On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 18:33:16 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

"Pam Moore" wrote

"Jake" wrote:

My mum kills plants.

She has currently a very sick looking rubber plant, the leaves are very
dull
and are drooping, not shiny like when she got it six months ago.

Any suggestions what I can do to liven it up or is it already a goner?

My Mum had an orchid (cymbibium) which was at death's door. I said
"Would you like me to take is home and see if I can revive it?"
Mum's house did not have central heating and was draughty. She
couldn't see well enough to water it etc. After 10 years the plant
still has not flowered, but last year I split it into 5 pieces as it
had grown so big!

The rubber plant may be too wet, or too dry, or too cold etc.
Feed it, sponge the leaves with water with a little milk in, and maybe
try a different place.

Pam, leave the Cymbid out in the garden all summer feeding well and keep
them moist, even wet, until the first frosts are forecast and only then
bring it into a just frost free place. Do not let them get frosted though.
Certainly no central heating needed, that is too warm. They need the night
temperature drop to spur them on to grow flower spikes.

Thanks for the advice, Bob.
Last year I asked the guy who runs the Writhlington Orchid Project
and he said two things:
1. Put it out until the first frost is forecast, as you say.
2. keep it standing in water all summer.
I brought mine in yesterday, and though it didn't stand in water all
the time it had so much rain that I think I fulfilled the object.
Time will tell!

Pam in Bristol

On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 18:49:01 +0100, David Rance
wrote:

On Thu, 4 Oct 2012 Bob Hobden wrote:

"Pam Moore" wrote

My Mum had an orchid (cymbibium) which was at death's door. I said
"Would you like me to take is home and see if I can revive it?"
Mum's house did not have central heating and was draughty. She
couldn't see well enough to water it etc. After 10 years the plant
still has not flowered, but last year I split it into 5 pieces as it
had grown so big!

Pam, leave the Cymbid out in the garden all summer feeding well and
keep them moist, even wet, until the first frosts are forecast and only
then bring it into a just frost free place. Do not let them get frosted
though. Certainly no central heating needed, that is too warm. They
need the night temperature drop to spur them on to grow flower spikes.

We do everything wrong with our five cymbidiums and yet they flourish.
They are kept on a sunny window sill which, in winter, is warmed by a
radiator. They produce flowers which last around six months. As soon as
one flower spike has finished blooming the plants grow another,
sometimes two, and thus we have a constant display of flowers.

David

David, do you feed them?

Pam in Bristol

"Sacha" wrote
This thread prompted me to read up on Phalaenopsis again and I am doing
everything (almost) wrong. They need a period of cool surroundings and
mine are in the kitchen, on a window sill and beside the Aga! I'll remove
them to somewhere a lot cooler, feed them and re-pot them and hope all that
prompts them into flowering.


Yes, if you keep them too warm they will not flower. Again they need a drop
in temperature to initiated flower spikes but usually they get a decent drop
at night even in a heated room but not with an Aga nearby.
The growers that win the International Orchid competitions have
Phalaenopsis with, say, 50+ flowers on them ( I think I once saw one with 78
flowers)and they get that by constantly moving them from warm to cool and
back. The cool bit prompts flower spike extension so they have huge long
spikes. The real secret is how they keep all the flowers on the plant and
all looking superb.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a photo on the net of an award
winning one for you.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Sacha" wrote

"Bob Hobden" said:

"Sacha" wrote
This thread prompted me to read up on Phalaenopsis again and I am doing
everything (almost) wrong. They need a period of cool surroundings and
mine are in the kitchen, on a window sill and beside the Aga! I'll
remove them to somewhere a lot cooler, feed them and re-pot them and
hope all that prompts them into flowering.


Yes, if you keep them too warm they will not flower. Again they need a
drop in temperature to initiated flower spikes but usually they get a
decent drop at night even in a heated room but not with an Aga nearby.
The growers that win the International Orchid competitions have
Phalaenopsis with, say, 50+ flowers on them ( I think I once saw one with
78 flowers)and they get that by constantly moving them from warm to cool
and back. The cool bit prompts flower spike extension so they have huge
long spikes. The real secret is how they keep all the flowers on the
plant and all looking superb.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a photo on the net of an award
winning one for you.

