GREENHOUSE TOURS

Your host: Marilyn Light
Quebec, Canada

I grow orchids both indoors and outdoors as appropriate to the season.

Indoors (October to May) - I grow Disas with my cactus collection in a south-facing window behind a sheer curtain. Logic: air is drier and hence little chance of fungi attacking foliage. Light is the best I can provide and Disas need a lot of light. Temperature ranges from 25C (77F) on a sunny day to 4C (40F) at night when temperatures outdoors are -30. Average night temperatures are 10-12C (50-55F). Each Disa plant is in a separate plastic pot placed inside a plastic water reservoir. Watering is with rainwater, melted snow or deionized water. Fertilizer is applied weakly weekly except during very dull weather.

In the same window, I grow Dendrobium kingianum and hybrids which thrive in the bright light and wide temperature swing possible in this environment.
I grow most tropical orchids under lights in the basement where the day length is adjusted to 12 hours for the October-May period.
I grow Catasetums separately under lights to control humidity. I prefer to keep foliage dry to avoid leaf spots.

Outdoors (June-September)

Cymbidiums are acclimatized early and are grown in full sun for the whole period.
Disas are acclimatized and are grown in full sun except during the hottest months (July/August) when they may be placed in the shade of an apple tree.
The rest of the collection is raised in a temporary shadehouse with three levels according to light and temperature requirements.

Temperatures outdoors in summer as high as 35C (95F) for several days, occasionally up to 10 degrees (F) higher, generally with very high humidity and little air movement. Temperatures can be in the high 80's(F) for a couple of weeks at a time. Night temperatures range from 15-20C (60-70F) for much of the summer although there are often chilly nights in June and in August.

Winter temperatures are variable, ranging from a low of -35C (-31F) to a high of 10C (50F). Several weeks of -20C (0F) are possible especially in December/January.

Click on thumbnail for larger picture and narrative. Use your back button to return to "greenhouse". GROWING AREA

FAVORITES

WINNERS

HYBRIDS


RESEARCH Epipactis

RESEARCH Cypripedium

GREENHOUSE TOURS

Your host: Marilyn Light Quebec, Canada

Click on thumbnail for larger picture and narrative. Use your back button to return to "greenhouse".

GROWING AREA

FAVORITES

WINNERS

HYBRIDS

RESEARCH Epipactis

RESEARCH Cypripedium

Your host: Marilyn Light
Quebec, Canada

Click on thumbnail for larger picture and narrative.
Use your back button to return to "greenhouse".

RESEARCH
Epipactis

RESEARCH
Cypripedium