Liz can you post pictures of your plants? Maybe we could put the HD noid in the right species for you. That would be a good place to start..lol. Are your dens the phal type? I'm not to sure phal type dens or catts would like/want a wick system. Think really wet, then DRY before the next watering. But, I don't know anything about growing in your area. I hope someone from your general area sees this....;0)
Pat.....

Pat, thank you for your offer. I'll work on getting some pics this weekend, just got a new computer and am not playing real well with it yet.

I'm hoping since the res is below the roots, when I water, it'll be sort of really wet, then after the excess drains, it'll be like your clay pot in that water will evap off the pebbles and keep the local humidity high. I do have a few more little bitty vandas coming next month, and I just got some unglazed pots, so the new ones will probably get started in a pot system like yours, and we'll see which ones do best.

Do you only put vandas in your clay pot system? What do you keep your dens or catts in?

Sorry for all the stupid questions, but I've found that prep work can make the difference between live and dead and having to water daily vs being able to ignore for a week or so at a time. I need to be more on the ignore for 1-2 weeks end, given my job.

liz

Hi, Liz,

Sorry I can't help with your conditions in CO - well, with your potting medium, either. :)

If no one w/ similar conditions posts here, you might start another thread entitled "Anyone growing in hot, dry, and windy?" or some such.

Welcome to this side of the forum.

Whitecat8

Hi Pat and WC8, I'm trying to figure out how to do this adding pictures thing....

Let's see if this works. Pat, how did you embed pictures right in your post?

Thanks,
Liz

PS, during the test run, if you click on the first photos link, it's that one and the next two.

Here is a link that might be useful: first photos

What you are doing is 'Semi Hydroponic Watering'. It not only does no harm to the roots, it encourages root growth into the water. The existing roots will not adapt, but are above the water level and will benefit from the humidity. New roots will grow down into the water and contrary to everything you ever heard about orchids, will be adapted to be continually submerged and do just fine. You can achieve the same effect by having a pot with no bottom drainage but a couple of small drainage holes 1" up from the bottom. It works great.

Orchidnick,
Thank you, I was hoping that that would be the case. Like I said, I appreciate having pretty pots instead of clear ones, so this is a bit cobbled together, but I'm pleased thus far, even one day after starting it, the roots are looking plumper. The pebbles are cool and damp, but fairly dry.

All of my photos are on PhotoBucket Liz. Once you get them loaded there, you will get a (a.herf) code. That is the one I copy to my posts. When you click the preview page and that comes up, you should see your picture there instead of the code.

Almost all of my Dendrobium are mounted or in open baskets, hybrids and species. Same with Cattleya (and family), and I have some in clay pots with mostly lava rock and charcoal as the medium. The Vandas are the only things I have in "semi-hydro"......

Like I said I saw this done with Vandas at an orchid nursery here, and just decided to give it a try. The plants responded well.

Oh and Liz .....those are not "stupid questions" ......we all started somewhere....;0)

Ask all the questions you need to. That is what forums like this one are for. Read, read, read. You will most likely go thru the doing and undoing, and the "well .....THAT didn't work" .....;0(
Try and try again. Went you figure it out, your growing methods will be unique to you, the area you grow in, and the orchids you choose to grow. It takes a little time to pull all of that together.

That first bloom is a GLORIOUS sight!!!............;0)
Pat......

Pat,
Thanks again, I really appreciate all the support! I am an experimenter at heart, but I have a very embarrassing black thumb history. I'm going to blame it on the weather and years of grad school; that's my story and I'm sticking to it. But I have had much greater success the last 6 mos or so by adding soil moist and rock trays to my other plants, so I figured I was ready for a new challenge.

I figure it will be adapting all the great tips I'm seeing here for my windy, dry weather; I swear most days we think the roof's going to Kansas and it was 95 deg F with 13% humidity today.

But, the trip will be fun and I can't wait to see a real bloom!

What do you think about summering orchids outside in these conditions? We have a deep porch that gets good but not direct sunlight all day, they certainly won't get too cold, it's just the wind/humidity thing I'm battling. Maybe one sacrificial seedling?

Haave a great evening, thanks for all the answers and support!
Liz

Welcome to the forums, Liz :) Just clicked on your photo link, and neither of those looks like a vanda...I would guess both are dendrobiums...is the caption mislabeled? Hope you find success in this new hobby...we're all together in this adventure, and I don't know about everyone else, but I'm loving every minute of it!

Liz, welcome to the group. Don't worry about the humidity or wind. They will adapt and do fine. Remember, you can also pot your plants in plain plastic pots and stick them in a 'fancy' pot when you want to display them. Also, if the plant on the left is the Vanda it is a seedling. Your plants are high light plants and you want to gradually adjust them to as much sun as you can give. Don't keep them in the back of your porch. Start there and gradually move them forward until they get almost full sun.

My dens and many other high light orchids are already in full sun and will stay there until fall.

Good luck and hope you keep us posted on your successes...

Jane

Calvin-
Thanks for the welcome! You're right, got the 1st and 3rd captions reversed, sorry. Obvious once you look at it! I'm definitely having fun, can't wait till they start taking off. Have to go on a business trip next week, so will probably let them adapt until I get back so they don't mummify in the heat, but then, out to the porch they'll go!

Jane-Thank you also for the welcome, I'm looking forward to trying new things and joining the crowd. Where in NY, my trip is to the Adirondacks.

Regards,
Liz