Growing Orchids on Fuerteventura

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Hi, are any other forumers growing orchids out here? Either indoor or outside. I have 6 Phals and a Vanda at present, all indoors, and have faced a few challenges! It would be good to discuss their culture in this environment with another chid enthusiast.
Thanks in hope.

   

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

If anyone else is growing a Vanda orchid in a glass vase and has an accident  you'll be pleased to know you can get replacements in FuerChina in Corralejo, so probably in other Chinese shops as well. 15cm diameter and 65cm tall cost me 24€ the other day - not too bad I thought. Until I went in Nortysur in Puerto on Saturday and saw them at half that price! Bought a 'spare' but now have to find somewhere to store it safely.

The big garden centre at the bottom of the hill on the ring road at Puerto has some mini Phal (NOID) orchids in at the moment, cute little things at around 8€. Be warned though, as with most orchids bought in garden centres or supermarkets, they need repotting ASAP as the roots are being suffocated with tightly packed sphagnum moss. Repot into specialist bark for best results, never in anything resembling soil. In the wild most orchids attach their roots to tree trunks/bark and grow mainly horizontally or vertically but upside down - they need plenty of moisture on their roots but for the roots to dry out in between times as well, (like rain showers in the wild.) and water shouldn't be allowed to collect in the junctions between leaves and stem. When roots are a silvery white they need water, when they are green they are hydrated, best to grow in a clear pot with lots of holes so you can easily monitor this. The clear pot can stand inside a more decorative pot but leave plenty of air space between the 2 pots. When it needs watering just add water to the decorative pot, soak the orchid roots for about 30 mins and then remove the inner pot and let it drain well before replacing in the emptied decorative pot.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Have to confess to popping in to Lidl on Thursday and buying 2 mini Phals as I'd heard they were a 'special' last week. For 'supermarket' orchids they weren't in too bad condition, but they were in little glasses with no drainage - death by drowning in 2 weeks for the unwary! Better to ease out of the glass and just stand in a normal little plastic flower pot with holes in and stand that in something aesthetic. (No soil! If you need to anchor it in the pot use some well washed lava rock or Leca if you have it.) If anyone else has been tempted by orchids but doesn't want the plant after the initial blooms have finished give me a shout and I'll rehome it. (Please take note of the watering suggestion in my previous post, don't drown the roots by letting them sit in water, they are totally different to most house plants. And definitely don't add ice cubes - that is a marketing gimmick some companies use - orchids are mainly tropical, how much ice are they likely to encounter naturally?)

Was tempted, very very tempted, by a Vanda orchid in Oasis Garden Centre, but I really couldn't justify 74€    Felt proud of myself for walking away 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

74€ for a small-ish plant? 😳 Does it help with house work or takes the dogs for a walk or am I missing something?

Exactly why I walked away   

Actually they (Vanda orchids) can take as much looking after as a pet but when it's growing well/blooming it can be very therapeutic. I do have one but would dearly love more (dearly being the operative word.....). One of the biggest problems is holidays and who I can trust to look after it according to my instructions in my absence  . (Not the OH!)

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Was tempted, very very tempted, by a Vanda orchid in Oasis Garden Centre, but I really couldn't justify 74€    Felt proud of myself for walking away 

Called in Oasis on my way past this morning in the hopes the Vanda orchid had been reduced. The flowers on it are starting to look tatty and it was reduced by 30%. Was tempted, oh so tempted, but I'm holding out now for 50%  .

To reward myself for being good I bought another Phalaenopsis orchid instead  . This is a fresh delivery in the garden centre (probably for Kings) and the roots are still in pretty healthy condition, very good value at 8€ for a nice size plant.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

It's the natural time for Phalaenopsis orchids to be in bloom, as opposed to the forced blooms produced for special occasions. I'be been really pleased with some of mine this year.

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

Lots of bloom coming on my Phal orchids, the first flower opened today:



I need to get hold of some cal-mag supplement. Has anyone seen it for sale on the island, perhaps in a Grow (Cannabis) shop? I've tried all the general shops/garden centres.

2020 was a pretty good year for my orchids. I managed to only kill 2 plants and learnt a lot in the process  . I adopted several and bought several; I now have 17 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

This is my latest addition, a markdown in Ideal to 8€.
A Mini Phalaenopsis (NOID) 

 

I'm keeping an eye on the markdowns at Oasis to see if I can get some bargains, gotta work out a way to mark the plants I'm interested in so I know which ones to buy when the flowers are all gone 

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

My favourite orchid (NOID Phal) started it's new season blooms today:

[TamaraEnLaPlaya]

My Vanda that normally lives in a large glass vase (see post no1 in this thread) had a treat today and went out in the rain for it's daily watering!

 

It's surviving rather than thriving so I'm going to have to change the way I grow it. I'd like to mount it somewhere outside but I'm afraid I'd forget to water it 3 or 4 times a day. Indoors I'm constantly going past it which reminds me or if I'm going to be out all day I can fill the vase with water and leave it like that.

Several more Phals are coming in to bloom:
 

Managed to find some Cal-Mag at a Cannabis Grow Shop today so they'll all be getting a dose shortly. Our water is deficient in these minerals which are beneficial for good orchid growth.