WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF ORCHIDS Welcome to Orchitop the groundbreaking pot for all orchids
MADE IN GERMANY A DEVELOPING HISTORY Each innovating product has its own history so does Orchitop. Jürgen Schäfler, who earns his bread and butter as a fisherman at Lake Constance, has a mother who loves orchids and flowers. She likes Phalaenopsis most so she cultivated this fascinating orchid on her window sill. Unfortunately, the plants lost their flowers and got limp soon. Jürgen Schäflers ambition as orchid enthousiast was born and he tried several pot variations. Immediately he found the current construction as perfect. Orchitop (pat. pend) was born! Together with Ralf Beck Dipl.-Ing.(FH) of Horticulture, they redeveloped the Orchitop, which is now available in 3 sizes and 10 colours. Suspensions and wall mounts made from high-grade steel are also available. All our products are Made in Germany and are produced in Langenargen at Lake Constance. The reason was obvious: Phaleonopsis are watered too often and the roots got mold because they are squeezed into small plastic pots. Seite 2 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
Jürgen Schäfler and his mother Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 3
ADVANTAGES HERE YOU WILL FIND THE REASONS WHY ORCHITOP IS THE BEST POT With help of the pole construction, a superb air ventilation of the roots is guaranteed. With help of its unique construction, the orchid can grow its roots freely as in nature (Freedom for the roots). Excessive water can drain and the compost gets dry quicker. Due to the flexible pole construction, you can also cultivate Orchids which grow their spikes downwards on your windowsill. Seite 4 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
Repotting is easy because of the pole construction roots will not be injured. Three watering methods are possible: Watering by immerse, watering from below, watering from above. 10 available colors offer many variations for decoration. We use food-safe Polycarbonate, one of the most valuable synthetics available, in addition with food-safe colours. At the bottom of the pot you will find a screw closure. Thus it is possible to hang the Orchitop plus coaster and the pot will always be in the middle of the coaster. Therefore, a planter will not be needed anymore. Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 5
OUR PRODUCTS FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND PRODUCTS PLEASE VISIT: WWW.ORCHITOP.DE turquoise transparent green black Seite 6 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel pink purple
Orchitop and Coaster are available in ten different colours, have three different methods for arrangements (standing, free hanging and on the wall) so you have many variaties for decoration. Try it! yellow pearl white suspension device orange ruby arm (high-grade steel) Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 7
THE COMPOST BARK DRAWS A DISTINCTION Please do not save money on compost because besides climatic factors, it is the most important factor for a sucessfull cultivation of orchids on your windowsill. If you like it handy, use a ready-to-use-mixed compost with pine bark e.g. Seramis Special Compost for Orchids. It can be used for terrestrial orchids, such as Lady s slippers, as well as for epiphytic orchids such as Phalaenopsis (universal compost). Handy hint: Ready-to-use-mixed composts should be sieved for epiphytic orchids before repotting so that small parts of the compost can be removed. If you wish to give your orchids a treat mix your own compost. We found out that pine bark from New Zealand (Kiwi Orchid Bark, KOB) is best for the roots. We recommend to use grains between 0.8 and 2 centimeters for the mix. If you choose to water from below, it is important to use expanded clay, coconut fibre or clay pebbles as water reservoir. If you cultivate orchids which like it more humid, please use more of the expanded clay or alterntives as additional water reservoir. We mix KOB and clay pebbles at a ratio of 2:1. For terrestrial orchids such as Lady s slippers you can use smaller grains or universal composts. Please ensure an adequate chalk supply for Lady s slippers with seashell grist or powder from eggshells. Seite 8 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
Clay Pebbles Pine bark Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 9
REPOTTING REPOTTING MADE EASY IN 6 STEPS 1 Remove your orchid carefully from the pot and remove any old compost by shaking slightly. Please make sure that you do not insure the roots and remove as much as possible from the old compost. Remove dead roots with sharp 2 scissors 3 Fill about 2 cm of new compost into the Orchitop and arrange all roots equally in the Orchitop. If you repot epiphytic orchids please arrange the long roots at the outside between the poles (see point 4). Seite 10 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
