CULTURAL NOTES 
Australian Natives 
The middle of winter is a fairly quiet time on 
the native orchid scene. While there aren’t 
many epiphytes in bloom, there are lots of ter- 
restrials in all their extraordinary forms to be 
seen now. The culture of these is very different 
to the epiphytic natives and many are impossi- 
ble to maintain in cultivation, although a few, 
such as Pterostylis nutans, are easy enough to 
grow if you can provide the care they need. As 
most of these plants are deciduous over sum- 
mer they don’t have the water demands of other 
natives such as the Sarcanthinae. But then, not 
everyone is content to look at pots of bare dirt 
for a couple of months either. 
There is much to native orchid culture that 
means trying to beat the natural climate of 
where you live. Growers love plants that origi- 
nate from areas vastly different to where they 
live. They will choose very showy plants of 
tropical origin to grow in temperate areas, 
meaning the need for artificial heat. Even our 
cool-growing natives may need protection in 
many inland areas. While the minimum temper- 
atures of the areas they come from seem quite 
low, the plants grow in protected niches where 
they get warm sunlight, often in the morning, 
and are out of chilling winds. There is usually 
good tree cover providing protection from frost. 
You need to be aware of the conditions in your 
growing area and know what your collection 
needs to thrive. The challenge is to ensure that 
they are at their best and not just surviving. This 
gets more complicated as hybrids of mixed 
parentage continue to increase. Do they take 
after the warm or cool growing parents? As 
hybrid complexity increases they will become 
more standardised in cultural requirements as 
has occurred with other groups of orchids such 
as cattleyas where there are warm and cool 
growing ones selected for their flowers and not 
usually the species they originated from, unless 
your are into species growing and this is a sep- 
arate interest in itself that can be very reward- 
ing. Watch and study them to learn what they 
need. This is what orchid culture is about. 
Many growers who work don’t get to see 
much of their plants in daylight at this time of 
year so it is important to get into the bushhouse 
whenever you can to be sure things are OK. 
Check for plants that don’t get any warm win- 
ter sun. Look for the effect of summer growth 
on nearby trees. The low angle of the sun can 
mean a small amount of growth on a neigh- 
bours tree can block sunlight. Dealing with that 
kind of problem may need some diplomacy and 
creativity. It might just be your own larger 
plants that cause problems. 
This is the time when the spring flowering 
natives develop their racemes so care is needed 
to ensure they are not damaged. Watch that they 
don’t get tangled in the leaves and growths of 
plants. Gently release them if they do. They are 
best straightened out early so they can develop 
properly. Be careful as the racemes are very brit- 
tle and can snap off. Continue to clean up any 
dead leaves and pseudobulbs. Remove any ferns 
and weeds from your pots. 
Take care pests don’t munch on developing 
flowers. Snails and slugs seem to enjoy taking 
a chunk out of the raceme so that it can no 
longer support the flowers. Aphids suck sap 
The Australian Orchid Review, June/July 2009 
and cause~spotting or deformity of flowers. 
Fortunately most pests are less active in winter, 
but they will be out and about once the weather 
warms up and it is really annoying to care for 
plants all year only to have blooms ruined as 
they open. 
During winter, natives need less water but 
remember that mounted plants dry out regard- 
less and those blooms that are developing need 
some water. Water early in the day so it is 
absorbed before the cold of night and any frost 
can freeze and cause damage or kill plants. 
Fertiliser can be stopped over winter, let the 
water flush pots to freshen up the media a bit by 
washing out excess fertiliser left from summer. 
If it rains lightly and remains overcast, take the 
opportunity to get some extra water on plants if 
they are dry, as it will usually remain warmer 
overnight. 
Get ready for repotting now. You will be 
glad you did when you start work later and find 
everything is just where you need it. If you 
wash pots (and who doesn’t recycle when they 
have only had one healthy owner?) get into the 
warm winter sun and start scrubbing and soak- 
ing. Use gloves and be sure to disinfect with 
bleach or whatever you have so that you are 
sure they are really clean. Pots that had sick 
plants are best destroyed to remove the risk of 
passing on a virus or other disease. 
Stock up on new, clean media in quantities 
to cope with the numbers of plants you will 
need to repot when flowering is over. It is very 
frustrating to spend a day repotting only to get 
to the last few plants and find that the grade of 
media they need has run out! Don’t reuse pot- 
ting media from orchids. Save it for ferns and 
other foliage plants that are kept away from 
your orchids or use it on the garden as water 
saving mulch. If an orchid is obviously sick, 
dispose of the media along with the plant so it 
won’t come into contact with orchids again. 
Be wary of changing to an entirely new 
media as there are many tales of woe out there 
amongst growers who thought they were onto 
something good only to find it didn’t suit their 
growing environment and they lost many plants 
or years of growth. Water quality varies greatly 
so use anything drastically new with caution. 
The fertiliser you use can also have an effect. 
This is not the time to repot or deflask unless 
you live in the tropics. 
A heated or enclosed house will need to be 
watched to ensure humidity levels are main- 
tained to suit the plants. Tropical natives are 
subject to wet and dry seasons, so keeping them 
dry over winter will both protect them from 
cold damage as well as imitate their natural 
environment. 
Enjoy what blooms you have and prepare for 
the busy season ahead. 
Cattleyas 
Cattleyas are still growing well with many of 
them in bloom... Keep plants under cover if 
possible. If plants are left out — spray with 
ENVY® every three to five weeks depending 
on ambient temperatures. If growing in a 
heated house- turn thermostat to 10°C. Watch 
your watering. Every seven to ten days should 
be sufficient. Every second week you could 
give your catts. a little potassium nitrate or sul- 
phate at one gram per litre of water. Use the sol- 
uble product NOT granular form. The old K-D- 
Lis all great for helping produce larger flowers 
with more intense colour. This product is now 
called AGRODEX-K 35. 
It was good to see a lot of the old favourites 
flowering this year for Mothers Day. Maybe the 
large ...Bow Bells, Bow Best type plants arte 
now coming into fashion again! 
Cymbidiums 
Cymbidiums are now in full flight. Spikes 
everywhere, flowers nodding in the breeze. 
Yes! At last it is cymbidium time! 
Stake all of your racemes. If possible do this 
from around 10am. This will minimize break- 
ages. Place a few snail pellets around each 
raceme. Check all plants for bugs etc. before 
placing plants under cover. Once under cover, 
give plants plenty of light to increase size and 
colour. If possible face racemes to the north for 
maximum light. Give plants plenty of air space. 
TRY NOT TO JAM PLANTS TOO CLOSE 
TOGETHER. If you do , you will get twisted 
racemes, bent buds, and distorted flowers. 
Now is the time to give plants an application 
of calcium. I like to use BIOMIN CALCIUM. 
One must use it on its own. The weekly rate is 
0.01 gram per litres of water. If you are going 
to apply it every three or four months use the 
general rate of 0.5 grams per litre of water. 
You can top dress your flowering plants with 
MERRI COTE. Apply every three to four 
months. This will help you to get bigger flowers. 
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