A Seed Saver's Garden

Pulsegleaner

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I think that part of the problem, for entry is that, if you are starting with an orchid you got from a store, you're probably starting with a moth orchid, Phalaenopsis. Ad while those seem to be super easy for professionals to grow in mass quantities, I'm not sure they are the easiest for the average person to get to re-flower once the first flowering in done (if it's in a supermarket, it's presumably already flowering when you get it.) Most don't re-flower, and don't do very well long term, and I think that discourages a lot of people.
Going over my recent orchids, my Dendrobium re-flowered once, and so, I think did my red one (one of the ones that starts with "e". But this pales with the one I had as a kid, which, with just water and the moist atmosphere under its cloche, basically continuously flowered YEAR ROUND for several years. I'd probably still have it now, if I hadn't gone off to college (my parents were good about watering it, but being away I got out of the habit, and forgot when I came back for Summer Break and re-took over my room, barring entry by others.)

The supposedly "easy" Chinese ground orchids they sell for outside growth in plant catalogs have never worked for me, so that's a no go (the hellebore orchids grow like crazy outside of course, but those are naturally there, and basically weeds.)
 

heirloomgal

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Those blooms are totally gorgeous. Good thing you didn't discard this plant! Can you run a humidifier near these plants? I wonder if the proximity of copper wire could have had an effect, as you speculated. Maybe bring in more copper wire or other copper items?
He ran a small humdifier on the table them for years. When he stopped using it, surprisingly nothing seemed to change either. He treats them pretty well, most are in those fancy glazed pots with holes designed for orchids with those clay balls and/or bark. He has special watering techniques and special fertilizer etc. It has gotten a bit drier in the house the last 2 years because we installed all new windows and doors, which resulted in creating moisture on the windows so we need to run a de-humidifier now. Which is another reason why it's extra surprsing to see them bloom so profusely after so many years.
 

heirloomgal

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From here they look like Phalenopsis, Dendrobium and Meltoniopsis, pardon my spelling!
Years ago i dabbled in Orchids but gave them up due to “too many irons in the fire”.
Those are beautiful and your mention of there age makes me think the electro charge may be acting like a pace maker?💡
I’ll be wrapping some smallish spirals to use in the start room now. ‘Pictures soon’

I don’t think we need a vote; im pretty sure you ARE the undisputed ⚡️“Queen of Electro-Culture”!✨ Thanks for sharing.

I was shaving, getting ready for Church when i had this epiphany and had to come back! When we use these outside we are drawing this energy from the atmosphere in micro amounts. Having “antenna’s” that close to an energy source (grow lights) is probably having an effect due to the higher intensity? Look at it like a “combined cycle” sort of thing. I’m pretty sure you’re capturing those errant bits of energy AND recycling them in a positive way!
When i explore my grow area with the Gauss meter, i see far more activity than i ever did outside. A heating mat is putting out 10 times as much as the T-5 lights but both are “far more active” than anything i saw in the garden last year!

Sorry if im sounding a little Timothy Leary’ish!
Pace maker! Haha, that's a good way to put it @Alasgun! I'm so glad you shared this thought about what might be happening between the copper and the lights. I never thought of that, it just might explain what is going on here. What was also a surrpise was that their was no antannaes in the pots, just the coil in the package on the table? And orchids aren't even in soil? Maybe because orchids are more 'atmospheric' plants by nature, since they live in the crooks of trees with no soil naturally? But reading your post reminded me of when I was reading about outdoor electro culture and some people did pass electricity through the wires into the soil using discarded old cell phone chargers and things like that. That the Gauss meter picks up more activity inside than out definitely confirms the idea of collection % relative to the atmospheric presence. The stove is directly on the other side of the wall where the orchid table is too - 240 volts right there. I also have another nearby light and a heating mat in the next room. The super fascinating thing about your revelation is that electro culture might work even more noticeably indoors given the more charged atmpspheric influence? I should get DH to do a couple charged antannaes off an old charger outdoors in some pots this summer and see what happens compared to just a regular antannae.
 
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heirloomgal

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I think that part of the problem, for entry is that, if you are starting with an orchid you got from a store, you're probably starting with a moth orchid, Phalaenopsis. Ad while those seem to be super easy for professionals to grow in mass quantities, I'm not sure they are the easiest for the average person to get to re-flower once the first flowering in done (if it's in a supermarket, it's presumably already flowering when you get it.) Most don't re-flower, and don't do very well long term, and I think that discourages a lot of people.
Going over my recent orchids, my Dendrobium re-flowered once, and so, I think did my red one (one of the ones that starts with "e". But this pales with the one I had as a kid, which, with just water and the moist atmosphere under its cloche, basically continuously flowered YEAR ROUND for several years. I'd probably still have it now, if I hadn't gone off to college (my parents were good about watering it, but being away I got out of the habit, and forgot when I came back for Summer Break and re-took over my room, barring entry by others.)

