rePotme Orchid Supplies Newsletter

Newsletter from rePotme.com May 2008

Greetings to all of our great customers!

We are happy to report that we now have our crystal clear 8" pots back in stock and we have created a new "growers pack" of each of our crystal clear pots at a discounted price. You get 3 each of the 4", 5", 6" and 8" crystal clears for just $8.75.

Also new is our Gnatrol granular for control of Fungus Gnats. These flying bugs are often known as "fruit flies" and most people don't realize the damage they do to plants and mixes if left alone. Part of their life cycle is laying eggs in your mix, and those eggs then become larvae which feed on mix and roots, causing root damage and premature mix breakdown. Gnatrol kills the larvae and is the most effective product we know of. Ours is the newest granular version, less costly than anywhere else we know of and more for your money too. Available now at $19.50 per container which includes measuring spoon and directions for use.

New nested teak vanda baskets have just arrived with an 8" size we have not carried in the past. Available as a set (4", 6", 8" and 10") or individually.

New green hardwood stakes in 12" length are here now too. We have searched for these for some time, and we love them because they are stout and straight, real hardwood and they are a bit pointed for pushing down between crowded roots.

New for us is the Neptunes Harvest organic fish and seaweed supplement which joins our popular organic liquid seaweed. Available by the quart.

A brand new bale of virgin cork slabs just arrived from Portugal and we can provide custom sizes in addition to our regular plaques if you let us know what you would like.

Our Classic Orchid Mix and Imperial Orchid Mix Mixes are being shipped as fast as we can make them and we are running at full tilt to meet demand. We now have 25 unique mixes and 48 different mediums for you to choose from. That has always been our focus, maximum choice and variety for our terrific customers and their spectacular orchids.

Here are some of the other recent new items, medias and mixes available now:

4 Types of Virgin Cork Tubes (single opening, double, triple and wide - all are at least 12" long)
Two lengths of Green Paper Ties in bags containing 100 each (newest is 6")
Fiskars Micro Tip Pruning Snips
New Zealand Monterey Pine Bark in 2 sizes
Cork chips/nuggets in 4 sizes
Imperial Orchid Mixes (9 types in addition to our 16 Original Classic Orchid Mixes)
New 8" White Plastic Orchid Pot with more holes, more drainage and slightly shorter height joins our existing 8" White
Dollar Deals on selected items with the purchase of any FEED ME! Fertilizer Products
New functional glazed and hand painted cute watering pots that are ideal as baby cache pots too (3 lovely pastel colors)
New type of butterfly flower clip (smooth wing)
More Repotting Clinics and Orchid Care Guides

As many of you know, rePotme is first and foremost about Orchid Mixes. Our company was born out of our conclusion that high quality medias and mixes simply couldn't be found for our own orchid collection. Finding reasonably sized quantities of the best products for our orchids was simply too much hassle. So we started out by offering a few mixes that worked well for us and we soon found ourselves swamped with orders. As time has passed, we have introduced new combinations as we continue to search far and wide for what we think works best for us here in Maryland and what we think will work best for our customers in different climates and growing conditions around the world. We know that each of you have unique requirements and we know that one or two "general purpose" mixes may be good for the outfit selling them, but not for the specific growing needs of the wide variety of genera and climate conditions and practices of growers.

Delivering the highest quality products to your door with Same Day Shipping is our mission. We know that you want your order quickly and we delight in having customers tell us they can't believe how quickly their order arrived. Our team is dedicated to getting your mix made, your order carefully packaged and shipped with order tracking all on the same day you place it. That is the key to getting the freshest mixes and supplies to you as fast as possible. Keeping you informed of progress is something we take very seriously. We let you know when we have your order, when it ships and we also check back with you once we know it has been delivered, to make sure you are pleased.

Why Settle For Less?

Thank you again for your business, your support and your suggestions!

May Orchid Care

To Do Now:

Fungus Gnats, those pesky little fruit flies that spring forth from damp mix, are not just pesky, they actually feed on orchid roots! Get rid of them organically by interrupting their life cycle with Gnatrol. We now carry the sought after new granular version - Gnatrol WDG.
May is the time to begin feeding at summertime levels. We like to increase food during the orchid's most active growth months by 50-100%. We recommend FEED ME! MSU Orchid Fertilizer for all year-round fertilizing.
Many orchids benefit greatly from spending summers outside. Many popular genera such as Cattleya, Cymbidium, Dendrobium and Oncidium really grow better and bloom more reliably when treated to the summer outdoors. One point to consider, if an orchid is classified as "high light" it does not mean the kind of full sun that tomato plants require. "High light" is a relative term and refers to the light requirements of the Orchid Family. Dappled shade is a good bet for many "high light" genera.

Looking Ahead:

Native orchids abound and there are hardy varieties suitable for the garden in many areas. We are anxiously awaiting the bloom on our spiking Bletia Striata which grows in the garden next to the Lily bulbs.
In June we are at the height of active growth for most orchids, today's new leaf or pseudobulb is tommorow's new bloom spike. Protect new growth and old from bacterial infection with Physan 20.

Looking Back:

In April we were well into repotting season in our greenhouse. We've got most of the paphs, oncs and a few others done. Our phals are a bit late to bloom this year, many are in spike and only a few have begun to open their blooms. It's going to be a wonderful display once they all open up! We've been putting off repotting the dendrobiums because we haven't seen many new pseudobulbs appearing just yet. It seems this crazy Spring weather has gotten to them too. We expect that just about any day now they will begin their active growth phase and we'll be repotting them too. If you have a lot of orchids to repot, consider getting orchid mix by THE BOX. Prefer our exclusive Imperial Orchid Mixes? THE CUBE is for you.
With Spring comes Orchid Shows and new orchids! Check out our care sheet on new orchid acquisitions for some practical care tips. If this is your first time acquiring one of these incredible plants, check out our First Orchid care sheet.
During the repotting process it is critical to keep everything clean and not spread any disease across the collection. Physan 20 is a good general disinfectant, we use it to sterilize cutting tools between plants. We will rotate between 3 Fiskars clippers allowing 2 to soak while 1 is in use. Be careful if you reuse pots, they need to be sterilized between plants. It is easier to use new pots than it is to try to clean the pot. We will reuse a pot on the same orchid if it does not need a change in pot size but that's about it. Stakes and labels, rhizome clips, etc, can all spread disease if not cleaned or replaced.

We are delighted to be supporting the following orchid societies by donating Classic Orchid Mixes, FEED ME! MSU Fertilizer, and GET OFF ME! natural insect spray to their auctions:

Lincoln Nebraska Orchid Society
Virginia Orchid Society
OSSC (Orchid Society of Southern California)
NCOS (National Capital Orchid Society)
SOA (Slipper Orchid Alliance)
WNCOS (Western North Carolina Orchid Society)
COS (Connecticut Orchid Society)
MOS (Maryland Orchid Society)
HOTOS (Heart O' Texas Orchid Society)
BGOC (Brookside Gardens Orchid Club - Maryland)

We continue to support Orchid Societies and Organizations that also serve our customers. Please let us know if your Society has an upcoming event we might be able to support too.

If you know someone who would like to be included in our periodic newsletter please let us know at customer_service@repotme.com

If you would prefer not to receive our periodic newsletter, please let us know at customer_service@repotme.com

Feel free to pass this newsletter on to family and friends who may not yet have discovered us, we would be delighted to work with them too.

Look for us in Orchids Magazine, from the American Orchid Society. We accept orders by phone and on-line 7 days a week!

repotme.com
301 315-2344