next in line for desk with window for my orchids

[coeruleo]

yes! the woman with the only desk in the office that has a window seat has had to 'go home with a migraine' so many times that she's being moved... and apparently i'm next in line to sit there. it faces west, and has deeply tinted glass. the boss sits at the next window, on the other side of a wall, but he grows several phals in the window (i have not noticed them to flower, and will try to get a better look at them soon to see if they are happy looking) and a dendrobium a few feet from the window, and it does flower. it grows upright and has typical white flowers every summer that last a long time. i don't know if it is a hard-cane or what, but it's doing ok, so the light must be good. the flowers are not as full as a phal type dendro. it looks happy. the window is about 3.5' wide. has a thick ledge, but i can't go too loony with plants. it's a very uptight office. they used to have a no-plant rule. currently i'm sitting in the far, darker corner. marantas were dying, so i got some fancy red leaved chinese evergreens from thailand. anglaonemas. these things practically grow in the dark. and look more deep red in person than these pictures. the one starts out light, and turns darker as the leaf ages, so it does have some whitish and pink sometimes on the younger leaves.



but now i'll be able to grow orchids, maybe 4 or so without looking too nuts. trying to go for high-light orchids that flower often... and maybe considering a try at semi-hydro. the office is fairly well air conditioned, plus we have mild weather. there are vertical blinds, and i can shade the plants a bit if needed by placing off to one side or the other if not directly in the window.

i'm thinking a psychopsis. i have a mini one at home with 5 stems that just finally put out a flower. not sure if i want to get another of this same smaller growing one, or get a new kind with taller stems and larger flowers. and probably another mule ear type with haematochilum... unless someone complains about the scent. like a t. josephine maybe. i found alisting for 'oncidium faye' but no idea what it looks like.

and maybe a red flowered epidendrum. if i can find a smaller-growing but larger-flowering one. no rush, one will pop up. this also might provide some shading for more sensitive plants... could also get a few different colored ones in one pot... so that's a plus. maybe a red and a yellow. may have to try the keiki paste on mine at home!

i think dendrobiums would do well, but they only flower once a year...

oncidiums bloom twice or more, i think best to stick to mule ear types that can handle better lighting. i'd love to have a big spider orchid like a miltassia though.


what else is just ALWAYS flowering? and is not too gigantic? or too strongly scented...

[78Terp]

So many choices!!!!!

I used to have a window in my cube, many moves ago. That was in my life BO (before orchids!). Now I have my smallest personal workspace of my career. 6 ft x 8 ft. I did add a phal to my work environment recently.

Right now, I think my most reliable bloomer is my zygo Advance Australia. It is almost open again for its 2nd blooming in 2014. I bought it in spike in Nov 2013. So this will be the 3rd set of flowers I will have seen on this guy. Also, this spike has 5 buds. The other spikes produced on this one has been 4 buds.

[kspalding]

Ok, sorry to be presice but it is Aglaeonema. You have a perfect Rose and other on display. The rose is the pinker one and creta has the red rim and red in the foliage yet Candy Cane is more pink with similar features thats why i said other cuz i cant tell in pic. Either way both appear perfectly happy and I don't like to use that word often. Your office conditions seem perfect for these as they don't require much except for water. As for not looking "nuts" good luck :-). Most addicts of anything have a "tell" they give off lol. Yours was evident in the list of ideas you were considering (or should i dare say excitedly babbling). Its okay just get use to identifying urself as an addict. As for choices I have a bit of a vindictive mind. Show up your boss with an oncidium hybrid of ur choice since these bloom continuously throughout the year... that way yours are blooming while his/hers isn't.

Terp- glad you specified lol. BO has a different meaning where Im from(hee hee).

---------- Post Merged at 01:48 PM ----------

Sorry I studied the pics more closely and I am wondering have you ever seen your Ags bloom? If not u should know that they produce "peace lily" type flowers often when they are happy.

---------- Post Merged at 01:55 PM ----------


This one is still developing but will eventually open into a "half cupped" shaped flower.

[stateless]

It's not an orchid but there are some smaller sized anthuriums that would probably do good

[catasetum-ian]

phalaenopsis pulcherrima.....small type of phal, and basically flowers all year round once they establish a clump

[coeruleo]

i have the hardest time with anthuriums. i was wondering if one might do better in semi-hydro? they always dry out on me. and yes, the one with the red edging has bloomed several times. the other one only once. interesting flowers, not flashy looking though. i will definitely try a few of the psychopsis. maybe put a few different ones in a medium sized shallow clay dish together. like one of those bowl shaped ones. that way i can tuck a couple plants into one planter again. looking at a mendenhall and an alba variety to go with it. i could even tuck in a few little tolumnias in between them.

[chingjervis]

Oh, "They used to have a No Plant Rule"... aint that a dry office! Glad they allowed it this time, plants help liven up the environment and most especially they abosrb bad air to give off fresh oxygen!

[78Terp]

i will definitely try a few of the psychopsis. maybe put a few different ones in a medium sized shallow clay dish together. like one of those bowl shaped ones. that way i can tuck a couple plants into one planter again. looking at a mendenhall and an alba variety to go with it. i could even tuck in a few little tolumnias in between them.

Sounds like your desk will be lost to orchids!

[kspalding]

I have noticed my anthuriums don't seem to like indoors....but I think it was the lack of airflow. They just lost color and started to look skimpy but to its credit it fought hard to survive and after I moved it closer to an open window it started sprouting new leaves but just hasn't regained its blooms yet.

[coeruleo]

i had an anthurium miniature with red flowers that did well for a very short period of time... then it got hit by the sun and died. i love them though... may have to try one but might try semi-hydro. at home they usually get mites, so maybe that won't happen at the office. the window is 4 feet wide and about 6 feet tall. i moved into the desk today. payday thursday... so at least one new orchid will arrive the next week. i did buy a cheap but huge phal with purple flowers i might bring in... the boss in the next office has a bunch of them in his window, and they look fine. i guess the dark tinting protect them from burning... but i've never seen them flower. this time of year we don't get much sun through the windows. but come spring i will need to make sure to adjust the blinds enough to avoid overheating them. i have ordered some s/h supplies. the psychopsis is known to do well in s/h. and it eliminates having to repot all that often. but definitely next week i will order a psychopsis mendenhall monarch.