Orchids a Passion for Everyone

Most of people believe that grow orchids is very difficult, heavy work and that in many times they don't develop and died.
Also, they believe these plants are much rare and difficult of being adquired or found, they gave you bad luck, are parasites or that it is necessary a hot controled umid ambience to matain them alives.
But nothing of this is true.
I'll describe how I grow my orchids here in São Paulo, Brazil, and try to help these ones who would like to grow these beautiful plants and can compare the methods from me and change some experiences and ideas.
São Paulo, as you should know, is a big city located at southest of Brazil, with a temperature thats varies between 8 and 30 degrees Celcius, where it rains a lot during the summer and it is quite dry in the winter.
Here in Brazil, is easier to grow them in tropical areas than in cold areas as it is in the North Hemisphere.
But, I have to say that they exist in all planet, except in South Pole.
Here is in my point of view, the great secret in grow orchids.
CHOOSE THE ADEQUATE PLANT FOR YOUR AMBIENCE AND THE PLACE WHERE YOU WILL SET IT.
Not only this, how the experience shows, by moving the plant for another place can determine if it will be work or not.
The Orchids die most because of the umidity than for dryness. Then TAKE CARE WITH WATER EXCESS.
My ambience and methods:
Local: Behind my house (a place protected against excess of wind). I built a wood estruture and cover it with a plastic wire screen (50%), I mean, it permits the sunlight passage in 50%, and then I put the plants under this screen. (Laelias, Dendrobiuns, Cattleias, Odontocidiuns and Oncidiuns).
The other ones I hanged under a tree which leaves fall during the winter. (Laelias, Cattleias, Oncidiuns, Vandas and Dendrobiuns).
Others I grow beside a window faced to the east (Phalaenopsis and Paphiopediuns).
Orchids must get a lot of light, but burn when exposed directly to the sun, mainly at miday. They like a lot of the sun since at 9:30 AM.
EXCESS OF WIND WILL KILL YOUR PLANTS, but a ventilation is necessary.
Vessel and pots: I use either the plastics as the clay pots successefuly in both.
When a plant get dry very quickly, you should use the plastics ones that hold more umidity, and for that which became rotten and like dryness, I use the clay pots because they permit a quickly evaporation once they are porous.
In general, the orchids don't like big pots, they must have the enough size for two years grow that is the time of the compost breakdown.
Small pots hold less umitidy and the plant decomposition is more difficult, but the need a frequent irrigation.
Compost: Basically in Brazil, the orchids are grow in treefern fibres. In other countries it is impossible to find it, but it could have other better substitutive materials.
Then I use the treefern fibres or Sphagnum , that is a dry moss, and both are easly found in specialized houses.
Some plants are grow in treefern manufactured boardings.(mounted)
Sphagnum holds more umidity that the treefern, but it rot more quickly.
I ALWAYS PLACE SOME LITTLE GRAVELS OR PEACES OF BROKEN POTTERY IN THE BOTTON OF THE POTS to acelerate the water drainage.
NEVER PLANT THEM DIRECTLY ON SOIL unless the terrestrial ones that are rares.
Orchids are epiphits, i.e. they live over other plants but do not danify them.
The orchids send their roots out of the pots, which musn't be put inside or cut because the roots take umidity and food from the air.
There are orchids that resist to warm weather and others that resist to the cold, and there are some that only flower with a lower temperature in a certain period of the year (Cymbidiuns).
This is the fact to choose the adequate plant for your ambience because if it have an excess of cold or warm and less luminosity, the plants can even develop but will not flower.
In a very sunny days touch the leaves, and if they are hot, move them to a shadow place.
If the plant grows well but not flower, move them to a sunny place gradually.
Watering: I use a geral method to watering the orchids. I put the finger in the compost, if it is dry, I water, if it is wet, I wait. Remember that excess of water may kill your plant.
Some plants need more umidity than others, and the experience will show you.
Some dry symptoms can be observed, as leaves and bulbs shivreling. If this your case, you have to watering it more frequent and increase the ambience umidity.
If the ambient is very dry, there are some providences to turn the umidity higher. Place some other plants surrounding the orchids, plants that require a lot of water, as the ferns: wet the floor ( in my case, the grass), get the plants together , put them in a tray with gravels and water, but be sure that the plant do not touch the water, otherwise the roots will be rooten.
Food: The orchids, as all the alive things need food. In the nature, they get their food from the air, rain, the surrounding ambient. By this way you can note that the necessary quantity of nutrients for its life is very little. But in a grow culture, you need to supply its necessity.
Erstwhile I feed my plants with solid food. Later, I noticed that it was a nutrition deficience in some plants, and that deficience appreared with the leaves becaming yellow, small plants or flowerness, till their death.
ORCHIDS NEED NITROGEN, PHOSPHOROUS, POTASSIUM AND MICRONUTRIENTS.
Then I substitute the solid food method by the liquid . When they are growing (raining time) I use with more nitrogen, and at the flowering time with potassium, I use them always spraying in the leaves never in the compost.
I feed the orchids aproximately every 15 days.
Pesticites: I do not use. When I see some plant infected, I wash it with water and neutral soap and take it away from the others till it is healty again.
Healty plants hardly get sick. Keep them in apropriated place, well feed , wather and ventilated and rarely will have problems.
Cutting and Replant : I replant only when the compost is rot and/or the plant show a new shot that get out from the pot.
When it is possible I divide the plant keeping always at least 3 bulbs and one leaf in each part.
I wash the plant with neutral soap , cut off the dark roots (dead) put some litle stones in the botton of the pot , put the plant over the stones .The new grow must be in the center of the pot , then I cover the roots and fill the pot with the compost.
If is necessary I put a stake to mantain the plant firm till the grow of new roots.
So the plant is placed in the same site and the new ones near of it.
Flowering. Nothing better to see your orchid flower after one year of wait.
Normaly orchids flower once a year.
In flower time I put some stakes to mantain the flowers in good position. Then I bring them inside where they remain flowered sometimes for weeks.