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| Monthly Checklists and Newsletters: Motes Notes |
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By Dr. Martin Motes, from his monthly newsletter and book Florida Orchid Growing
Monthly advice for orchid growers in South Florida. There's lots of information pertinent to North Florida growers too. Subscribe to the monthly newsletter so it will be delivered to you via email each month.
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Progress of the Season
This January has been one of the hottest and driest on record. We have all been enjoying this weather as much or more than our vandas have. Alas, some of our fellow travelers in the natural world have also relished the additional warmth and dryness. High temperatures in the upper 70's to low 80'a have been just a little low to spark thrips and mites to their best efforts but scale insects on the other hand seem to be perfectly happy with these temperate conditions. Fortunately, our highs have not been so high as to preclude the user friendly vegetable oil sprays to control scale. Three tablespoons of cooking oil per gal of water kept in constant agitation while applying will be very effective against scale. This can be followed by soap at four tablespoons per gal. in 14-16 days. If a number of mature scale are present they can be removed using an old toothbrush and soapy water. For more widespread infestations, some of the other insecticides recommend in Fla. Orchid Growing (pg 178) can be used. Malathion or other organophosphate insecticides are particularly effective in combination with oil. The synergistic effect achieved often gives nearly total control of scale. Keep an eye out for ants which may be carrying scale insects and making plantations of them in your orchids. Scale can also be carried to our plants on the wind. The scale favorable conditions behoove us to be observant. Thrips will be controlled by the scale control program as well. The interval for spraying for mites is shorter, 7-10 days so a separate spraying to control mites may also be necessary.
The higher temperatures that have ginned up the insect world have also put our vandas on a smooth trajectory. Be sure that they are getting enough food. They will reward you with more and bigger blooms. Conversely take extra care to avoid stimulating dormant genera into premature growth and potential loss of flowering.
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January in Your Orchid Collection
January is somewhat like December but in reverse, with each succeeding day bringing longer hours of sunlight until days are long enough that afternoons return at the end of the month with extra sunshine to warm us after the extra sharp cold snaps. January, like December, is cold and dry, in fact even colder and drier. Dry is good, cold can be very bad. We need to accentuate the positive by especially... read entire article |
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February in Your Orchid Collection
Despite the bloom on the avocados and the burgeoning new leaves on the live oaks, February is not spring in South Florida. Danger of freeze continues past mid month and frost can occur still into March. Even if the weather is balmy, it's too early to let down our guard or take down any protection we have mounted against the cold. The trend however is toward the positive as each lengthening day brings extra hours of warming sunshine... read entire article
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March in Your Orchid Collection
Whilst March never comes in like a lion in South Florida, occasionally it slinks in like a bob cat. Frost is not unheard of in the first few days of the month. The more cold sensitive genera, hard cane dendrobiums, phalaenopsis and vandas may well need some protection even into the middle of the month. Overall, however, March brings us some of the most ideal orchid growing conditions... read entire article
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April in Your Orchid Collection
Far from the cruelest, April is the kindest month to South Florida orchid growers. The weather in April is definitely settled into warm, even deliciously hot, with passing cold fronts only adding the delight of a pleasant change in temperature. The clean, bright days brimming with abundant sunlight and the low relative humidity create the high drying potential that orchids love. Now we can get our orchids... read entire article |
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May in Your Orchid Collection
May is a month of transition in South Florida. Early in the month we can expect the driest weather of the year. Because of the clarity of the air and lack of cloud cover, temperatures rise rapidly in the late morning and can reach the upper eighties or nineties by mid afternoon before cooling substantially in late afternoon. Fortunately, over night radiant cooling rapidly dissipates the previous day's... read entire article
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June in Your Orchid Collection
June is the most dramatically tropical month in South Florida. As the southeast Trade Winds blow cool moist air off the Gulf Stream daily, as surely the heating effect of the center of the peninsula percolates up massive thunder heads. The increased cloud cover drawing a veil across the afternoon sun provides much cooling relief for our plants... read entire article
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July in Your Orchid Collection
Although it mostly passes unnoticed to millions locked in their air-conditioned bubbles, July in South Florida is quite different from June. While the pattern of afternoon showers built from the moisture of the morning's sea breeze persists in July, the thunder-storms are sharper and shorter. The clouds linger less and the foliage dries more quickly. Less quantity of rain falls in July than in June... read entire article
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August in Your Orchid Collection
July and August are the two most similar months in South Florida. Most of the advice on watering, disease and pest control in last month's calendar still apply but subtle changes are taking place. Although it may not seem so, as temperatures climb into the low nineties most afternoons, summer is in retreat: each day a little shorter, each night a little longer. With shorter days the importance of watering as early... read entire article
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September in Your Orchid Collection
September looms as the only truly dismal month in South Florida. Even without the prospect of the unspeakable 'H' word, September disheartens since it is easily the dampest, dullest month in the year. Although more inches of rain fall in June, more hours of rain occur in the often slow, seemingly endless drizzles of September. Frequently a day or two can pass without so much as a solid hour of truly bright... read entire article
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October in Your Orchid Collection
October is a month of change in South Florida. If the Romans had lived here where we do, they would have named this month for their two faced god Janus. Usually around the middle of the month, and certainly by the end of the month, the first strong cold front pushes into South Florida bringing to a close the monolithic heat and damp of summer and ushering in weather as most of the continent knows it... read entire article
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November in Your Orchid Collection
In November we can no longer afford to be dominated by the illusion, so easy here at the northern edge of the tropics, that summer will never end. Although Indian Summer persists for the whole winter in South Florida, November is the month to prepare our plants for those short sharp blasts of cold which are inevitably coming as each successive cold front pushes the overall temperature a little lower... read entire article
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December in Your Orchid Collection
December marks the beginning of the serious dry season in South Florida. While this additional dryness provides relief from the autumnal rains that can bring so many fungal problems, December is also the month of shortest day lengths. This contracted period of light, on the contrary, reduces severely the drying potential for our plants. Nature thus both gives and takes away from us in December. We must... read entire article
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