Florida Orchid Growing: Part 1 Introduction to Orchid Growing 

This master class was so informative. I learnt so much about everything relating to simple sustainable orchid care. Explaining the reasons behind do's and don'ts were the highlights for me. I found Martin's down to earth and practical approach to sharing his wellspring of knowledge very effective. Even though I am watching this 7 years after its initial posting, all the information shared is still applicable. Thank you for sharing.💖💖💖

This was INVALUABLE. I've read so many books including Rebecca Tyson Northern's, but still found info here that I did not know. It was WONDERFUL to know the "why" behind a lot of things orchid growers say, like the watering before fertilizing. I never knew why they used to do that, and a lot of things don't make sense without a reason. Thank you soooo much.

Martin Motes, at heart a poet and great lover of poetry, has brought his poetic outlook to the Vandas he specializes in and the knowledge he has of orchids in general. He has a very unique view of orchids, consider his analogy of orchids to cacti, or asking the question regarding watering. His book, by the way, is also an extremely useful addition to this series of videos. It's a month to month guide of growing orchids in South Florida.

"How much does this orchid need to dry out?" What a perfect way to think of this. I was guilty of over watering with indeed caused infection. = ( LOVE your video, Dr Motes. I have watched it several times and taken notes!

What is amazing about this video is I did not know orchids at war with fungus and that's why they dry out and have to dry out what a wonderful wonderful piece of information. And I like the saying if you've dendrobium looks like it needs water tomorrow if your phalaenopsis looks like it needs watered it should have been watered yesterday and if your Vanda looks like it needs watered ... water it! wow

So excited to have time to watch the whole thing finally!!! Thank goodness school is done!

Sharing your knowledge about orchids is a nice gift ,thanks a lot from Sweden

So glad to have found your video. I live in Karachi, Pakistan and of all the US, S. Florida is the closest climate-wise. Plus, it is difficult to find information in zones like these. Thank you very much for taking such time to explain. You sound like my Botany teachers.

This is a great video and Mr Motes is so humble while giving so many great info about growing orchids, no wonder I heard so many good words about their plants. Floridian orchid lovers should be so proud they have him. Even I grow my orchids way up north I can still relate lots of the things he said with my growing conditions. Thank you Mr Motes, I lift my heat in front of you :)

Yay!!! I'm so happy you're posting videos! Looking forward to more and seeing you this weekend!

I am at the 30-minute Mark and absolutely loving this video

More videos please! I rewatch these and learn SO much!!

binge watching you this holiday weekend, Dr Motes...just bought some vandas from you guys.......i'm growing 'up north ' in san jose ca....you do allude to my weather conditions here...good resource of how to adapt....great scientifically based lessons...THANK YOU!!

Dear dr Motes, Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. Your lecture has been one of the the most enlightening and comprehensive of all that I value, therefore it is the ground of my orchid know how. I look forward to seenig the next part of, so it would seem, marvellous and truly priceless videos of yours. Greetings from Poland, Anna.

Patas arriba! Great video, thanks a LOT for the amazing information. I'm going to try to apply everything I can to my growing conditions here in Peru. I'm sure i'm going to refer to this video many many times. Hope to see more!

Thank you so much for this educational video! I can listen to you all day, your knowledge is unbelievable thanks for sharing! Blessings!

Excellent! So much info, this is such a treat. My GF was thrilled!

Thank you, this was a very interesting and informative video, even for more experienced growers. It was interesting how you explained that the right question isn't how often do we need to water an orchid, but how often does this orchid needs to dry. Very well put! I might quote you the next time someone asks me that again. :) It was interesting to hear about the challenges of growing orchids in Florida. I always had an impression that South Florida must be an orchid paradise, and that it might be so easy to grow orchids there - just put everything outside, and they make roots like crazy, with all the warmth and humidity. It didn't occurred to me that the same conditions that are so great for the orchids are also favorable to black rot and other fungal diseases. Or that rain could be so much of a problem. I live in a much different environment, and here in Finland we need to grow orchids indoors most of the year, because the winters are harsh and our summers are short. We have very long days in the summer, and we try to get the most out of it. I love to watch orchid videos of people living in Florida and they make me think I would love to live in a tropical place like that, but I see that like us, you also have challenges to think about and overcome while growing orchids. Things are different, but challenging everywhere, and actually the challenge makes the hobby interesting too. How do you call those very shallow clay pots? Bowl pans? I didn't quite catch what you said. I wish we had them here. The clay pots we have are the deep kind. Shallow pots would be better because they would dry faster and wouldn't be too cool for too long. I have a few orchids in clay pots, but most are in plastic pots with lots of little ventilation holes on the sides. Well, thanks a lot for the interesting video. I'll be looking forward for more videos of this series. Have a great summer!

