Orchids

Today I fertilized my orchids after making sure that all pots had been previously watered. It is also a good chance to clean the area of dead leaves.

I also discovered ants living in several pots of plants growing on the ground. A heavy watering got them moving. I used ant bait with hopes of getting rid of them.

This is a great time to divide and transplant Cymbidium Orchids, if they have finished blooming. Many of the 'early' ones have. I have been using the chunks of the Coconut husk, called 'core'. I have used this for two years now, with great results. I find it does not hold too much moisture, it is fairly loose. I use this one straight, not mixed with anything else, and push it firmly into the pot, so the plant does not wiggle. If you want larger plants, this is also a good time to just re-pot into larger container. I usually take off the old decoponsing potting media so they are almost 'bare root' if it has decomposed. If the original mix looks OK, I just leave it, and put them in larger containers, then I get even more spikes next season. I have found using GroPower TABLETS works just fine to feed them. I try to feed every two months, starting in April, all through the warm weather. I stop usually about November. This year I had great blooms. Some were in too much shade, fewer spikes on those, they need good light, but careful not to burn the foligae.