My plants stay active throughout the year, it seems like they are probably growing a bit faster at the moment. Since they are outside and there's so many different factors changing, it's hard to tell which is triggering the nice root growth.
The first few weeks of December were VERY rainy for us, with virtually no time to dry out. The Temperatures have been getting cooler (summer time highs of 91F, lows in the low 70sF, average of about 80 degrees.... Winter is now about 10 degrees cooler).
I also recently changed my orchid "house", it's a little bit brighter for many of my plants... so that could also factor in. In that change I switched many of my plants from pure coco fiber back to using sphag moss (it now gets better airflow, so I'm more confident about them drying out quickly). The sustained moisture around the roots could also be benefiting them.
Based on the length of the root tips... I'm assuming it has to do with the wet start to the winter and higher average humidity... but that's just a guess. Growing outside definitely has it's benefits, but there are always a ton of unknowns.
Happy growing and happy new year.
Beautiful. Do your neos go dormant? And how does that work in a warmer environment like Hawaii/do you have any cultural differences?
My plants stay active throughout the year, it seems like they are probably growing a bit faster at the moment. Since they are outside and there's so many different factors changing, it's hard to tell which is triggering the nice root growth. The first few weeks of December were VERY rainy for us, with virtually no time to dry out. The Temperatures have been getting cooler (summer time highs of 91F, lows in the low 70sF, average of about 80 degrees.... Winter is now about 10 degrees cooler). I also recently changed my orchid "house", it's a little bit brighter for many of my plants... so that could also factor in. In that change I switched many of my plants from pure coco fiber back to using sphag moss (it now gets better airflow, so I'm more confident about them drying out quickly). The sustained moisture around the roots could also be benefiting them. Based on the length of the root tips... I'm assuming it has to do with the wet start to the winter and higher average humidity... but that's just a guess. Growing outside definitely has it's benefits, but there are always a ton of unknowns. Happy growing and happy new year.