FEATURESTORY
by Ray Barkalow
Stretch Your Orchid Growing Conditions
I
am a big proponent of analyzing your growing
conditions and acquiring plants that are well-
suited to the environment you can easily and
routinely provide. Sometimes, however, one just
has to have a plant (or plants, more likely) that are
a stretch. This article gives you some ideas that will
allow you to stretch your growing conditions to ac-
commodate them.
Sure, you can crank up the heat in your home, or
air condition your greenhouse, but what if you don’t
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32
want to make that kind of investment? No worries!
There are easy ways around those issues. Plants that
like it warmer: This is an easy one – use a seedling
heat mat under the pots. A 9″ x 19″ heat mat fits per-
fectly inside of a standard nursery tray. It will boost
the root zone temperature by about 15°F above ambi-
ent, while drawing only 17 watts of electricity, it won’t
“break the bank” doing so. Other sizes are available
for those wanting to “convert” larger areas.
Plants that like it cooler: This requirement
presents a bit more of a challenge, but can still be
achieved quite simply. If you grow your plants in
semi-hydroponics™, switching from a plastic- to a clay
pot (standing in a tray of water to act as the reservoir)
will increase the evaporation rate through the side
wall of the pot, enhancing the evaporative cooling. If
you do not grow in semi-hydroponics™ culture, you
can still take advantage of the evaporative cooling by
nestling your pot inside of a clay pot of LECA. GG
Ray Barkalow has been growing orchids for over 45 years,
and owns First Rays, which offers horticultural products to the
hobby grower. He may be contacted at raybark@firstrays.
com and you can visit his website at FirstRays.com.
www.GardenandGreenhouse.net
June 2018