Excellent information about watering orchids. I will take it and put it in practice.

This was very instructive. Thank you. I was taught to use clear plastic pots with extra holes on the sides because the roots did not stick to the plastic as they did to clay thus reducing the frequency of breakage during repotting, and because they remained visible for observation, and to benefit from exposure to light and root photosynthesis. Could you comment? Thank you very much.

Wow that was such a great vid!! So much information, thank you for sharing it with us all. I have subscribed to your channel so I get can notifications whenever you post something new.

Thank you so much for your time in making this video. I really enjoyed it. So informative!! I learned alot. Thank you so much!!! Karen

Super informative video. waiting on more videos. thank you so much.

Great video!! I use 20-20-20, but will change to Excel on my next buying trip. And I will rearrange my orchids - not to be able to buy one more - but by type so they are more properly watered. Thanks again

Very nice informational video thanks for subscribing and Mr. Bart I don't know if you realized this but I'm the one who was emailing you about the Bangkok Sunset. Can't wait to see more videos from you all. Happy growing.

Excellent video especially for us that grow our orchids in this Florida weather. I got a good education out of it, and will be making some changes on possibly over watering to keep them cool in this heat. Thank you Mr. Motes.

Valuable information!!

Thank you for this video. So informative. I had a few "ah-Ha" moments throughout. Cheers.

Orchids need to dry out! Water with magnesium (tbsp per gallon) smallest ceramic pots are good for keeping that dryness, stableness, coolness, and fungi free. Bright lighting. Cat spaced. Tie them down. Learned so much. I feel like I am attending Orchid college of Florida💗 🙏🏽 thank you.

PS. Also, your presentation made me think that maybe it's time to give up my beloved poop soup. I bring fresh cow manure home from my farm and let it soak in rain water, and apply it. I've not seen any problems, and have always felt they love it, but maybe I should switch to a researched and measured orchid fertilizer for all the reasons you stated. Thank you.

very informative enjoyed it thank you

This video is awesome!

Dr. Motes- you mentioned blushing after cold weather as being a symptom of magnesium deficiency. I've also read that cold soils can slow uptake of P, and blushing is also a symptom of P deficiency. I also read that P and Mag are synergystic, so is it possible that the blushing of the plants after cold is actually Phos that isn't being taken up due to cold and not enough Mag? I'm asking because I've got a really dark green labiata with red stems and old leaves as well as scorching/bronzing on those leaves. It isn't exposed to cold though..anyway, since it is so dark green, but still blushing red and scorching on the old leaves, I wonder if it's truly P deficient, and not just because there isn't enough mag to help take up the P. It also puts out crazy numbers of leads at once (8 last flush), it's still an nbs seedling, and it grows two leaves per pseudobulb on a lot of the growths. (it gets plenty of light-enough to bloom multiple leads on other unifoliate Catt species). I would be happy to send a photo or make a video of it for you to see it.

Learned a lot from this video. Can't wait to see more. So glad you are doing this. Do you ever come to shows in Canada.

Wow so helpful!!!

I noticed you didn’t say anything about orchid baskets! Any opinion you wouldn’t mind sharing?

Great channel!

Mr. Motes. You mentioned Peter’s and MSU Fertilizers. I’m quite new to the orchid community and need to ask, would one of either be enough to fertilize my Orchids. I live in south Fl. and have Vandas, Dendrobium, Cattleya, Phals, Catesedums and 1 oncidium. I’ve been using miracle grow I bought from HD and they all seem happy but after listening to this video, I’m wondering if I’m using the appropriate fertilizer. Please advise when you can. Thank you 🙋🏻‍♀️

Thank you for sharing your knowledge! All those videos about orchids on RU-vid are not for Florida!

wow

I have been trying to get away from repotting and spent a few weeks last spring mounting many of my orchids on cork and other mounts. Which orchids don’t like to be mounted and would prefer pots and medium?

I know that this video is seven years old, however, there is another individual. I believe a doctor that states that the MSU information is not valid for orchids. Any feedback on this if you’re still on RU-vid?

Very informative video. Thank you. I'm new to orchids. What is the black/purplish orchid you have pictured on your channel?

46:05 Is that slow release fertilizer attached to the mount? How did y'all do that? Glue? I'd like to try that.