Orchids are beautiful but fragile plants. Many people are often hesitant to grow orchids because they have a reputation for being difficult to grow. The truth is, caring for orchids is not difficult, it’s just different.
Orchids are epiphytes, meaning they don’t grow on soil like other plants. Instead, they grow hanging on the tree barks. Many orchids can be easy to grow if you know the basic ways to care for them. Here, we listed ways on how you can take care of orchids so they’ll grow all year long.
6 Ways To Care For Orchids
1. Use pots or containers with drainage holes
Since orchids don’t thrive on dirt, use pots or containers that have drainage holes. This allows excess water to drain. Otherwise, it could lead to root rot.
2. Water before it gets dry
Watering is a critical step in caring for an orchid. Water your orchids before they go dry. Instead of counting days, always check your orchids’ moisture level. Every day, check the potting medium if there’s still any moisture left. If there’s none, lightly water the orchids.
To do this, pour water on the potting medium just enough for it to get soaked. Then, tip the container a bit, to remove the excess water, including those in drip trays. You may need to water your orchids several times a week.
3. Work with humidity
Orchids grow best with 40% to 60% humidity. If your indoor humidity is below 40%, you need to spray or mist your orchids every day. If your room humidity goes above 60%, you may need to have a humidifier to prevent bacteria, molds, and fungi growing in your orchids.
4. Indirect sunlight
While caring for succulents and other plants require direct sunlight, orchids don’t. Orchids need indirect but strong light to thrive. Place them just near the windows where the sunlight brightens. If its location gets too much sun in the afternoon, use sheer curtains to protect them from too much sunlight.
5. Gentle air circulation
Aside from too much light, orchids could die from harsh weather conditions. It’s best that they grow them in gentle air circulation to keep their roots healthy and avoid rotting.
When there’s a gentle breeze, you can open the windows. But if there’s none, you can keep them in a room with a fan on low setting just to keep the air circulation. Don’t put your orchid directly on the fan, just near enough that it won’t get stale.
6. Cut off stems
Orchids generally don’t flower more than once on the same stem. You need to cut off stems when the flowers wither. Varieties like Phalaenopsis, need their stems to be cut above the bottom 2 nodes or joints where the flower died. For other varieties, you can cut the entire stem off so it can grow a new healthy stem, ready for new blooms.
There you go! We hope this post is beneficial to you as you care for your beautiful orchids. These plants are very rewarding as they give you beautiful blooms when they’re taken care of properly. Taking care of plants are such therapeutic ways to let go of stress.
Aside from orchids, you can also look into caring for painted-leaf begonias and rare philodendron sodiroi.