The supposedly "easy" Chinese ground orchids they sell for outside growth in plant catalogs have never worked for me, so that's a no go (the hellebore orchids grow like crazy outside of course, but those are naturally there, and basically weeds.)
So true @Pulsegleaner, I almost consider them throw away plants in much the same way as a bouquet of roses eventually is. You enjoy them while they bloom, and then toss. It's not easy to keep them up to their bloom potential without the specialized conditions they require, they're just too odd. I knew people who had a huge set up in their home for replicating optimum orchid conditions, as best as can be done inside a home, and it was such a giant contraption of wires, platforms and ballasts etc. it eventually all got relegated to the basement because the whole thing looked like a giant indoor shed. There are quite a few seasonal plants that come out for Easter, or Christmas, and they're nice potted specimens but when it's over its really over. With all the work to keep a poitsetta year round and get it to bloom the next Christmas on time it hardly seems worth the 10 bucks it is for a new little one.
 

Pulsegleaner

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So true @Pulsegleaner, I almost consider them throw away plants in much the same way as a bouquet of roses eventually is. You enjoy them while they bloom, and then toss. It's not easy to keep them up to their bloom potential without the specialized conditions they require, they're just too odd. I knew people who had a huge set up in their home for replicating optimum orchid conditions, as best as can be done inside a home, and it was such a giant contraption of wires, platforms and ballasts etc. it eventually all got relegated to the basement because the whole thing looked like a giant indoor shed. There are quite a few seasonal plants that come out for Easter, or Christmas, and they're nice potted specimens but when it's over its really over. With all the work to keep a poitsetta year round and get it to bloom the next Christmas on time it hardly seems worth the 10 bucks it is for a new little one.
Funny you should mention roses. More than once, I have bought one of those little potted mini roses they sell around Valentine's and Mother's day (invariably the red and white striped ones) and then try and nurse it through until it's warmer, then plant it in the garden.

Last time I actually had a half success; I didn't get any more roses at that time, but the bush/bushes (I can never tell if there is one plant in those pots or a bunch of them) didn't totally die either, so, in theory, it could come back in the spring.
 

Alasgun

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More thoughts and observations on Electroculture:
After looking the grow area over with a meter something real simple stood out to me. My garden “antenna’s” are in an open area away from any form of electrical interference and what the meter reads is activity drawn to the antenna. Im calling this a static atmosphere. Of course one end of that wire is buried and i suppose the energy is transferred to the soil And that action is responsible for the gain we see in terms of plant health. Something about the energized soil is also what must be repelling certain insects?

Ok, back to the grow room. When i pass the meter across a heating mat, especially the thermometer cable the readings are very high and in some cases exceeding the range on one scale. There’s also a noticeably strong “field” around the grow lights which im sure is the same EMF put off by anything electrical. I can easily imagine it being easy for this much energy to be picked up by the antenna and transferred to the grow medium. I use this same set up year after year, same lights, same crops, same time period, so im curious about how things will fair with the addition of these “indoor antenna”?

Another peculiarity is that outside i see activity on the meter to roughly a 15 ft. Radius And yet indoors the much stronger energy falls away in less than 2 ft! Telling me i’m seeing different forms of energy.

By now you’ve figured out im no Scientist but a Layman in the truest sense of the word. If this discussion becomes “too much” just say so, we’ve previously traded little snippets back and forth and i’m just thinking that keeping it in one place might be good? However i don't want to be guilty of over running you.

Timothy Leary, over and out!
 
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Zeedman

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Funny you should mention roses. More than once, I have bought one of those little potted mini roses they sell around Valentine's and Mother's day (invariably the red and white striped ones) and then try and nurse it through until it's warmer, then plant it in the garden.

Last time I actually had a half success; I didn't get any more roses at that time, but the bush/bushes (I can never tell if there is one plant in those pots or a bunch of them) didn't totally die either, so, in theory, it could come back in the spring.
My DW always planted those outside in one of her flower beds. They've proven to be surprisingly winter hardy; I've only lost a couple over the years. If anything, given a little care (I cut them back in Spring & late Summer) they have gradually become more vigorous.
20220620_162846.jpg 20220620_162929.jpg
 

Pulsegleaner

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My DW always planted those outside in one of her flower beds. They've proven to be surprisingly winter hardy; I've only lost a couple over the years. If anything, given a little care (I cut them back in Spring & late Summer) they have gradually become more vigorous.
View attachment 63583 View attachment 63584
Sounds like I have a decent chance then.
 

Branching Out

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He ran a small humdifier on the table them for years. When he stopped using it, surprisingly nothing seemed to change either. He treats them pretty well, most are in those fancy glazed pots with holes designed for orchids with those clay balls and/or bark. He has special watering techniques and special fertilizer etc. It has gotten a bit drier in the house the last 2 years because we installed all new windows and doors, which resulted in creating moisture on the windows so we need to run a de-humidifier now. Which is another reason why it's extra surprsing to see them bloom so profusely after so many years.
I'm not a houseplant person, but a few years ago an eccentric lady from down the road gifted me with a dead-looking pot of sticks. It turned out to be an orchid that had bloomed out. Why she gave this to me I have no idea, because I know nothing about orchids. Being polite I stuck it on the only window sill that I have, which is in the basement above the wash tub and washing machine-- the coldest and most humid spot in our house. Reading your comments re: humidity make me realize that this was a good location for it. Since then this little white orchid is always either growing new shoots, setting buds, or blooming. I rarely water it, and occasionally I give it a shot of fish emulsion. Talk about beginner's luck! 🍀
 
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