You can grow orchids in your home. You need only a sunny window and a few minutes a week.
You may doubt this—most people do at first—but thousands are already doing it, and more people are finding out how easy it can be done daily.
Growing orchids in the home are one of the most rapidly increasing indoor hobbies of recent years.
From Maine to California, from Alaska to South Africa, interest increases by leaps and bounds as people realize that many kinds of orchids actually thrive in the home.
Orchids will grow and bloom better with less work than most commonly known house plants. This is because their wants are simple and few.
You can almost say they like the same living conditions as human beings!
They are either already present in the average home or easily supplied for the plants.
Orchid Culture
Ideal Orchid Growing Temperatures
Orchids like the same temperatures you do—the average home temperatures from 60° to 80° degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for them.
They can stand short drops down to freezing and rises to 120° degrees Fahrenheit without serious damage but should normally be kept in the 60° to 80° degrees Fahrenheit range.
Regular Feeding
Like you and any other living organism, orchids must be fed. Also, like humans, they prefer their food regularly.
A special orchid fertilizer designed to fit their needs is best for them.
Most of these fertilizers are hydroponic plant foods—ones that can be dissolved in water and given to the plant, just like regular watering.
Fertilizers should be dissolved in water and given to the plants every time they are watered.
In the past, orchids have been grown without special fertilizer, but it has been found in recent years that much larger and stronger plants and many more flowers result from a regular feeding schedule.
Orchids are different from other plants in some respects. Most important is that the more commonly grown types of orchids are epiphytes or “air plants,” as they are usually called.
In the wild, these orchids grow in an elevated position on trees or cliffs. In such a position, ideal ventilation is important to their growth.
Drainage And Ventilation
Orchids like a fresh-feeling atmosphere that is neither stuffy nor excessively muggy.
Probably the most important and different thing about the culture of orchids is that they have a special type of root that must dry out thoroughly between waterings.
These roots run out over the surface of the tree or cliff on which the plant grows and are always exposed to the air.
When it rains, the roots get completely wet, and as soon as it stops raining, the breezes blow, and the roots dry out.
Putting orchid roots in a pot creates an artificial condition; if you are not careful, it will be easy to keep them too wet.
If they are kept constantly wet for very long, they will rot.
To allow the roots to dry out quickly after they are watered, we pot orchids in osmunda fiber (the roots of a fern), which is relatively coarse and therefore allows both good drainage and ventilation.
For the same reasons —drainage and ventilation—most orchids are grown in pots with several slits cut into the sides.
Watering Needs
Orchids like a lot of water, but they must be allowed to become bone dry between waterings.
When you water, water heavily-two or three quarts to the average pot—and don’t water again until the fiber is bone dry through the pot.
It is easy to tell when the pot is really dry all the way through by touching it.
If it feels clammy or damp and cooler than the air temperature, water is still evaporating from it.
If the pot feels dry and at room temperature, you can be sure it is fairly dry.
This matter of watering is, without doubt, the hardest part of the orchid culture for the beginner to learn, and, unfortunately, it is the most important.
If you must err, err on the side of too little water rather than too much.
Like all green plants, orchids need the sun to grow and bloom well.
Many house plants can get along without actual sun for long periods, but even these will not do well without some actual sunlight.
Orchids, like philodendron, will grow but will not bloom without sun.
Sunlight Requirements
For best results, orchids want lots of sunlight. They will take even more than most orchid growers realize.
In the wild, orchids grow on tree trunks and the tops of trees, where they get quite a bit of sun.
They are rarely found growing in dark jungle places. Usually, they are found either in open woods or on isolated trees in open fields.
Ideally, they would like full sun in the morning up until about 10:30, half sun from 10:30 until 3 P.M., and full sun for the rest of the afternoon.
Naturally, this is hard to give them, and a compromise of one-half sun and one-half shade all day long is sufficient.
In the northern United States, the winter sun is not nearly as intense as the tropical sun that the orchids are used to.
Therefore, during the winter months, from November to March, the plants should be in a south window where they will get as much sun as possible.
East or west windows that get at least 2 to 3 hours of sun a day can also be used, but a south window is best.
