Terrestrial Culture notes is about Slow Multiplying Terrestrials.

FLAGBEARER SPECIES: Thelymitra nuda

Diuris, Pterostylis and Thelymitra. They are more expensive because they have to be raised from seed in flasks. SMs are not so easy because there is less room for error. A few have a near zero increase rate and will fade away unless additional plants can be produced to make up for occasional losses from predators and disease.

GROWTH HABIT: Australian ground orchids follow an annual growth cycle comprising 6 – 8 months as growing plants under cool (5 – 20°C max, 0 – 14°C min) moist conditions and 4 – 6 months as dormant tubers in hot dry
(18 – 42°C max, 12 – 30°C min) conditions. The new tuber is produced in winter – spring. Each tuber sends up a shoot to the surface in Autumn and leaves grow rapidly in late Autumn/early Winter as temperatures fall and the rains set in. Pterostylis leaves are usually the first to appear in March/April followed by Diuris and Thelymitra in April/May. Sometime in October/November the leaves go yellow and then brown and dry as the days get longer, hotter and drier in late Spring.

LIGHT/SHADE: Australian terrestrial orchids are easy to grow. In Adelaide they thrive in a shadehouse of 50% shadecloth. Some species prefer heavy shade, others full sunlight, but most will adapt to a wide range of light intensity. Sun loving species (Diuris, Thelymitra & Rufa group Pterostylis) prefer a brighter location for good growth.

If the leaves and stems are weak and limp or if the leaf rosettes are drawn up to the light then the shading is too dense and the amount of light should be increased. The spring flowering species like higher light intensities at flowering time and flowers may have pale colours if placed in heavy shade, even temporarily, when flowers are just starting to open.

In very cold areas an unheated glasshouse may be required for frost protection although light frosts do not worry the majority of species.

AIR MOVEMENT/HUMIDITY: All species like good air movement and will not thrive in a stuffy humid atmosphere especially if temperatures are high.

WATERING: The soil should be kept moist at all times during active growth by watering gently if there is no rain. Hand watering is especially necessary in spring as soil in pots dries out more rapidly than in the garden. Watering must be done slowly so that the mat of needles on the surface of the pot is not disturbed. Slugs and snails love these plants and must be kept under control. Raising the pots off the ground on galvanised steel benching is very effective in controlling these pests.

After the leaves have turned yellow, let the pot dry out completely to dry up the old roots and tubers otherwise they may turn into a soggy mouldy mess and rot may destroy the adjacent new tubers.

POLLINATION/SEEDCOLLECTING: Flowering plants are hand pollinated and the seed collected just before the pods split open and the dust-like seed blows away. The seed is sprinkled on pots of mother plants at Easter or flasked.

REPOTTING: Repot every second year in half new mix. Repotting is normally done between November and January. The best results are obtained if the tubers are repotted in half fresh soil mix each second year. A suitable soil mix is 40% loam, 50% sand and 10% organic matter with a little blood and bone fertiliser added. A 5 mm sieve is a useful tool for separating tubers from soil. Replant the dormant tubers with the tops 20 mm deep. Cover the soil surface with a mulch of sheoak needles, chopped to 20 – 50 mm lengths, to prevent soil erosion & aerate under the leaves.

INCREASING PLANT NUMBERS: The pull-off-the-tuber method can be used with some diuris and Pterostylis species to double plant numbers annually. The pots can be knocked out and the tubers examined in Summer without harm.

SUMMER CARE: Keep the pots shaded and allow the pots to dry out between light waterings until mid-February when they should be set out in their growing positions and watered a little more often. The tubers of some species will rot if kept wet during the dormant period, others will produce plants prematurely which are then attacked by pests such as thrip and red spider and fungal diseases in the warm weather.

FERTILIZING: SMs will benefit from weak applications of folia feed in the early growth stages.

OTHER CULTURE NOTES:

 

NB: IT IS ILLEGAL TO TAKE PLANTS (WHOLE PLANT, FLOWERS, SEEDS AND TUBERS) FROM THE WILD

CULTURE OF FAST MULTIPLYING (FM) TERRESTRIAL ORCHIDS

Recently, NOSSA updated the Terrestrial Culture Fact Sheet.  Instead of one sheet, it was decided to split it into three – Culture of Fast Multiplying Terrestrials, Culture of Slow Multiplying Terrestrials and Culture of Fungi Dependent Terrestrials.  Though much of the growing information is similar, there are some significant differences of which growers need to be aware.  The first of the fact sheets is Culture of Fast Multiplying Terrestrials.

FLAGBEARER SPECIES: Pterostylis curta

Pterostylis curta Labellum and column 92RL
Pterostylis curta (Blunt Greenhood) is rated rare in South Australia.  Ex situ conservation is another dimension to conservation.

