Articles for November 2019

Orchid Care for the month of November

Cooler nights and gradual reduction of humidity would signal many of the orchids to go dormant and some would trigger setting of spikes.

1) Stop fertilizing deciduous Dendrobiums, Calanthe, Habenaria, Thunia, Catasetum. Reduce the frequency of watering to force them to get into dormancy.

2) Most of the other other orchids too would reduce the rate of growing and hence reduce the frequency and quantity of fertilizer.

3) Angle of Sun and cooler temperature could cause some of the genus to produce more anthocyanins and cause reddish pigmentation on leaves.

4) Supplement Magnesium sulphate and Micronutrients to ensure that plants get dose of Magnesium and Micronutrients.

5) We might get sporadic rains in this month and cooler nights and water is a bad combination, ensure that water don’t collect in the crown and buds, & sheaths.

6) Keep a couple of bottles of hydrogen peroxide handy for any quick bandaid treatments for bacterial and surface treatments of fungal infections.

7) Remove dried leaves/sheath during this time as dried material absorbs more water and invite fungal and bacterial infections. Keeping the grow area clean would help.

8) Some of the terrestrial species (Phaius, Calanthe, Some Cymbidiums)  would start spiking, ensure that they are staked properly.

Species of the Month

Distribution: Phaius mishmensis sp. is a terrestrial orchid native to China, Assam India, Eastern Himalayas, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Philippines and Taiwan. Named after the Mishmi Hills in Arunachal Pradesh
Plant: The pseudobulbs carry 6 to 8, apical, plicate, alternate, elliptic-lanceshaped to oblong-ovate, pointed to long pointed leaves. The plant blooms in the fall on a 1-2 ft long, racemose, laxly flowered inflorescence which is shorter or as long as the leave
Culture: Fairly easy growing terrestrial. grow in terrestrial mix with lot of organic content. grow in bright light and provide a lot of water and nutrition in growing season and withheld fertilization during Oct-Feb and start fertilization when the new growth begins in spring. It is not common in cultivation.

Pictures: Courtesy Sanjeev Dharwal
Article: Sriram Kumar