From April through October, the sun is nearly as intense as the tropical sun so that some shade will be needed, at least during the middle of the day.
Window screens usually give sufficient shade to keep the plants from burning.
Light gauze or lace curtains across the window in front of the plants will also give them plenty of shade.
If you prefer, the plants can be moved to an east window where they get only the morning sun during the summer months, which will be enough if they get it all morning long.
A west window can be used too if the plants have about one-half shade in the early afternoon.
In the southern United States, where the sun is more intense, some shade is necessary during the middle of the day, even through the winter.
The most important thing to learn is that the more sun the plants get, the more flowers you will get, but it is possible to burn plants by giving them full sun when the sun is intense.
Easy Recognizable Sunburns
Sunburns on orchid leaves are easy to recognize. Within 24 hours after the plant has been exposed to too much sun, large areas of the leaf, often the size of a 50-cent piece, will turn brown or black with a gray-white edge.
This area is usually lower than the rest of the leaf.
These spots can be cut out of the leaves for the plant’s appearance, but nothing needs to be done as they will soon dry up and become unsightly but not dangerous scars.
Getting Correct Sun And Food Ratio
The amounts of food and sunlight which your plants need are closely related to each other.
The more sun your plant gets, the more food it needs, and vice versa.
It is easy to tell if orchid plants are getting sun and food in the correct ratio by the plant’s color and the way it is growing.
Orchid plants that are getting enough food and enough sun will be a clear grass-green color, and they will be heavy, stocky plants with relatively straight leaves.
Plants not getting enough sun will be tall, slender plants with twisted leaves and a dark velvety-green color. (Although these plants are pretty, they will not bloom well.)
If the new growths on your plants come out horizontally from the pot towards the window, instead of the upright as is normal, this, too, is a sign of lack of sun.
These growths are usually quite weak, spindly, drooping, and seldom bloom.
Try to find a sunnier window for such plants. The resultant growth should again be normal.
Plants that are not getting enough food will be a yellowish-green color and skinny.
Relative Humidity Needs
Orchids need considerably more humidity than usually is present in the heated home. Average home humidity is 10% to 15% percent.
Orchids like 50% to 70% percent relative humidity. Actually, the lack of humidity is the main problem in growing house plants of any sort. Luckily, humidity is easily supplied.
Equipment is simple and cheap.
You need only:
- A large cake pan, pyrex baking dish, or another shallow and wide container that will hold water
- Gravel or aquarium shells
- Water
Here’s what you need to do:
- Place the dish or pan on the window sill or a table in front of the window where the plants will get the sun they need.
- Fill the pan with gravel or aquarium shells and keep it about ½ to ⅔ full of water.
- Then place the plant in its pot on the gravel so that it is sitting above the water, not in it.
As the water evaporates, the moisture rises around the plant so that it sits in a constant updraft of humidity.
This evaporation is not enough to change the room’s humidity greatly, but it is sufficient for good growing conditions.
The kitchen and the bathroom are the most humid rooms in your home. For this reason, they are the best rooms for growing orchids if they have sunny windows.
There are on the market several expensive indoor greenhouses (table model) and orchid cases, or Wardian cases, designed to supply and retain humidity for orchid plants.
Some people recommend these, but the author has found that they are more likely to be a hindrance than a help as they often supply 100% percent humidity, which is far worse than insufficient.
The cake pan method explained above is an all-around better way to grow orchids and much less expensive.
Thousands of people are using this method with excellent results.
Six Requirements For Home Orchid Culture
Home orchid culture can be summed up into six simple requirements:
- Plenty of sunlight – Give your orchids full sun all winter and one-half shade during the middle of the day (10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) in summer.
- Warmth – Orchids prefer temperatures of 60° to 80° degrees Fahrenheit; short drops even into the ’30s will cause no real damage.
- Food – Feed your plants with hydroponic orchid food mixed in their water every other time they are watered.
- Water – Soak your plants when you water; don’t water again until bone dry.
- Air or ventilation – Orchids like a fresh-feeling atmosphere, neither stuffy nor muggy.
- Humidity – Orchids need more than is present in the home; the kitchen and bathroom are the most humid rooms in the house; give additional humidity with the cake pan method.
44659 by T. A. Fennell Jr.