Growing the "Cool" Way 

 

Fall has definitely arrived here in the Midwest.  The leaves are turing beautiful shades of red, orange and gold, the days are shorter and the temperatures have fallen dramatically.  This is the perfect time of the year to add cooler growing orchids to your collection!

 

The "cooler" growing varieties that we grow here at Oak Hill are easy-to-grow, requiring nightime temps only a few degrees cooler than the core of a typical home in order to bloom.  During our hot, humid summers, these plants will slow their growth, due to the higher temperatures.  Now in fall, the cooler growers are starting to put out new leaf and root growth.  They usually bloom during our winter-to-early-spring months, when the temperatures outside are naturally cooler. 

 

By growing these plants close to a window, or in a basement, under lights, you can achieve the natural drop in nighttime temperatures that will push these plants into flower.  Many of these cooler growers are also miniatures and require only medium-to-lower light, thus making them perfect for windowsill growing.

 

A cooler nighttime temperature is actually appropriate for most of your orchids.  In many cases, the shorter days and temperature fluctuation between day and night is what pushes fall and winter blooming varieties into spike, including Phalaenopsis and Cattleyas.  Cooler temps will also help keep your humidty higher during the dry winter months. 

 

There are some varieties of orchids that require very cool temps to grow and bloom (some Pleurothallids including some Masdevallias and Draculas, etc.).   When the temperatures in summer go above 80 degrees, these plants can suffer greatly.  At Oak Hill Gardens we carry only a few of the "warmth-tolerant" Pleurothallids, as our conditions cannot accomodate the air-conditioned specifics that most of them require.  This forces us to concentrate on growing the varieties with which the home grower can also have success!

 

Try some cooler growers!

Liese