Growing orchids outside

7 years ago

Hi friends, anyone growing a small orchid collection outside that wouldn't mind posting a few photos of their setup? Desperately need some ideas for a balcony setup. Also, any tips for preventing water pooling, tip overs, shading without cloth, etc., would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Featured Answer

westoh Z6

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

The amount and intensity of your light can make a pretty big difference in what type of set-up you might use.

I grow on an east facing patio under the eaves of my house. I use 4 types of set-ups on the patio. 1. 2 4-tiered wire storage racks (see picture below of one) 2. A bakers rack 3. A wooden storage table 4. A folding heavy wire side table.

The 4-tiered racks do the best job for me. They sit under the eaves facing east and get dappled sunlight from early morning until about noon and are shaded the rest of the day. To prevent dripping below I cut up a clear plastic floor runner to fit the shelfs and hang over a little. On top of that I have eggcrate gridding which is normally used as covers in ceiling lights, again cut to fit. The eggcrate keeps the orchids from sitting in pooling water and possibly passing bad stuff to each other. I also hang heavy pet resistant screening material in front of the racks early in the season (it is rolled up in the picture), if I didn't use this screening I would have problems "easing" the orchids outside to prevent sun burning. The rack can hold anywhere from 20-30 orchids depending on their sizes. Once a few of the high light lovers adjust, I move them out to a patio table that gets direct sun from 12-4. Only my mini-vandas and few others (dendrochillums and a den aggravation) can stand that high of light intensity.

This picture was taken at @7:00 this morning after watering. There are 21 orchids on the rack currently and I still have more orchids to bring out, so in another few weeks the rack will be really packed with another 5-10 orchids.

If you don't need to house that many orchids, they have lesser tiered racks or bakers racks (left of picture) can work and they look a little more "neighbor friendly".

Hope this helps,

Bob

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Comments (8)

Meyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
7 years ago
Hello, could you take a picture of your area? Where you intend to put the orchids and how much sun they get? What kind of light?

Thanks
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Meyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
7 years ago
BOB, THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SET UP!!! Wow, your plants look so happy and look at them in flower. The leaves look flawless. What a great job too. I like your ideas...I'll post ,y set up outside. I'm afraid I didn't think of taking mine out of the totes that collect water. Shoot! Better check that when I get back home. Thank you
User
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

Facing east

Facing southeast

vandas/brassavola/catasum facing front

cattleya/potinara on corner shelving

dendrobium on floor

max ten/oncidium/zygopetalum against house

zygos below that

plants receive dappled morning sum, then either full or partial shade in afternoon, full shade in late afternoon, some sun in early evening in the corner.

any tips or advice is truly appreciated!
westoh Z6
7 years ago
Looks really great and neighbor friendly!!!

Be careful of windy days is my only suggestion. Some of the plants on the corner stand look susceptible to a strong wind. If they are in heavy stable pots, they probably will be OK.

I am cautious of wind lately as I live in the Dayton, OH metro area where 13 tornados hit the area on Memorial Day night in a 90 minute period. Luckily the closest was 1 mile away from our house and we received very little damage. Amazing what it looks like in some of the harder F3-F4 hit urban areas (FYI: an F3 tornado has winds of 160+ MPH, an F4 is 200+ MPH) . We made the national news for a couple of days, still the #1 news story here on local news. Funny, the night of the tornados not a single orchid was blown over. We had another much weaker storm a few days later and 5-6 of them were blown over, the difference being a tornado west wind and lesser storm north wind. The east patio helps with protection for those usual west to east storms, plus I had the screens down.

Bob
User thanked westoh Z6
shavedmonkey (Harvey in South Fl.)Z10b
7 years ago
The best advice comes from another orchid grower that is local. The best place to find other growers is an orchid society. Second talk to local sellers of orchids and ask about other growers. Solar advice is so different depending on latitude.
Meyermike(Zone 6a Ma.)
7 years ago
Bob, not sure if you will see this like my last post to you, but I am glad you are ok. I had no idea it was in your area. It is strange how a smaller storm can do that after all the big ones. Yes, wind deoes blow many of mine over too. It's a pain. I also said you had a very nice set up. Thank you for sharing.

Luvmyorchids, amazing job and just the perfect area. Do they get natural rains when it rains? Mine do and what a difference when they get natural rains. Pretty ones I see there too)
User
Original Author
7 years ago
Bob, I'm glad you were not in the path. But I'm sure it was frightening nonetheless. I have some of my pots hooked to the shelves with wire so they can't fall off. Meyermike, my outdoor orchids are actually getting too much rain right now. Can't even find a minute to fertilize them. Harvey, I do ask at my local orchid society but so many of the successful orchid-growers up here have greenhouses. I just want ideas from other patio growers. Thanks all for your advice. It's always appreciated!