Others include Chilogolottis, Corybas, Cyrtostylis, Diplodium, Microtis most Pterostylis and some Diuris. Most FMs are Autumn or Winter flowering. The exceptions are Diuris and Microtis. FM are the most common terrestrial orchids to be seen at meetings and shows. Once seedlings are established they are no longer fungi dependent.

GROWTH HABIT: FMs are the easiest terrestrial’s orchids to grow. They multiply by forming 2 – 5 tubers per plant each year. The annual growth cycle comprises 6 – 8 months as growing plants under cool (5 – 20⁰ C max, 0 – 14⁰ C min) moist conditions and 4 – 6 months as dormant tubers in hot (18 – 42⁰ C max, 12 – 30⁰ C min) dry conditions.  New tubers are produced in winter/spring. FMs are colony types, ie they multiply annually and will spread out over time if planted in the ground. Each tuber sends up a shoot to the surface in autumn and leaves grow rapidly in late autumn/early winter as temperatures fall and the rains set in. FMs mainly flower in Autumn and Winter. Diplodium & Pterostylis leaves are usually the first to appear in March followed by Diuris and Microtis in April, and Corybas in June to July. In October/November the leaves go yellow, then brown and dry as the days get longer, hotter and drier in late spring.

LIGHT/SHADE: In Adelaide, they thrive in a shadehouse of 50% shadecloth. Some species prefer heavy shade, others full sunlight but most will adapt to a wide range of light intensity. Sun loving species (Diuris & Microtis) prefer a brighter location for good growth. Corybas like the shadiest corner.  If the leaves and stems are weak and limp or if the leaf rosettes are drawn up to the light, then the shading is too dense and amount of light should be increased.

In very cold areas an unheated glasshouse may be required for frost protection although light frosts do not worry the majority of species.

AIR MOVEMENT/HUMIDITY: All species like good air movement and will not thrive in a stuffy humid atmosphere especially if temperatures are high.

WATERING: The soil should be kept moist at all times during active growth by watering gently if there is no rain.  Hand watering is especially necessary in spring as soil in pots dries out more rapidly than in the garden. Watering must be done slowly so that the matt of needles on the surface of the pot is not disturbed. Slugs and snails love these plants and must be kept under control. Raising the pots off the ground on galvanised steel benching is very effective in controlling these pests.

After the leaves have turned yellow, let the pot dry out completely to dry up the old roots and tubers otherwise they may turn into a soggy mouldy mess and rot may destroy the adjacent new tubers.

REPOTTING: They grow better if repotted annually otherwise the plants crowd together around the rim of the pot.  Repotting is normally done between November and January. The pots can be knocked out and the tubers examined without harm.  For best results repot the tubers in half fresh soil mix. A suitable soil mix is 40% loam, 50% sand and 10% organic matter with a little blood and bone fertilizer added. (They will also grow in native potting mix.) A 5 mm sieve is a useful tool for separating tubers from soil. Replant the dormant tubers with the tops 20 mm deep. Cover the soil surface with a mulch of chopped sheoak needles (20 – 50 mm lengths). This prevents soil erosion and assists with aeration under the leaves.

SUMMER CARE: Keep the pots shaded and allow the pots to dry out between light waterings until mid-February when they should be set out in their growing positions and watered a little more often. The tubers of some species will rot if kept wet during the dormant period, others will produce plants prematurely which are then attacked by pests such as thrip and red spider mite and fungal diseases in the warm weather.

FERTILIZING: FMs are very hardy and will benefit from weak applications of folia feed in the early growth stages.

OTHER CULTURE NOTES:

NB: IT IS ILLEGAL TO TAKE PLANTS (WHOLE PLANT, FLOWERS, SEEDS AND TUBERS) FROM THE WILD

 

What Pots Should I Use For My Terrestrial Orchids?

The best size pots to use for terrestrial orchids should be between a minimum of 125mm (5 inches) to a maximum of 175 mm (7 inches).  Black plastic pots are better than terracotta as they last longer and are easy to sterilize.

If the pots are too small, they dry out too quickly in Autumn and Spring.

If they are too large, it gets too wet for the tubers.  If using a larger pot, then the drainage needs adjusting by adding coarser sand to the mix.  Specimen pots for show purposes utilize pot sizes up to 300mm holding 30-50 plants.  Clay pans are sometimes used for show work.

The pots should not be shallow. 125mm depth is the minimum recommended for reliable results.  For instance, the Arachnorchis like deeper pots as the tubers tend to go down deep.  Droppers have been known to come out of the bottom drainage holes.  When this happens to stop the tubers shrivelling up in summer, it will be necessary to stand the pot on the sandy soil of another pot.

Used pots can be cleaned by blasting off loose grime with a high pressure jet of water and then soaking in a bucket of water & White King (bleach).

Pot of Caladenia latifolia cultivated by Les Nesbitt
Caladenia latifolia – show specimen in larger size pot

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