In temperate regions of the world, orchids that are normally grown indoors or under glass can be placed outside for the summer growing season. A carefully chosen position will provide your plants with conditions that are nearer to those of their natural habitat.
Orchids that benefit most are lightloving, cool-growing types such as cymbidiums, odontoglossums, coelogynes, encvclias and dendrobiums, all of which have fairly robust foliage that may become a little spotted or marked throughout the course of several months but will not come to any harm. Those orchids with softer, wideleafed foliage, such as lycastes, anguloas and the deciduous calanthes, would very soon become notably spoiled by blemishes as a result of the effects of the weather.
The exceptions are the coolgrowing varieties among the pleiones. These plants always do better in a cooler environment for the summer, and any spotting of their foliage usually comes late, at the season's end, just before the leaves turn brown and are shed.
Masdevallias and other smallgrowing related genera are shadedwellers that would be particularly unhappy placed in the open. In no time a rapid loss of their almost succulent leaves would result. Their culture is more specialized, and difficult enough to achieve in the greenhouse. Among the intermediate genera, those members of the vast Cattleya alliance do well in tropical gardens, but in temperate regions the foliage is prone to heavy marking by the excesses of wind and weather.
If you do not stand the plant on a damp base, you will need to remove it for watering and replace it after the pot has drained. The flowers of some orchids can also be highly scented, which adds immeasurably to their overall appeal.
Alternatively, you can build your own indoor growing case as large as conveniently possible and with the inclusion of electric lighting. This will provide a permanent home for those plants that do not need bright light. These include the phalaenopsis and paphiopedilums.
The lighting can be controlled so that the plants receive up to twelve hours of "daylight" daily throughout the year. This can greatly assist the flowering of orchids during dull periods.
Orchids that have outgrown their pots are also at risk of being top-heavy and are easily knocked over and damaged. These same orchids are also extremely difficult to keep watered, and once they have become dry it is almost impossible to get water down to the roots without a long soak in a bucket of water. Other orchids better left where they are include those that are producing their flowers during the summer period. Developing buds and flowers are the first to suffer from dampness, rain and wind. It also becomes difficult to keep the buds free of aphids and attacks from slugs. Newly repotted orchids should not be taken outside until they haw started to make their new root systems.
Orchids that benefit most are lightloving, cool-growing types such as cymbidiums, odontoglossums, coelogynes, encvclias and dendrobiums, all of which have fairly robust foliage that may become a little spotted or marked throughout the course of several months but will not come to any harm. Those orchids with softer, wideleafed foliage, such as lycastes, anguloas and the deciduous calanthes, would very soon become notably spoiled by blemishes as a result of the effects of the weather.
The exceptions are the coolgrowing varieties among the pleiones. These plants always do better in a cooler environment for the summer, and any spotting of their foliage usually comes late, at the season's end, just before the leaves turn brown and are shed.
Masdevallias and other smallgrowing related genera are shadedwellers that would be particularly unhappy placed in the open. In no time a rapid loss of their almost succulent leaves would result. Their culture is more specialized, and difficult enough to achieve in the greenhouse. Among the intermediate genera, those members of the vast Cattleya alliance do well in tropical gardens, but in temperate regions the foliage is prone to heavy marking by the excesses of wind and weather.
If you do not stand the plant on a damp base, you will need to remove it for watering and replace it after the pot has drained. The flowers of some orchids can also be highly scented, which adds immeasurably to their overall appeal.
Alternatively, you can build your own indoor growing case as large as conveniently possible and with the inclusion of electric lighting. This will provide a permanent home for those plants that do not need bright light. These include the phalaenopsis and paphiopedilums.
The lighting can be controlled so that the plants receive up to twelve hours of "daylight" daily throughout the year. This can greatly assist the flowering of orchids during dull periods.
Orchids that have outgrown their pots are also at risk of being top-heavy and are easily knocked over and damaged. These same orchids are also extremely difficult to keep watered, and once they have become dry it is almost impossible to get water down to the roots without a long soak in a bucket of water. Other orchids better left where they are include those that are producing their flowers during the summer period. Developing buds and flowers are the first to suffer from dampness, rain and wind. It also becomes difficult to keep the buds free of aphids and attacks from slugs. Newly repotted orchids should not be taken outside until they haw started to make their new root systems.
About the Author:
Garden Orchids suitable for growing in a small growing case are Coelogyne corymbosa, Cirrhopetalum guttulatum, Dendrobium cuthbertsonii, Encyclia polybulbon, and Ludisia discolor.
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