Growing orchids for decades, Todd Marshall shares his expert tips so you can have stunning orchids too.
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If you’ve ever had your heart broken by an orchid that died despite your best efforts, don’t worry; within the orchid family there are 30,000 species, 70,000 hybrids – and some of them are bomb-proof!
Jerry meets orchid grower Todd Marshall, who can suggest some easy-to-grow types for black thumbs to try.
Todd has been growing orchids in his family-run Brisbane nursery for decades. He says his most bullet-proof orchids are Cattleyas, Dendrobiums and Oncidiums. “The perfect drought plant is an orchid,” he says, especially in Queensland from Rockhampton down to Coffs Harbour in northern NSW.
Todd’s top tips for orchid success:
Don’t put orchids in a pot that’s too big because the roots will get too wet. Many epiphytic orchids are happy to have roots growing outside of the pot but if you must pot it up, only go up one size.
Growing mix – Todd uses five parts bark to one part perlite.
Oncidiums like to be planted in the centre of a pot, but Todd plants up a cattleya to one side of its new pot so the rhizomes can grow across.
Make sure the rhizome sits on top of the bark.
Use pots with lots of holes to allow good air flow.
Todd also grows a lot of bromeliads, which act as humidifiers, because each one has a little reservoir of water in its centre.
Get to know your plants – you will feel when the pot is light and needs watering.
Fertilise orchids once a week by spraying the leaves with a liquid fertiliser.
Never fertilise on a cloudy day – the stomata cells on the leaves are closed and won’t absorb the nutrients.
Orchids flower best where they get about six hours of filtered sun a day.
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22 Comments
Woo
Nice work
Very unhelpful information
Wonderful information thank you
When do you re pot Orchid in Victoria thank you
What is the optimal shade cloth density for orchid in the summer in Sydney for north western facing backyard
Awesome thanks so much for your information
No words wasted there! Straight to the point. Very rare , like some orchids. 👍🏿😎
Omg!! The bromeliad trick is so sneaky!! I love that!
Actually stomata are closed during the sunny time and open when it is shady/rainy or early/late in the day.
Awesome thanks for letting me know about orchids very informative
You tube says CC captions aren't available for this video… What a shame, some of us rely on this.
So much wrong information smh
Would love to see a phalanopsis episode
Cantik sx, anggrek idaman.
Great 👍
nice video.
Very kind people!! Thank you!
I love the Aussies, generally relaxed and straight to the point.
What about the rest of Australia.i live in Sydney and had to grow the Cooktown Orchid inside as it gets down to 10 c. Very poor presentation. Water and light important. Fertilizing necessary at the right time and frequent but weak.
Dendrobrums need a dry period but only need water when buds have shown well. Misting other times
You have helped kill a lot of Orchids.
Thanks for this information, I'd love to know if the tips for growing orchids in this video can be used in NSW too?
Thanks for sharing this video… 😀