Orchid Care
Common Name: Orchids
Scientific Name: Varies by variety
Lighting: Bright Light
Watering: Low
Orchids are beautiful houseplants. Their unique flowers characterized most commonly on a single stem. Along with the beautiful orchid flowers, usually is a pleasant fragrance as well. There are many varieties of orchids with Phalaenopsis being the most popular. Colors can vary from white, to pink, to yellow to a mixture, either way they are all gorgeous.
Orchids as beautiful as they are, they can be very finicky plants. On the other hand, some people find them to be one of the easiest. Orchids also when cared for properly can have extremely long lives.
One area where Orchids are particularly finicky is the soil they are planted in. Use a fast draining soil mixture. The soil must also allow air circulation so be sure there is a medium such as bark mixed within the soil.
Orchids prefer lower water levels, so watering once every week to two weeks is all you need. If the leaves begin to yellow, you may be over watering the plant. You can remove the yellowed leaves as needed. However, they do prefer high humidity levels, so a daily misting will do wonders!
Orchids require bright light. Try to give your plant at least 10 hours of bright, indirect light. If the foliage begins to brown, your plant may be receiving too much direct sunlight, thus burning the plant.
Common Orchid Varieties:
Cattleya
Dendrobium (Lily of the Valley)
Phalaenopsis (Most common Orchid)
Cymbidium
Oncidium (Dancing Lady)
Labels: Flowering Houseplants
posted by drayas @ 9:39 PM
6 Comments:
Also, a good tip: When the flowers all fall off a stem, cut it off just above a joint about half way along the stem. Most of the time you will get a new flowering stem growing just below the joint that you cut above. Make sure you only do this once per stem though, because the amount of flowers decreases each time you do this on a single stem.
I don't know how others water their orchids (I'd be interested to hear) but heres a watering tip I picked up -
When watering, stand the plant in a container of water for a good while, then remove it and let it completely drain.
I also put a few drops of orchid food in!
I've only had mine for a little while - I've had to cut back the stem as it finished flowering, but its foliage is looking really healthy!
I agree that orchids are very finicky plants. I have tried growing orchids for so long but have never been able to keep them alive for long. They last about a couple of months then they eventually die. Thanks for the tips you provide and I will try growing them again and see if these tips help.
My plants all are growing new leaves and stems, but refuse to bloom. I used orchid planter mix and I use orchid fertilizer
and planted them in orchid planters (the ones with holes all around). Anything else I can do?
Jean,
How long have you had the plants? Have they ever bloomed? It's hard to say exactly what may be the problem, but do they receive a good amount of bright light? Sometimes light levels will coordinate blooming.
Thanks,
drayas
Both the orchids I have take a very long time to bloom again once they have finished - I usually cut the stem back depending on if it looks like another stem is going to grow and then I wait months! But it is worth waiting for because I have had one of them for 4 years and it is about to flower again.
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