EARLY APRIL OBSERVATIONS

The month of April has arrived once again here in South Florida. It begins the two month period that I call the blow dry months here at the Sandpit garden. April and May here are consistently hot, dry and windy. Just as a blow drier works the warm winds evaporate all the moisture out of the soil and the lack of rain compounds the drying effects. We are in a drought here now and the government has imposed water restrictions. The next two months will require dedicated watering to keep the garden going until June when the rainy season starts up.

I have started getting away from containers for most of the plants and put them directly in the soil. It keeps them at a more constant moisture and temperature and seems to be working better for me. The containers have their advantages but during this time of year will dry out overnight. With the plants in the ground I can stretch a couple of days between watering's which can save the plants when away from the garden.

Anyway since we are speaking of Orchids I found this guy stuck in the middle of some other potted plants outside. This phalaenopsis Orchid is trying its best to bloom for me but I was remiss in watering it and it has been getting too much direct sun.

I brought it inside to get some much needed attention, kinda like Orchid CPR. I hope that it soon perks up and the when the buds on the flower stem open they will show its true form. This bloom was just wilted over itself. How do you say Orchid guilt.

I had last month brought inside some of the other Phalaenopsis Orchids and put them by a window so they get the morning light.

This guy is solid yellow with a tinge of lime surrounding a purple throat. It is quite simple but striking. It has been blooming for over a month now.

The Phalaenopsis like it inside in the air conditioning seems like. These Orchids like daytime temps between 70 and 80 degrees so they are much like people. During the heat you can bring them inside without worry to enjoy their spectacular bloom. They will get to stay inside while in their bloom cycle then get returned outside to the harsh world that is the Sandpit. Plants here have to be tough .

This Phalaenopsis Orchid has been around the Sandpit now for several years. I call it freckles.

It has smaller blooms than some of the others but is my favorite of the Phals that I have.

And speaking of the Sandpit raised beds the Jubilee heirloom tomato plants are looking really good. No sign of disease or other Tomato malady's that seem to plague the tomato plants here. I have been feeding them with liquid tea made from the Comfrey leaves. These are yellow tomatoes and so far so good. Of course by writing this I have probably doomed them but they look good for now.

They are growing amongst the Collard plants and both are competing for space. Maybe that is a good thing and the competition makes them grow better.

That's the sitrep for early April here at the Sandpit garden.

Just a reminder that now is the time to plant some Moonflower seeds. It is my unscientific theory that the Moonflower plants will bend Hurricanes away from your home and garden. Even if they don't the plants are super cool opening their white flowers at night. With Hurricane season just a short time away some Moonflower plant seeds will cost you a lot less than what your windstorm damage insurance deductible in Florida is. Urban legion or not I have never been struck by a hurricane when The moon flower plants were growing at the Sandpit. Believe it or not.

--SANDDUNE--

ORCHID OBSERVATIONS

I have to admit to having a certain fascination with Orchids. One that apparently is shared with many gardening enthusiasts.

The most common Orchid that I notice being sold around these parts is called the Phalaenopsis. It is the Orchid with hound dog ears or thick floppy leaves that send up growth spikes. These growth spikes arch and form fantastic colorful blooms at the ends.

Being that there are literally thousands of hybrids of the Phalaenopsis Species the color patterns are endless.

As with any new plant the idea is to watch it, make observations, and try to figure out what to do to keep it happy.

Here are some of my observations on how to keep the Phalaenopsis happy.

I am no expert by any stretch of my imagination but here is what has worked for me .

The Phal is an Orchid that likes filtered light. It doesn't like being put in direct sun or it will burn. It is kinda like people wanting to stay in the shade on a hot day. All my Orchids stay outside and are only brought inside to protect them from freezing temperatures.

In nature the Phalaenopsis is epiphytic. That is just a fancy two dollar word means in nature they like to attach themselves to trees. Most of them locally are sold in plastic containers with many drain holes in the bottom. To keep them happy best I can figure you water them same as they would get in nature by the rainfall sitting on a tree. This means not too much but every now and again. Make sure that the water that you do give them can freely drain out the bottom of the container you keep them in.

I use collected rainwater on the ones I have. Just makes sense to me as the city water is chocked full of chemicals used to purify it.

These Phals get water once or twice a week depending on how windy and hot it has been. Don't allow water to set in the v formed by the leaves so it doesn't get crotch rot.

Here's a Phal trick that I learned. When the blooms eventually die don't cut off the stalk back to the leaves. If you look on the stalk you will see raised areas every few inches. As in the above picture these are growth centers on the stalk. If you clip the stem an inch or so above one of these growth centers the stalk will sent out a new brack of blooms from that growth center.