4 Fill in new substrate and knock slightly on the Orchitop to make sure that all roots are in touch with the compost and that there is no empty space in the Orchitop. Arrange long roots, which have been put between the poles, into the Coaster area so that they get wet when water is filled into the Coaster. This is very important for epiphytic orchids such as Phalaenopsis, because these orchids should only be watered from below. Please make sure that at least one root can grow in the Coaster to make it easy for the plant to adjust. 5 Place the orchid back to its original location (no direct sun). 6 To avoid infections and to make sure that small wounds can close, water after 24 hours. Handy hint (only for epiphytic orchids): Put the Orchitop in your bath tub and water the compost with hand-hot water until you can only see clear water runnning out. By doing this, small parts will be purged and your compost will get humid. Place the orchid back to its original location (no direct sun). 2 days later the orchid can be watered as usual. Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 11
WATERING DETERMINE THE PERFECT TIME FOR WATERING With Orchitop you can choose between three watering methods 1. Watering by immerse 2. Watering from above 3. Watering from below (recommendes by us) Orchitop makes watering easy and flexible. Therefore, the most important thing is todetermine the perfect watering time. Here are the instruction for Orchitop M: In any case only water when the Coaster is completely empty and the compost is moist (depending on which kind of orchid and growth period). An easy way to determine the moisture grade of the compost is to grab the pot at the Coaster with thumb and pointer. Is the Coaster heavy, please do not water. Only water when the Orchitop is medium weight or light. After a short period of time you will get a feeling for the perfect watering time. The colour of the compost is also an indication for watering (dark=humid, bright=dry). Once the compost has absorbed all water from the Coaster and is saturated with the maximum water level, it is dark and even seems to look shiny or humid. Seite 12 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
Watering by immersion Remove the Coaster and put Orchitop into a bucket filled with water (or water with fertiliser) until the water level is about 1 cm below the top edge of the poles. Leave Orchtop in the bucket for 10-15 minutes so that the compost and roots can take on enough water. Now remove Orchitop from the bucket and make sure that all water can drain. Fix the Coaster and put the plant back to its place. This watering method can be used for pure pine barks (no water reservoirs). Watering from above Water slowly and widespread on the compost surface until water flows into the Coaster. Go on watering until the Coaster is filled half way. The water left in the Coaster will be absorbed by capillarity action or it will evaporate. This method of watering only works if your compost has a water reservoir. Therefore it will not work when you use pure pine bark. We recommend to use one of the other methods of watering from time to time. Watering from below via Coaster If you choose to water from below, please put the Orchitop in the Coaster and fill it completely with water. By capillarity action, water will be absorbed slowly. After 1-2 days the Coaster should be empty half way, after 3-4 days completely empty. This method of watering only works if your compost has a water reservoir. Therefore it will not work when you use pure pine bark. Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 13
Handy hints for cultivation SUCCESSFUL CULTIVATION FOR YOUR ORCHIDS 1.Temperature: Hot house orchids like day temperatures of about 20 to 25 degrees The most common one is Phalaenopsis (moth orchid). Orchids for tempered glass house like day temperatures of about 15 to 20 degrees These are often Dendrobium or Oncidien. Orchids for cold glass house like day temperatures of about 10 to 15 degrees. Often these plants are Masdevallia Coelognyne cristata or Cymbidium. Night temperatures for this group should be 2 degrees below day temperatures. INFORM YOURSELF ON YOUR PLANT S DEMANDS IN ADVANCE. 2. Light Most orchids like a bright location but no direct sun. 3. Humidity Most orchids like a humidity of 50 to 60 percent, just as we do 4. Movement of the air In nature a slight wind is always blowing a fan is best suited to move and mix the air in a room. 5. Water Epiphytic orchids such a Phalaenopsis like soft water (rain water). Seite 14 // Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel
ORCHITOP-COMMUNITY MEET LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE Of course we will always be available for you. Write us an email on info@orchitop.de at any time More information can be found on www.orchitop.de, follow us on twitter or facebook AOn facebook we operate with our company page www.facebook.com/orchitop and there are also special Orchitop communities WE ARE LOOKING FOR- WARD TO RECEIVING YOUR FEEDBACK All information in this booklet is only based on recommendations and experience. We are looking forward to receiving your suggestions and feedback. Special thanks to all members of Orchitop World as well as to Hans Gaida Hinterland Büro für Visuelle Kommmunikation for the design. Be part of the Orchitop community! The best known Orchitop community is Orchitop-World. You can meet other Orchitop lovers and profit from their experiences. On Orchitop World we launch new developements prior to the official market introduction. Orchitop Freiheit für die Wurzel // Seite 15
Ochitop UG (haftungsbeschränkt) St. Anna Str. 9 D-88085 Langenargen Phone +49 (0) 75 43.91 25 79 Fax +49 (0) 75 43.49 97 37 E-Mail info@orchitop.de www.orchitop.de