My New Environment
I recently moved from Atlanta, GA, in the Southeastern US, to Newark, Delaware, in the Northeast. The climates are very similar, with hot humid summers, and cold dry winters. The biggest difference is that Delaware is much more humid in the summer than Atlanta, which is great for the orchids. The growing season is not quite as long and our winters are much colder. Right now the orchids are thrilled with the summer climate. We’ll see how they feel in December when humidity is 0 percent. We do have a whole-house humidifier, so hopefully we can keep levels above 40-45 percent.
In my last house I had one sunroom, which was very bright but with low-e windows, which were often dirty, and screens that blocked a lot of the usable light, so I recently added grow lights, a big improvement. In this house I have created a whole variety of environments for my orchids.
Sunroom
The sunroom has its own heat and A/C unit. I keep the door closed and the A/C off much of the time so it stays warm to hot, 72-82 degrees, and humid, 45-70 percent, at least during the summer. During the winter I expect it to be very cold and dry. It faces northwest, not helpful at all! I have grow lights on all the tables, plus a 3-tier grow stand where I just installed new barrina lights. The lights will be even more useful during the winter months when our days are much shorter than they are in the southeast. We plan to install skylights in the future, which should help a lot.
I’m growing mostly summer Phals in here right now. In October I’ll bring some orchids inside, including Catasetums, Dendrobiums and Brassavola-type orchids. I’ll probably also keep some of the big phals in here, too, since they mostly don’t care where I put them.
Office
The office climate is more moderate. It stays at our house temperatures which are around 72 degrees during the day ant 68 at night. I’m growing some Paphs, a mini Phal and my Stenorrhynchos speciosum. Most of them are behind my desk where they serve as my Zoom meeting background, so I switch things around to show orchids in bloom. In the winter I’m going to try to keep some of my smaller orchids, like Tolumnias and Dendrobiums, on the window sills, but given how cold it gets here, that might not work.
Upstairs Bedroom
This room has a small skylight that offers several hours of direct sun per day. For now I have paphs up there but I think it might be a bit too much for them so I may try to grow some Cattleyas up there. There is also a giant phal, which is always in bloom and nothing seems to bother.
Covered Front Porch
I have several big Phals that I got locally for $7.50. They are in really shape and a nice color. They are in mostly bright shade with some morning sun. I’ll keep them outdoors as long as I can to give them the night-day temperature variations they like. I also have a couple Angraecoids in mostly shade. I don’t have any experience with these at all, but the Angraecum Lemforde “White Beauty” seems to be happy so far. They will probably come inside in September before it gets too cold. There is also a little table with Tolumnias, also new for me. They get brighter shade and a little more morning sun.
Back Deck
I have a small plant stand that gets bright shade and some late afternoon sun. I’m growing a Bc. Yellow Bird, which is thriving and in full bloom, and a small Dendrobium that I had put in too much sun and killed a leaf. I also have a bunch of Catasetums on stands. They get full sun for part of the day and are growing very well. All of these will probably come in either in September or October, depending on temperatures.
Masdevallia Nook
There is one little table in a small hallway that seems to stay cooler than the rest of the house. I decided to try a Masdevallia there under a grow light and it is extremely happy with three blooms! I really hope the house humidifier works or it won’t last the winter. If I can keep it alive I will definitely get more. They are so cool!
