Post Away - Curious George!

[Diane]

We love everyone, even without five posts But post away - put a list of your plants up in the growing area. Ask a question or two. You'll have 5 in no time.

[Curious George]

Thanks for the invite!

My wife and I have tried to rescue abandoned orchids from a grower, whose business was devistated by last year's hurricanes here in Florida. Neither one of us knew anything about orchids before February this year. At that time we took on several hundred plants that had a bit of green left, out of thousands that had no care for over three months. I wouldn't say we've been totally successful, but most at least survived and a few have had new growth or bloomed.

As we move forward, we will have photos and questions as to identity, since almost all plants were pulled from pots and were bare root. We have a challange in front of us, but so far the joys have outweighed the work.

We'll be looking forward to sharing and learning from you all.

[Diane]

Wow - several hundred??? How on earth are you taking care of that many? Did you build a greenhouse?

[bench72]

Welcome to the forum George. There are many really nice people here who are amazingly full of information, some even very useful tehehehe... and others, myself mainly I think, who're just here taking up space but hopefully funny space

Cheers
Tim

[Curious George]

...and others, myself mainly I think, who're just here taking up space but hopefully funny space

Thanks for the welcome, we all need some humor in our lives!

How on earth are you taking care of that many? Did you build a greenhouse?

I built one, and then another Pergola under a very large live oak tree. They are each about 5 x 12 feet, with a bench underneath to hold pots. They're both full now, so I don't know what's next since several 'dry' Dendrobium? canes packed in coconut fiber are producing keikis. I have no clue what we'll do during the winter months since even in Florida, some sort of shelter will be needed. Almost every winter we get a few hours of freeze for a day or two. That's just enough to kill/damage anything tropical.

[Curious George]

Even though some of my post seems to be doom and gloom, for a couple of neophytes, we've had some encouraging success.

[Diane]

I like both those plants, but especially the second one. I'll bet that there will be plenty of people who can help id those, at least to the genera. (GIN - does that first one look a bit like your Den. Griffitheranium sp?) You have built some nice areas. For winter perhaps just covering with heavy plastic (the kind that comes in rolls) might provide enough protection... What say you oh ?

[Curious George]

...I'll bet that there will be plenty of people who can help id those,....

I already know these, but thanks! The first is Dendrobium aggregatum, and the second Encyclia tampensis. With my browser, when I 'mouse over' one of the photos included in the post, I get a tooltip which shows the photo name. In this case, I ID these in the photo name.

[Gin]

Welcome to the forum ! I think the plastic mentioned would be fine , and have a couple of space heaters on hand just in case .
Did you join an orchid club ? a good place to take ones in bloom for an ID .
Sounds like you have a handle on the plants , they will do well for you . The 2 in the photos are very pretty, btw. I know people in Fl. that can't bloom the lindleyi aka aggregatum to save thier souls Gin

[Curious George]

Thanks Gin and Diane for the compliments and ideas. I have considered the plastic, but need to make sure it doesn't touch a plant. I'll need to put my engineer hat on to figure an easy way to cover/uncover when required.

Actually, my wife has the green thumb. I seem to be the 'grim reaper' when it comes to plants, killing them with kindness.