Phalaenopsis orchids are very suitable for city dwellers who have limited space and no gardens. Since Phalaenopsis orchid is quite easy to grow and generally likes the light and temperature condition of our homes, it is an excellent choice for the first time orchid growers, as well as indoor gardeners.

Below are some tips of growing Phalaenopsis orchids.

Light

Phalaenopsis orchids do well near bright window, without direct sunlight. If we place our Phalaenopsis orchids indoor, an east facing window is ideal, while shaded south or west facing windows are also acceptable. I grow my Phalaenopsis orchid outside my north facing balcony and it grows very well. If we grow our Phalaenopsis orchids outdoor under direct sunlight, the growing area will need to be covered with 70-75%  shade cloth.

Let the foliage be your guide. If there is excessive dark reddish pigmentation on the leaves, the leaves probably have been burnt. In this case, we should move our orchids to an area with less sun exposure. On the other hand, if the leaves are long and floppy, the Phalaenopsis orchid may not be getting enough light.

Watering

If we grow our Phalaenopsis orchids in pots instead of by hanging, the orchid roots will not be exposed to the air as much, and hence will dry up slower. We should water our Phalaenopsis orchids only when the roots are dry (but don’t wait till bone-dry). Be aware not to overwater our orchids, the roots will rot and the orchid will not survive. In addition, water our Phalaenopsis orchids early enough in the day time so that the leaves will be dry by nightfall. It is especially important not to let water stay in the crown of the orchids for this will lead to crown rot.

Fertilizer

Phalaenopsis orchids do well with regular fertilizing, yet will suffer if over-fertilized. As a rule of thumb, fertilize our Phalaenopsis orchids every 10-14 days with a balanced formula like 20-20-20 in only half the strength as instructed on the fertilizer package.

Temperature

Phalaenopsis orchids grow well in temperature between 20-30 degree Celsius (65-85 degrees Fahrenheit), and the orchids will stop growing when the temperature is above 35 degree Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) or below 10 degree Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

Humidity and Ventilation

Phalaenopsis orchids love high humidity, around 70%. Yet, the moth orchids also need good ventilation and air circulation in order to grow well, particularly during very humid conditions when fungal and bacterial disease can be a real threat. In this case, an oscillating fan that moves air constantly at low speed will be very helpful.

Cattleya orchids are among the most beautiful and satisfying of all orchid species to grow and care for.  Since the care of Cattleya orchid is easy, gardening beginners who are interested in growing orchids but haven’t had any experience before, can start with Cattleya orchid.  With simple growing conditions, most of us can obtain outstanding results.

And here, let me share with you what I have learned about Cattleya orchids.

Light

The growing area of Cattleya orchids needs to be covered with 50-60% shade cloth. If the light is too strong, the leaves of the Cattleya orchids will be burned. On the other hand, if the light is too weak, the plant will be very weak, and won’t blossom.

Air Circulation

Air circulation is especially critical for Cattleya orchids that grow indoor in a greenhouse. Cattleya orchids are prompt to disease and pest when the air flow in the room is poor.

Temperature

Cattleya orchids are able to accustom to temperatures as low as 10-13 degree Celsius (50-55 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter and as high as 27-33 degree Celsius (80-90 degrees Fahrenheit)in the summer. It worth noting that there should have some temperature variations of at least 5 degrees between day time and night time for the Cattleya orchids to grow strong and bloom beautifully.

Water

When an orchid is killed by a water problem, 99% of the time is due to over-watering. Water the Cattleya orchid only when the potting medium is totally dry.

Potting Mix

Cattleya orchids grow well in pumice stones. Pumice stones allow water to drain out quickly, which minimize the over-watering problem and keep the roots healthy at all time. Also, we can put a few pieces of styrofoam at the bottom of the orchid pot to improve the air circulation in the root area.

Fertilizer

Fertilizing our Cattleya orchids every 10-14 days with a balanced formula like 20-20-20 in only half the strength as instructed on the fertilizer package.

And after sharing what I know about Cattleya orchids, let me share what I know about Dendrobium orchids here.

Light

Compare with many other orchid species, Dendrobium orchids slightly requires more light than others. While the Dendrobium orchids in the bonsai workshop is covered with 30% shade cloth, Teacher Wong told me that Dendrobium orchids grow well even without shade cloth. In fact, the Dendrobium orchid will grow stronger and healthier if it grows without covered by any shade cloth since spring time when the plant is still a seedling.

Water

During the growing season, Dendrobium orchid like high humidity and lots of water. For abundant, beautiful blossoms in the next spring, we should water and fertilize the orchids less when autumn comes, and allow the Dendrobium orchid to dry out thoroughly during dormancy. The combination of longer, cooler nights, less water and no fertilizer creates the dormancy which can ultimately induce flowering. And once the flower buds mature in spring, normal watering and fertilizing routines can be gradually resume.

Temperature

The temperature requirement for Dendrobium orchid is similar to Cattleya orchid. During its growing season, Dendrobium orchid grows well in the range of 18-30 degrees Celsius (65-85 degrees Fahrenheit). And we should stop watering when the temperature drops lower than 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit).