Thanks Bob. I will move mine tomorrow to the landing window or a sill in
the sitting room. If I choose the sitting room, it's heated when our
weather turns cold and the sill I'm thinking of faces west, the two others
face south. If we shut the curtains on cold nights it will be very cold
indeed on those sills, so should I bring the orchids room-side of the
curtains overnight? Even as I write this I'm starting to think that one
of the Tea Room window sills is their best bet. It faces north, isn't
heated once the Tea Room shuts, other than above seriously cold and has a
good bit of light. The Aga is definitely a bad mistake for them down to my
sheer ignorance. I had this mad idea they'd appreciate the warmth!

We have ours on a South facing windowsill in a spare bedroom with net
curtains at the window between the plants and the double glazed glass and
they stay there all year only moving to the kitchen, again S. facing, when
in good bloom. The bedroom heats up well during the day, especially if the
sun shines, but cools at night and more so in the winter. Their leaves have
not gone reddish so they are not getting too much light in either location
despite the aspect.
To answer your question, I would not leave them between thick curtains and
the glass on cold nights, they need a drop in temperature but that just
might be too much. When I say a drop in temperature I mean just that, not a
night drop like some, just a change, a reduction, in overall temperature.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK

"Sacha" wrote

"Bob Hobden"

"Sacha" wrote

"Bob Hobden" said:

"Sacha" wrote
This thread prompted me to read up on Phalaenopsis again and I am
doing everything (almost) wrong. They need a period of cool
surroundings and mine are in the kitchen, on a window sill and beside
the Aga! I'll remove them to somewhere a lot cooler, feed them and
re-pot them and hope all that prompts them into flowering.


Yes, if you keep them too warm they will not flower. Again they need a
drop in temperature to initiated flower spikes but usually they get a
decent drop at night even in a heated room but not with an Aga nearby.
The growers that win the International Orchid competitions have
Phalaenopsis with, say, 50+ flowers on them ( I think I once saw one
with 78 flowers)and they get that by constantly moving them from warm
to cool and back. The cool bit prompts flower spike extension so they
have huge long spikes. The real secret is how they keep all the flowers
on the plant and all looking superb.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a photo on the net of an
award winning one for you.

I must take a lok at the Eric Young Foundation web site.


Thanks Bob. I will move mine tomorrow to the landing window or a sill in
the sitting room. If I choose the sitting room, it's heated when our
weather turns cold and the sill I'm thinking of faces west, the two
others face south. If we shut the curtains on cold nights it will be
very cold indeed on those sills, so should I bring the orchids room-side
of the curtains overnight? Even as I write this I'm starting to think
that one of the Tea Room window sills is their best bet. It faces
north, isn't heated once the Tea Room shuts, other than above seriously
cold and has a good bit of light. The Aga is definitely a bad mistake
for them down to my sheer ignorance. I had this mad idea they'd
appreciate the warmth!

We have ours on a South facing windowsill in a spare bedroom with net
curtains at the window between the plants and the double glazed glass and
they stay there all year only moving to the kitchen, again S. facing,
when in good bloom. The bedroom heats up well during the day, especially
if the sun shines, but cools at night and more so in the winter. Their
leaves have not gone reddish so they are not getting too much light in
either location despite the aspect.
To answer your question, I would not leave them between thick curtains
and the glass on cold nights, they need a drop in temperature but that
just might be too much. When I say a drop in temperature I mean just
that, not a night drop like some, just a change, a reduction, in overall
temperature.

Thanks, Bob. I'm thinking now that it might even be best to take the
non-flowering plants out into one of the greenhouses. Unless it goes to
frost level, or just above, they're not heated at night, so daytime and
nightime temps are absolutely natural. Or do you think the difference
between a hot sunny autumn day and a cold autumn night would be too great?
While the window sill they're on faces west, it's in the corner of the
house/tea-room angle so it doesn't get westering sun for very long at this
time of year but of course the Aga heat is too much. The leaves are all
green bar one which looks as if it's got a great scar on it. I'm
suspecting someone of watering it in my absence and splashing the leaf,
perhaps.


I've never found they did well in a normal greenhouse. Stick to a
windowsill.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK