Orchid Care

This web site is dedicated to orchids and their care. Here we hope you will find practical orchid care information that enhances your orchid growing experience. Please explore the links at the left of each page to navigate through this web site starting with orchid care.

Orchid care is not difficult, it is just different. Orchids have a reputation for being difficult to grow when in fact many varieties make excellent houseplants. With proper care an orchid can be in bloom for months each year and can live indefinately. In this respect orchids are an excellent value as far as blooming plants go. A well cared for and varied orchid collection can provide continuous bloom every day of the year. Good orchid care requires just some basic knowledge about orchids and how they grow.

The Orchid Family has diverse care needs

The orchid family has over 880 different types (called genera) and over 22,000 species. These numbers are growing every year making orchids the largest and most diverse of the flowing plant families. In general Orchids are largely tropical plants which live as epiphites or "air plants" hanging on to trees for support. Some orchids are lithophytes or "rock plants" growing on or among rocks. The remaining orchids are terrestrials which grow in the loamy detritus of the jungle floor. With a plant family this diverse it is challenging to give general guidelines on orchid care. Yet, there are only several dozen species widely produced and even fewer that are available at a local nursery. The plants sold at nurseries, florists, hardware chain stores and groceries are likely to be hybrids. These hybrids have been created by crossing different species, and sometimes different genera to breed in desirable charactoristics such as color, fragrance, flower size and ease of care and breed out many of the challenging care aspects of pure orchid species. Todays orchid hybrids are very rewarding houseplants to grow and are relatively easy to care for if you take a little time to understand their basic needs. This web site is dedicated to those practical orchid care basics.

Orchid Growth Environments as they relate to Orchid Care

Imagine standing in a jungle and looking up at an orchid that is clinging to a tree. Its roots have grasped the tree bark and are using the tree for support. The orchid gets no nutrients from the tree itself, it is not a parasite, it gets only support and a bit of food from the organic matter decaying in the crooks of branches or from animal droppings that wash down the tree in the rain. It is humid in the jungle and these orchid roots have adapted to absorb water from the humid air, hence the term "epiphite". Many orchids have to deal with times of abundant water and times of dryness and so they have thick stems called "pseudobulbs" that allow them to store and hold water for the dry perieds to come. Imagine now, this same plant in a pot in a typical home environment. How strange this must be for the plant and how different it is from the conditions to which the orchid has adapted. Understanding the natural conditions in which the orchid grows, known as 'in situ', is critical to understanding what the orchid needs for its care.

Orchid Care Basics

Fundamental to successful orchid care is understanding the requirements of the orchid for support, light, food, humidity, water, air movement and temperature.

Orchid Mix

First and foremost, orchids do not grow in dirt, it will smother their roots and kill the plant. Orchids require special media in which to grow. The best media for an orchid is the one that best matches the type of orchid and the conditions in which it is growing. The conditions on a sun porch in Florida are different from a heated home in Ohio yet orchids, with proper care, can thrive in both. Often multiple media are mixed together in an orchid mix with each ingredient bringing unique desirable charactoristics to the mix. The goal is the same, to use a mix that is open and airy and brings to the orchid the appropriate amount of moisture for its needs.

Orchid Pots

Because obtaining a good moisture balance is so very critical to opitmal orchid care many orchid growers choose clear orchid pots so that it is easier to see when the roots are thriving and when they are not. The key to growing great orchids is growing great roots. It is believed that orchid roots engage in photosynthesis, which makes sense given that they grow exposed to dappled light as the orchid hangs from a tree, and clear pots make photosynthisis by orchid roots possible. White pots also allow some light to pass through them.

Orchid Fertilizer

Orchids require special fertilizer designed for orchids to grow really well. A common ingredient in many standard formulas is Urea which is not well absorbed by orchids. As a result, it is best to obtain a fertilizer that is made for orchid care. Orchids do not require very much fertilizer; a dilute amount on a regular basis is optimal for orchid care. Most orchid growers recommend fertilizing "weakly, weekly".

