If you want to grow orchids in the garden, you can proceed with a few simple steps. You need to know which variety is suitable for the region and climate you live in; alternatively, you can adjust the amount of shade and water to simulate the exotic natural environment of these plants. Some can grow on trees, others in pots or baskets, and still others directly in the ground; take them indoors when temperatures drop below 15 ° C.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Basic Care
Step 1. Find out about the variety that adapts well to the outside temperatures in your region
Some orchids thrive better than others outdoors in certain climatic conditions.
Search the internet to find the species best suited to the climate in your area; if a variety grows well in your environment, it should be able to flower outdoors
Step 2. Make sure winter and frost are over before taking the plants outside
Step 3. Place them in a slightly sunnier area than they were indoors
You have to gradually acclimate them to the greater intensity and quantity of light outside; as time passes, move them to areas with less shade.
Choose an area of the garden that is sheltered from the sun for part of the day. Put the plants under a cloth that gives them shade, so as to expose them to direct sunlight for only a short time; alternatively, arrange the potted ones on benches in the shade of the trees
Step 4. Water them more often than when you kept them indoors
Being more exposed to air and sun, they dry out more quickly, including soil.
Step 5. Spray a mixture of water, gardening oil or neem oil and a few drops of liquid dish soap on the orchids every three weeks to keep bugs away
Remember that there are more insects outdoors than indoors.
Keep plants off the ground so pests can't easily get into pots or baskets
Method 2 of 2: Grow Them All Year Round
Step 1. Grow terricolous orchids in the garden, which grow in the soil
First, replace the soil with a mixture of sand, bark, gravel, and fibrous loam. The terricolous ones of the Pleione, Sobralia, Calanthe, Phaius and Bletilla varieties can grow in well-drained soil with plenty of shade.
Step 2. Grow them outdoors year round, if temperatures allow, by hanging them from trees
Put some moss on the trees and place the flowers on it. Gently tie the orchids to the moss and branch using nylon thread or fishing line; over time, the roots cling to the tree.
If you live in a very rainy region, place them in baskets or on trees exposing their roots
Step 3. Grow some varieties in pots all year round outdoors
The roots can rot if they remain too long in contact with the water in the pot; make sure the moisture comes out of the container properly, making holes in the bottom. Also avoid inserting the pot into another larger one.
Advice
- If you live in a particularly hot and humid region, you can grow the Vanda and Epidendrum varieties; if the weather is mild during the day but temperatures drop dramatically at night, opt for Cymbidium. In areas where temperatures are intermediate, grow the ballerina orchid, bamboo orchid and Cattleya.
- If you want to bring them back indoors when the weather gets cooler or colder, keep them in pots or baskets.
- If a strain doesn't grow naturally in the region you live in, modify the environment you plant it in, changing the water supply and moving it to expose it to varying amounts of light as needed.
Warnings
- Butterflies or bees can pollinate outdoor orchids, but this process may interrupt flowering in favor of seed development.
- Before bringing them back indoors, check them often, including the root system, for parasites.
