| March Culture Notes..... For the Wairarapa region (New Zealand) |
| In General..... |
| CULTURE CORNER |
| Watering & feeding will primarily be dictated by the amount of sunny days & the temperature at this time of the year By the end of this month you should be preparing your plants for the winter, so this is an ideal time to give them a bit of a clean up as you move them into their winter shelter. When tidying up the plants, watch that you don’t damage any new spikes that may be appearing. Old leaves are best removed by splitting them down the mid rib then pulling them sideways. March can still produce warm humid rains & this can set up Botrytis in young growths on Cymbidiums, scale & Spider Mites are also pretty active, so give you plants a fungicide spray & a spray of summer strength All Seasons Oil, making sure that both sides of the leaves are covered. At this time the Oil will not harm flower spikes, but once the buds have burst from their sheaths Oil sprays can be very damaging. Keep the snail & slug pellets out, as these pests will be starting to appear in larger numbers with the moister weather, & they love flower spikes. CYMBIDIUMS need good light to produce a good flower crop. The flower spike should start appearing over the next few months, so keep up a good water & feed regime. Watch that they don’t become sodden though. Feed flowering size plants with a high Potash fertiliser & younger plants with a high Nitrogen fertiliser. Slow the feeding toward the end of the month as the lower nighttime temperatures will slowdown their growth. By the end of this month your plants should be well out of the reach of any frosts. CATTLEYAS, spring flowering plants will be getting strong growths up now & need a high Nitrogen feed through until the new leaf has matured & the flower sheath is visible, then change to a high potash fertiliser. Cattleyas need some heat during winter to help mature the flowers, a minimum temperature of 8-10 oC is best. After each watering watch that new growths do not hold water on the tops, as this can rot the flower sheaths. Cattleyas that have flowered in the autumn can be repotted as they finish flowering. Mini~Cattleyas have finer roots so need to be watered sparingly in the cooler weather as they are prone to shed roots if they are kept wet during their dormant period. PAPHIOPEDILUMS, don’t let them dry out, as flower growths will be evident on some of the early ones this month. Feed at every third watering & cut back on high Nitrogen feeds as the fans mature. As the flower buds appear, cut back on the feed rate for winter, as over feeding in cold weather causes them to shed their roots. Watch that plants don’t get chilled with a sudden cold snap, as this can ruin a whole flowering cycle. PHALAENOPSIS Keep up the feed & humidity to help the good growth at present, & keep the light to about 60% of natural sun light. Watch that plants don’t get caught with a sudden cold snap, as this can cause rapid bud drop. These plants don’t like temperatures much below 10o C. DENDROBIUM SPECIOSUM cease watering over the next six weeks so that they dry out, as this will help get them to flower. But not so that the media is completely dry. A misting now & then is beneficial. NOBILE type Dendrobiums should still be getting plenty of moisture & potash type feed (ie Phostrogen) as well as high light to ripen their canes |