Charcoal and orchids

The charcoal has spectacular properties for the culture of orchids.
In powder we can apply it to wounds (cut leaves, broken roots) for its)antiseptic properties.

In pieces , mixed with barks, it will protect the orchid of the decay and most of the fungal attacks!!

I know sone growers who use only some little pièces of charcoal in the pots of the seedlings, in this way the mortality is really reduced.

 

Better than charcoals sold in shops which is often treated, to be able to be used as ingredient of the substratum of orchids, it is better to "produce" your own charcoal!!

 

In my job I sometimes make fires and some days later, under the layer of ashes, I can collect pieces of charcoal.

 

 

 

 

 

Here they are, still covered of ashes, so I just have to wash them with water

 

                                     AVANT                                                   APRES



 

Then I reduce the bieg pièces in little pièces and I let them dry.

 

 

 

Now I can  sort out the various pieces according to their size

 

Here they are mixed with bark, ready to use!!

 

 

Culture in orchidarium

When I lived in a flat and of course when I had no greenhouse, I used to grow my mounted orchids in two orchidariums.
Here you can see how I did and what I used to "build" them!!

At first I bought a little orchidarium, 70x45x100, for 100€...
 

Then, I bought in Germany the plates of agglomerated cork, that I covered with plasticized wire netting, the best way to hang on easily my mounted orchids.

 

I then bought a reflector for an Envirolite bulb , thus I began by fixing this reflector before receiving the bulb a few days later.

Here is the  Envirolite bulb, 200W et 6400K°, ideal for the growth of plants but also suiting to obtain bloomings.
If you can put only one bulb in your orchidarium, choose this one, but if you have a feflector for two bulbs, you can put one "growth" and one "bloom".

 

Here are the fogger and the hygrostat.

 

I put at the bottom 10cm of balls of clay, for more humidity and that was good, my orchidarium was finished!!

 

 

Some months later I decided to instal an automatic watering system

That waters plants and that regulate the temperature when it is too hot.

 

I quickly decided to build another one, bigger than the first, with this time a reflector for two bulbs.

I put the two orchidariums in the same room, so it became possible to use the automatic watering system pour the two in the same time.

 I also installed a fogger system in the second, with a leaky pipeline to distribute the fog

 

 

Fungus gnat (Sciaridae)

Fungus gnats are typically harmless to healthy plants - and humans - but can inflict extensive damage to seedlings; their presence can be indicative of more serious problems. In houseplants, the presence of fungus gnats may indicate overwatering; they may be feeding on roots that have sat in drain water too long and are thus rotting, or the gnats may be attracted to fungus growing in saturated topsoil. Consequently, allowing the soil to dry may reduce their numbers.
applying detergents and nicotine from tobacco brewed into a toxic tea.

Here are some others solutions

• applying detergents and nicotine from tobacco brewed into a toxic tea
• don't use the same substrate too long
• you can use fungus gnats yellow sticky
• applying the biological larvicide  Bacillus thuringiensis. This treatment is 100% biological.
• introducing mites, Hypoapsis miles
• or you can use carnivorous plants

 
Here is what I have in my greenhouse:

... Drosera capensis!!














And if you live in a flat, you can use this....

Really easy to build!!

A layer of peat, separated from the tank (with balls of clay) by piece of geotextile, and a piece of pipe which crosses the whole and which allows to fill the tank.

(Wikipedia and "La Main Verte")