Several in-spike orchids remain in the greenhouse, delaying their backyard summer vacation in anticipation of impending blooms. Three have now hatched. See the photo page for images.
With 75% of the collection currently outdoors, there’s room to launch a few greenhouse clean-up and renovation projects.
New greenhouse shelving over the sink
My first project was washing down the Lexan panels, which were streaked with algea. With the green coat of algea scrubbed away, more sunlight filters into the greenhouse. So far the 70% shadecloth has only been lowered over the Lexan ceiling. It won’t be long, however, before spring temperatures will reach constant highs, and the dark cloth will need to be rolled down over the freshly washed wall panels.
My second greenhouse project is the installation of shelving over the sink.
That was my goal last weekend during the orchid sale [See the May 17th post] — to earn enough money to buy do-it-yourself wire shelving at the local hardware store.
But last weekend turned out to be a lucky time — lucky for me and my other orchid-selling friends. Across the street, a neighbor was also participating in the Neighborhood Garage Sale weekend. When my friends and I visited his sale, we noticed that he was selling wire shelving. He had a huge selection, including wall mounts, shelf brackets and various lengths of shelving. Each piece cost 50 cents. It was a bonanza for all the orchid growers!
I was able to purchase everything I needed to complete project #2 for $6!
A big percentage of the rest of our orchid sale dollars also went to good use. At the close of the last day, we headed off to Mezzaluna’s, a neighborhood restaurant, where we ate a delicious dinner and raised a few wine toasts to the fun of raising orchids.
Cheers!
[...] Extra shelving was added in early June. [...]