Here is a picture of one of the Phal stalks that I clipped above the growth center last year.

You can see that the plant has regenerated a new growth stem from the growth center below the point the stem was clipped.

So what is the best way to tell if your Phal is healthy. Look at the two top leaves. The top leaves are the new growth on your plant. The leaves under them are old and will sometimes turn yellow. So if the top two look healthy you are doing fine. Remember the plant you got probably came from a greenhouse and was grown under ideal conditions.

Here is a picture of that same new stem a month later. The first new flower is beginning to open .

The Phalaenopsis flowers open successively or one at a time in order along the stem.

One of the best kept secrets of the Phalaenopsis is that is really not that hard to grow and keep happy. And the blooms last quite a long time and are spectacular. Two of my Phalaenopsis Orchids are still blooming from last Thanksgiving . What's that about five months now.

Here is a picture of the new bloom fully opened on the new growth stem.

It's hard not to become addicted to Orchid collecting because of their exotic beauty.

Hope the above observations help you with your Phalaenopsis Orchid. All I can claim is that is what works for me here in South Florida.

--Sanddune--

HERE COMES THE SUN

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It appears that the southern vacation of the Arctic cold is finally over and it is departing to return back north. The wind here has shifted back from the north to the east coming now off of the ocean and with it temperatures in the 70's.




Most of my plants seem to be in really good shape, to my surprise.

My Tulip experiment has started to send up a few visible sprouts now.

I planted the bulbs on 12-23-2009. It will be interesting to see what turns out from these . That is one of the things I like about gardening is that you can always experiment and maybe learn something in the process.


I had been concerned on how the Hillbilly Dendrobium Orchid would fare in the freeze but it seems happy.

It is still growing it's flower stalk and is halfway blooming apparently none the worst from the cold.

This is my first Orchid that I grew and I am kind of partial to it. It is attached to a tree so I could not bring it inside for protection from the freezing weather.

As a matter of fact all the Orchids seem to be thriving lately.

This is one of the Phalaenopsis type that is sending out it's flower spike.

Best I can recall it will have a solid yellow flower bloom.

It hammers in one of my garden lessons learned . Update your plant markers from time to time with pertinent info before you forget. Some how I now have 17 Orchids of assorted types and somehow get them mixed up with one another.

This one is another Phalaenopsis called Chien Xen Pearl. This Orchid is a real attention getter.

It has new buds getting ready to open into more flowers on the tract. It has been in bloom since Thanksgiving with more blooms on the way.

That's the update. Time now to get back outside and soak up some of that South Florida sunshine. It's great to feel all warm and toasty without the jacket.

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WEIRD GOINGS ON AROUND THE SANDPILE

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Not quite sure what is going on around here but it is unnerving. Over the Thanksgiving weekend these things happened.

To start my son's ex girlfriend stopped by and brought me a Key Lime Pie all the way from the Key West Pie Factory in where else Key West. Man that's some good eatin'. She came by again last night and brought a Homemade Pumpkin Pie. Slightly weird but OK.

Next my son's new girlfriend stopped by and gave me a Dendrobian Orchid that she no longer wanted. She said the flowers had fallen off and it was dying. Of course I tried to tell her that the spike was gone but the plant looked fine but she insisted that I take it. Unexpected but OK again.

Then my sister in law, who stayed with us over the Holiday, came back from shopping at the swap shop with my wife. She told me she had a suprise

and gave me these four Orchids .

This one is a yellow Phalaenopsis. Don't know her name yet

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Another Phalaenopsis Orchid hybrid . I think this is

Long Pride Fancy.

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And yet another hybrid Phal called Chien Xen Pearly--------------------------------------------------------

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And this big guy a Vanda called Pack Chong Blue.

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By this time I'm Feelin' kinda weirded out. I mean two pies and five new Orchids. Something is not normal here.

Then I fire up the computer to check my blog and find that Deborah from Deb's Garden has awarded my blog a Best Blog Award from Blotanical.

WHOA, I mean TWO Pies, FIVE Orchids and a Best Blog Award in three days. I'm really freakin now. Kind of like livin' in a earthquake zone and suddenly noticing all the birds and animals have been missing for a few days. I'm not that superstitious but have seen some Omens in my time.

I can't seem to put my finger on what it all means but I'm sure going inside to find some spare change in the couch crack to finance me a Lottery ticket.

In the meantime check out Deb's Garden blog and see if its not all true.

http://debsgarden.squarespace.com/journal/2009/11/28/an-award-no-lizard-can-give.html#comments

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