Top Ten Orchid Growing Tips
Everyone likes Top Ten lists, so why not have one for orchid growing? These tips should help your success rate on orchid growing.
1 - KNOW YOUR ORCHID
With nearly 30,000 species of orchid (growing on six continents) and many times that in hybrids the question of “How do I grow this orchid” doesn’t have a single answer. It is best if you know the exact name of your orchid, or if that’s not available, what type of orchid it is (what “genus” or “alliance”). If you have no tag and are unsure of this, why not bring the plant to your local orchid society for some identification?
Once you know what type of orchid(s) you have you’ll need to find out what the requirements are for the basic categories of LIGHT, WATER and TEMPERATURE as well as whether or not there are other important requirements for that orchid such as a dry winter spell. This will include the best way to pot or mount your orchid considering where you grow the orchid.
2 - REPOT YOUR ORCHID!
Unlike many potted plants, we don’t repot our orchids to get them into bigger pots. We might need to do that once in a while, but orchids like Phalaenopsis (a “monopodial” orchid that grows straight up rather than out) will almost never need a bigger pot. But it is very important to repot (in the same pot) your orchid regularly to keep the potting media fresh. When the media decomposes its chemistry changes, which will affect the plant. As it breaks down it becomes less like bark and more like dirt – which essentially strangles the roots that, in the wild, grow out in humid tropical air. Most orchids benefit from an annual repotting. This is often done after blooming to avoid stressing out the plant or affecting it’s growth cycle which typically occurs between blooms. Even if you’ve established a regular repotting cycle, you should repot right away, regardless of where you are in the cycle, if the media has gone bad. Also, be aware that many of the mass-produced, grocery store orchids are sold in poor or old media and should be repotted into a good mix as soon as possible! We hear a lot of people say that they’ve “killed orchids” when in reality the suboptimal conditions that the orchids were in when they were purchased may have been at fault - but repotting ASAP can change that.
3 - Don’t use ice cubes
Let’s just dispel this rumor at the start: orchids are tropical plants, watering them with ice cubes is not just counter-intuitive, it’s a sure fire way to shorten your orchid’s life. There’s a reason the marketing of ice cube watering was devised but it isn’t for the sake of growing plants for the long term. Most of the orchids we grow live in tropical areas and are drenched daily with lukewarm water (rain, that is) – and they enjoy high humidity the rest of the day. Not every orchid is the same so tip number 1 (“Know Your Orchid”) should be heeded here, but with any orchid we want to mimic their natural conditions as closely as possible, and ice is simply not part of those conditions for tropical plants. With a good potting mix (bark and perlite in many cases) that allows airflow around the roots watering them liberally with lukewarm water once a week to soak the bark thoroughly, they’ll get the drenching they want and the humidity they crave the rest of the week as the bark dries out, releasing humidity back to the plant. Depending on ambient humidity, your growing space may require watering more or less often - but typical indoor conditions work well with once a week. Pick a day of the week and make that your orchid watering day. And if you miss it, no big deal, just do it the next day for that week. Orchids generally want a wet-dry cycle of some sort - so if they’re staying wait until they’ve dried out. For plants like Phalaenopsis, you should water when the mix has become dry (not BONE dry, but “unmoist”). Stick your finger into the mix to see if it is still moist near the center since the top dries out before the middle. If it’s still wet, don’t water it - if it’s dry then it’s time to water. And if your growing space conditions are consistent you will probably be watering at that same interval down the road (but do the finger test regularly just to be sure).
4 - Grow orchids that fit your growing area
Though most orchids grown commercially need similar conditions, the orchid family has so many species that there are important differences between types when it comes to their wants and needs. Orchids evolved over millions of years to like very specific things. Some of them are better than others at being flexible with what they want, especially with hybrids, but most species orchids are very particular. Your orchids are going to be happiest if they don’t have to live in conditions that are radically different from what they naturally want. So when you purchase orchids you should think about where you’re going to put them. If you have a greenhouse, you potentially have a lot more control than someone growing in the home. In the home consider the amount of light that you can provide, the temperature that you keep your house at (day and night), the amount of humidity that your house has (air conditioning and heating remove humidity) and the quality of your water. These are all things that you could change if you wanted to do some extra work (like buying supplemental lights or collecting rain water) but if you simply want an orchid without putting out all that effort, you should look for one that likes what you already have. The great thing about orchids is that there are so many types, so there should be a wide selection of orchids that will be fine in your conditions, but you are setting yourself up for potential failure if you buy orchids that want the opposite of what you can provide. Here’s a link again to our chart of basic orchid wants and needs: Orchid Cultivation.
