Orchids are beautiful tropical flowers that add an exotic touch to any room in your home. However, due to the conditions in which wild orchids grow, additional measures may be needed to ensure that the plant not only survives, but thrives. In the home, your orchid needs to receive a lot of indirect light, and the air around it needs to be kept sufficiently warm and humid at all times.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Lighting
Step 1. Place orchids near an east-facing window if possible
If not, try a west or south oriented window. Most orchids prefer direct lighting, but unlike many other plants that require direct lighting, orchids thrive best in partially dim light. With insufficient lighting the leaves will turn dark and the flowering will be dim, however too much unduffed light can burn the leaves.
Step 2. Dim the sunlight with thin curtains
Enough light should come through the curtains to provide enough energy for the orchid, however thin curtains should dim enough light to prevent the plant from spoiling.
Step 3. Integrate sunlight with fluorescent or full spectrum high intensity discharge (HID) lights
The light entering through the window may not be sufficient, especially on cloudy days or if you have placed the orchid near a window that allows only a minimum of sunlight. Investing in a pair of 20-watt fluorescent tubes, or other similar lighting, can simulate more ideal conditions.
Method 2 of 4: Temperature
Step 1. Find out if your orchid grows "cold" or "hot"
The two types prefer temperatures that fall in a slightly different range.
- Orchids that grow in heat include the genera vanda, phalaenopsis, and oncidium.
- Cold-growing orchids include the genera phragmipedium, miltonia, and cymbidium.
Step 2. Lower the temperature by 9 or 10 degrees during the night
In nature, orchids grow in places that suffer from a similar drop in night temperature. As a result, manually lowering the temperature this way in your home, or at least in the room where your orchid grows, will encourage the plant to bloom and thrive.
Step 3. Keep growing orchids warm at 24 to 30 degrees throughout the day
At night, it brings the temperature between 18 and 24 degrees.
Step 4. Keep growing orchids in the cold at a temperature between 18 and 27 degrees during the day
At night, bring the temperature between 10 and 18 degrees.
Step 5. Maintain good air circulation, especially in hot conditions
Open the windows on hot, muggy days or put a small fan nearby. The stale and stagnant air will block the orchid's growth.
Method 3 of 4: Water and Moisture
Step 1. Water your orchid once or twice a week in the growing season
Keep this schedule during the summer months when conditions are naturally more favorable.
Step 2. Reduce watering to once every two weeks when cold weather arrives
The roots need to stay moist evenly all year round, but the plant doesn't need as much water during the colder months, when growth is naturally reduced, than it does during the warm months.
Step 3. Evaluate the humidity of the growth material before watering
Put your finger in the growth material to a depth of 2.5 cm to determine the humidity level. If you feel it dry at this depth, give your orchid more water. If it feels wet, leave it alone.
Step 4. Keep the area around your orchid moist
Wild orchids bloom in hot, humid conditions. The humidity around the plant should be between 50 and 70 percent. The easiest way to achieve this is to place a saucer of water or a tray of water-soaked pebbles directly under the plant.
Step 5. Spray the orchid every day
If you don't use a tray of water under the plant, supplement the moisture by spraying the entire plant with water once a day.
Step 6. Turn on a humidifier
If the saucers of water and misting do not provide enough moisture to your orchid, turn on a humidifier in the room where the orchid is located. The whole room will probably become more humid, usually making this option less favorable than the others.
Method 4 of 4: Potting and Fertilizing
Step 1. Repot the orchids every year
A good way to tell if your orchid needs to be potted again is to simply check its growth. If an otherwise healthy orchid isn't blooming even though the light, temperature, and humidity levels are all sufficient, you may need to repot.
Step 2. Establish your orchid's growth pattern
Orchids can be monopodial (branching on a single main axis) or sympodial (the branch of a bifurcation replaces the main one). Each of these types requires a different reservoir scheme.
Step 3. Repot sympodial orchids when they are growing
Ideal conditions occur when the new growth is about half adult.
Sympodial orchids examples cattleya, dendrobium, cymbidium, and oncidium
Step 4. Repot the monopodial orchids after they have completed their flowering cycle
Examples of monopodial orchids are vanda, angraecum, and phalaenopsis
Step 5. Never repot an orchid while it is in bloom
Doing so can traumatize the orchid at a time when it is particularly delicate, causing damage in the short if not long term.
Step 6. Use orchid-specific growing materials
Avoid standard growing media. Instead choose a basic orchid solution made up of materials like coarse perlite, fir bark, and sphagnum moss. Other mediums might work as well. Do research to find out if the medium you have chosen to use will work before using it.
Step 7. Fertilize your orchid every week or twice a week when it is producing new growth
Decrease this amount at monthly or bi-monthly intervals once the plant is an adult.
Step 8. Stop using fertilizer once the plant hibernates
Extra food can actually have a negative effect.
Step 9. Use high nitrogen fertilizer only when the orchid is growing green
Switch to a fertilizer with a higher amount of phosphorus rather than potassium once the plant begins to flower. Avoid products with urea.
Advice
- Research which orchid species are best suited for the home. Generally, the moth (phalaenopsis) and Lady's Slippers (paphiopedilum) are a good choice for indoor environments.
- Check nurseries and garden stores for additional lighting solutions. Many of these stores sell lighting arrangements suitable for orchids in the home.
