Orchid Borealis

I have been watering orchids with hand pumped sprayers.   I used several models including cheap ones from HomeDepot, but this model  26021XP 2-Gallon ProSeries from Chapin is quite a bit better.  It is easy to clean inside because the opening is pretty big, and it seems to be pretty durable (>2 years).  But after 2 years of use, I feel the pump is getting a bit weak (I have to pump more frequently).  It probably needs to be cleaned up. This sprayer has been working ok, but it does take quite a bit of time to water all plants because the flow rate isn't high, and it is kind of tedious to pressurize manually.  So I asked a question at SlipperTalk in order to make the irrigation easier.  I got several good recommendations.  After looking around the recommended options, I decided to get a submersible utility transfer pump ( Wayne EEAUP250 1/4HP , about $120 from Amazon ).  I have a 50 gallon barrel to store rain water next to the main orch...

I have been trying to grow  Disa uniflora .  I could make them flower in the first year, but it didn't make a new growth for the next year.  In an attempt to improve the environment for them, I made a small ebb-flow hydroponic system for my second year of Disa growing.  Most parts are from Lowes/Home Depot.  This system makes it easy to give sufficient water to Disa .  The EC of the water seems to go up after a while, so I do have to change the water in the reserver occasionally, though.  Currently, the plants get water twice a day. The summer is the difficult time for these cool growing Disa .  The survival rate wasn't as high as I hoped for and there were quite a bit of death over the summer.  But I may have some survivors which might flower for the next year.  So it is a little bit of progress forward.  The next step may be that I need to add refrigerated unit like what Tennis did in his informative page . I don't have e...