5 - Fertilize weakly, weekly
Is it weakly, weekly or weekly, weakly? Either way, fertilization is not actually an incredibly important piece of orchid growing because orchids get very little fertilization in the wild, but it is something that will help your orchids grow vigorously and fend off disease. Keep in mind that orchids are very sensitive to salt and fertilizers are generally salts. So when you fertilize, which should be done during the growing season (summer for most, not all, orchids), use the fertilizer at 1/2 the strength listed on the package – even if it is labeled as “orchid fertilizer” to half-strength. Do this once a week when you water (you might water first and then fertilize because that ensures that the orchid absorbs in the fertilizer). You’ll want to take a week off once a month and water without fertilizer to flush the salts from the pot so they don’t build up and hurt your plant. Only Cymbidium orchids would want fertilization at full strength. Also, your orchids would benefit best from fertilizer labeled as “urea free” since it can take that in more readily. Other fertilizers require soil microbes to make the nutrients available to the plant roots, but since orchids aren’t grown in soil that doesn’t work.
6 - Buy from quality suppliers
Buying orchids from the grocery store is by no means a recipe for failure but it is likely going to require that you take some extra steps to insure success. This is mainly because the orchids from these places tend to be potted in less-than-optimal potting media. It’s an extra step to have to repot these orchids as soon as possible and you never know what kind of additional stress the orchid has experienced in transportation and/or care at the store (where they don’t always know how to take care of orchids). When you buy directly from a professional orchid vendor or an experienced grower you should expect that the plant is much less stressed than the mass-produced ones and that it will be potted in a proper mix – all of which starts you off on a better footing!
7 - Ask questions when you buy
When you buy orchids from an actual grower, you should ask questions about the orchid. You should know what that specific orchid likes – and the best source of that information is the person you’re buying it from, since they’ve been successfully growing it. You may also benefit from knowing exactly what conditions the plant has seen recently. For example, if it has been growing under lights and you set it in your south facing window it may get burned even if that type of plant can normally handle high light because it needs to put out stronger foliage than it has been before it can handle the light in your growing space.
8 - Recognize pests, diseases or problems quickly
It’s not necessary that you become an expert in all orchid pests and disease, but you have better success if, at the very least, you can recognize when something doesn’t look quite right. The sooner you can recognize and deal with pests and disease, the better it will be for your plant. Advanced disease stresses out the plant and can lead to secondary issues. Ask your local orchid society about any concerns you have with your plant. Send them a picture if you can - that always helps! Click here for more info on orchid pests and disease or use the dropdown menu above (under “Cultivation”) to look into a specific pest or disease.
9 – Air and Airflow
This is one topic that isn’t often pointed out in the “orchid how-tos”. Airflow is probably more of an issue once you’ve acquired many orchids, especially if they are growing in a crowded space. Airflow should be very light, but always present. Stagnant air can benefit bugs in the crevices of your orchids’ leaf axils. Keep in mind, though, that airflow can also dry out your orchid quicker. Stick your finger down into the media a few times a week to see if it has dried out.
Also, orchids like FRESH air. Many tropical orchids LOVE to live outside when the temperature conditions allow it. If you do this, remember that bugs also live outside and even though your orchid has had an easy time of fighting off any such bugs because it is happy in the breeze, a few critters might come in with the plant when you bring it back inside. Vigilance and possibly a pesticide treatment (just before bringing it in) are good ideas. Consider also the importance of weaning them into brighter conditions outside as they’ll burn if moved too quickly.
10 – Use your local orchid society as a resource
Across the US almost every region (even Alaska) has a local orchid society. These groups exist to help you grow orchids. The Five Cities Orchid Society meets once a month via Zoom and we welcome any questions you have about growing orchids through our contact form: https://www.fcos.org/contact-fcos.
HAPPY GROWING!