Humidity and Air Movement

Orchids do not like 'wet feet' but they do very much like humidity. As a result, when grown inside a home orchids are often placed on humidity trays. These trays allow water to collect in the base while the plant is suspended above the water. Commercial trays are available or a tray can be created from a cake pan filled with stones or inverted pot saucers, anything to allow the orchid pot to be above a pool of water. In this way the orchid benefits from the evaporation of the water. Orchids also like to be gathered close together as this also helps to raise the humidity among the plants. This is invariably a balancing act because orchids also like air movement but constant movement of dry air will dry out the plants. Too much moisture and too little air movement and the plants may become susceptible to rot. Achieving a good balance of humidity and air movement is one of the goals of successful orchid care.

Light

Orchids have very widely varying light needs and understanding the appropriate amount of light for the type of orchid is essential to their care. Even 'high light' orchids do not require the kind of bright direct sunshine that a tomato plant does and even 'low light' orchids will not be happy indefinately in the middle of a room far from any light source. Even a North window can be too little light for low light orchids to bloom reliably but a South window may need some shading. In fact, it is often inadequate light that inhibits orchid blooming. Some orchids, especially those which like high light levels, enjoy being summered outside in dappled shade and for many high light orchids that is the easiest way, to give them enough light to bloom. If high light orchids are to remain indoors, many will not bloom reliably without some sort of supplemental light unless they are in a very bright sunroom or greenhouse. Fortunately, fluorescent bulbs with broad spectrum bulbs work fairly well with orchids, as do High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights. Also, in nature orchids get natural light cues. The days get longer and then get shorter. In our homes we have supplemental lighting and tend to keep a regular schedule year-round and this can throw off an orchid's natural clock.

Temperature

Some orchids use the chill in the Fall air or the difference between the temperature at night and the temperature during the day as a cue to let them know the seasons are changing and it is time to prepare to bloom. Again, the fact that many people prefer a fairly consistent temperature in their homes is at odds with the orchid's natural environment. That does not mean that all is lost, it is just to emphasise that knowing the needs of the type of orchid that you are trying to provide care for will allow you to make small adjustments to meet those needs and be rewarded with beautiful orchid blooms. Some orchids are naturally warm growing while others are intermediate or cool growing but most will do OK in intermediate conditions where it isn't blazing hot nor near freezing cold. It is good to know the temperate preferences of the orchids in your collection. Often there is some variance, for example, cooler growing orchids can be put closer to a cool window or in a cooler spot in a home.

Water

Proper orchid watering is probably the single most difficult aspect of orchid care to get right. The appropriate amount of water for an orchid varies with the type of orchid, the type of mix it is in, and the environment in which the orchid is growing. This is as difficult for beginners as using a recipe that suggests that a dish be "baked until done", what does that mean? Orchids want the 'right' amount of water, not too much and not too little. The right amount also varies with the seasons, orchids dry out more quickly when it is hot then when it is cold. The key is to vary the frequency of orchid watering, the type of pot, the type of mix, how tightly the mix is packed and the amount of air circulation until the right balance is achieved for each orchid. This takes time and patience but pays off with increased health and vigor of the orchid which translates into increased blooms. The one thing to avoid is to limit the amount of water that an orchid is given during a watering. By & large one is met with the greatest success when an orchid is watered liberally, allowing the water to pour from the bottom of the pot, until the plant and media are completely saturated. From a practical standpoint this usually means bringing the orchid to the sink and running water liberally through the mix. In some cases one can water an orchid on its humidity tray especially if that tray has a drain in case the water level gets too high. Once the orchid has been watered it should go back to its growing space until the next watering which may be anything from a few days to a week or more later. Establishing a routine can help, for example watering on the weekend and checking the plants midweek. When in doubt, wait, too little is better than too much.