Herself’s Houston Garden

It is nice to see some new orchids coming to the local plant dealers. Orchid Obsession was at the Mercer Summer Sale, you can find him at most local plant sales now. As always Bruce had some really cool plants I didn’t yet own. [* You can find Orchid Obsession at the Bayou City Farmer's Market Saturday mornings]

This is the first Grammatophyllum I’ve had or seen.  It can grow outside in Houston, it’ll need light shade and lots of water. But like all orchids, you can not let it sit in water or a boggy area. Running water might work, still water will not.

Temperatures can be as hot as 105′F, but it’d really be much happier if you kept the temperature under 85′F.  Nights should be around 55′F, but it can tolerate an occasional light frost.

Watering should be frequent, water frequently but do not let it sit in water. Orchids are very prone to root rot.

As you can see in the photo these are large orchid plants, I’m going to find a spot for this among my bamboo after it’s done blooming. They have found individual plants weighing over a ton. Probably our summer and winter extreme temperatures will keep it in check here.

Watch for rust, give it more sun if you see the rust fungus on the plant and better air circulation.

Fertilize regularly, most orchid growers are now using the time release pellets when they repot their orchids.  I still prefer my liquid fertilizers.

Often the first couple of flowers at the base of the flower stem may be malformed, that is not uncommon for this species.  Flowers tend to be very long lasting.

Grammatophyllums are from the rainforests of Asia,so they love our humidity. They include the worlds largest epiphytic orchid plants.  They grow on trees in Asia and the roots have been described as ‘thorn like’ but not sharp enough to hurt.

The Houston Orchid Show was even better than last year’s show. If you get a chance to go out this afternoon or tomorrow it’s worth the trip. There were lots of orchids to see and buy that I hadn’t seen, and didn’t yet own.

Now I’m taking the laptop out back to figure out what to do with them all.

I belong to an ‘orchid of the month club’. Which means that before too long I have orchids coming out of my ears and no place to put them. Last winter I decided the cattleya orchids were on their own. ‘Live or die’, I declared, the choice is yours.

Surprisingly they did survive the winter, and the summer, and while they are not yet thriving they are adapting. A few of them even flowered this year.

To grow cattleya orchids outside in Houston year round you need a wet spot in the garden. They love to be damp and it just can’t be too humid for them.

Despite being sun loving plants, full sun in Houston was too much. I find 2-3 hours of sun is enough to keep the leaves kelly green and give them enough food for blooming.

If the weather gets cold protect them when you cover your other tender plants.

Cattleya plants first arrived in the new world from South and Central American unexpectedly. They arrived in England with a shipment of ferns and were used as packaging for the ferns. William Cattley potted some up out of curiosity. In 1818 they bloomed and have been the love of flower lovers ever since.

Despite attempts to grow and local more they were lost to the new world until they were re-found in 1889.

Their popularity decreased their numbers in the wild and continues to do so today.

Problems:
No bloom – plant needs more light
Root rot – they love water but be sure they are not sitting in water. Move them to a new better draining location.
Virus – their is no hope, destroy plants before virus can spread ( leaves get yellow blotches and streaks that turn brown. Leaves may have rings of yellow dots. )
Scale – physically remove scale, treat with insecticide oil.
Mealy bugs – wash off with soap and water.

Propagation is easiest by division.

Cymbidiums like a bit of cold weather ( ~40′F) and an occasional frost. I was told Houston is not cold enough for cymbidiums to rebloom. One plant has done very well and two have done so-so. The one that is doing well has two flower spikes ( see top picture ) that appeared the first week of March. So it can be cold enough in Houston to grow cymbidiums and have them bloom. They are likely to do better on the north side of Houston. A long series of consecutive nights below 55′F is needed for re-blooming. (preferably 1 to 3 months ) They can handle light frosts but will not be happy with extended cold below freezing.

Cymbidiums want a full sun, and a wet spot ( but not standing water ) that is low and protected from the wind. Cold air tends to puddle in low spots that are protected from wind in the winter. Any location you have where roses have done well, that tends to be chilly in the winter should be fine for cymbidiums. The one I have that is doing the best is in the wettest spot of the three plants I have here.

Orchids are known to be heavy feeders so fertilize often. Otherwise they should just take care of themselves and grow into large plants with more flower stems as they get larger.

You can divide cymbidiums when they get too large but they are finicky about that and probably won’t flower for a year or two after you divide them.

They are native to south east Asia and north Australia and grown quite happily in large sections of California.

There is also a miniature version, I do not know if that will do well here.

( The flowers began to open the last week of April. )

More information:
The Cymbidium Society of America