Fertilizer

Fertilize our Dendrobium orchid every 10-14 days with a balanced water-soluble like 20-20-20 in only half the strength as instructed in the fertilizer instructions.

Mounting Dendrobium Orchid

We can mount our Dendrobium orchids instead of potting them. What we use to mount our orchids depends on the species we are growing. For example, we can use a piece of wood or bark. In addition, we also need plastic coated wire and sphagnum moss when we mount our Dendrobium orchids.

This Vanda orchid likes the driftwood so much that its roots keep drilling into every corner and cracks of draftwood

Compare to the Vanda orchid that is mounted on the driftwood, the root system of this orchid is much weaker, with some roots drying up and dying.  In additional, unlike the other Vanda orchid, the root system of this orchid doesn’t hold onto the rock which it’s mounting on.  I guess it doesn’t like the rock that much huh…

So I found another driftwood for my Vanda orchid and remounted the plant.  Now, both Vandas are mounted on a driftwood.

In hindsight, that rock was a bad choice for mounting my Vanda orchid.  It was probably a rock which my dad used before for decorating his fish tank.  Even though I have socked the rock in water for 24 hours,  it’s probably not sufficient to remove all the impurities in the material.

I searched around the house for materials which I could mount my two Venda orchids onto, and I ended up with a piece of driftwood and a rock which was probably for ornamental use in the fish tank.  I decided to use two different materials because I want to find out how different growing mediums affect the growth of the orchids.

Before I mounted the orchids onto these materials, I soaked them in water for 24 hours to remove impurities in the materials.

Because I didn’t have any thick wire on hand, I disassembled an old wire hanger and used it to hang up my two Venda orchids.  And it is great!  The rubber coating of the wire hanger provides good protection from scratches made by the wire on where I hang my orchids

Bulbophyllum (石豆蘭 in Chinese), Cattleya (嘉德麗亞蘭), Paphiopedilum (aka Slipper Orchid, 拖鞋蘭), Vanda (萬代蘭), Dendrobium (石斛蘭), Phalaenopsis (蝴蝶蘭)… there are just too many orchid species that it seems like a mission impossible to tell apart the different species of this beautiful flowering plant.

But after I saw the blooming of Oncidium orchid (aka Dancing Lady, 文心蘭)  a few days ago, I believe that from now on, at least I will be able to recognize the Dancing Lady from all the rest 

No wonder this orchid is also called the Dancing Lady (跳舞蘭).  These ladies are just gorgeous. Don’t you think?

We, women, sometimes complain that men only care about food and sex but nothing else (okay, also football games and gadgets). While it can be quite frustrating and disappointing sometimes, we can also try to be more sympathetic, and understand that these poor guys can really do nothing but try to meet their human biological needs. Food, sex, water and air are the four very basic biological needs that the survival of human race will become impossible if any one of these needs is not met.

It is just part of the nature. All animals know these biological needs, as well as all insects. And apparently, even orchids know this very well too. Indeed, the orchids understand this so well that the plants use these biological needs to lure different insects to work for them for free!

The great majority of animal pollinated plants secure the services of their pollinators by providing food rewards such as nectar or pollen. However, orchids are exceptional in that perhaps as many as one third of the 30,000 or so species achieve pollination by deception. That is, they lure their pollinators to the flowers by false promises of food, but do not provide any. Most of these species are ‘food deceptive’, falsely advertising the presence of food by bright colors and sweet scents.

In an even more intriguing group of orchids, pollination is achieved by sexual deception. In these cases, male insects are sexually attracted to the flower both by the fragrances and appearance of the female insects. The males are so deceived that they attempt to mate with the flowers (a process known as pseudo-copulation, meaning false mating) and in doing so remove or deposit pollinia.

So women, may be we can learn something from the orchids huh? LOL

If you are interested in learning more about pollination by sexual deception, you should check out this great article– Pollination by Sexual Deception in Australian Terrestrial Orchids by Dr Rod Peakall.

First Photo by Dr Rod Peakall
Second Photo by Plant Nerd

I got two pots of ground orchids last month.  While the orchid with yellow and green leaves was fairly expensive (HKD 250), the other one was dirt cheap (only HKD 10, less than USD 1.5).  In fact, I didn’t really buy the 10-dollar orchid, but just got it as a giveaway from the orchid shop.  And this is my first time growing orchid.  Even though both orchids look equally beautiful, I had more expectation on the one with yellow and green leaves.  Hey, this orchid cost 25 times more.  It must be better!

However, the yellow-and-green-leaved orchid is not doing very well.  Before I can fully enjoy the beautiful leaves and blossoms of the orchid, its roots have turned brown and rotten. I think I have over-watered this orchid, since there was a foul odor when I was trying to rescue it by removing all its dead roots and leaves.  Hopefully, this baby will survive.

On the other hand, without any special attention or additional care, the 10-dollar orchid is thriving and blossoming gorgeously!

My lesson learnt – Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.  So, instead of holding on to some expectations, let’s just enjoy and learn from whatever life brings