Receive New Gardening Articles By Email (Free Introductory Offer!)
Just sign up below to receive our new gardening articles full of handy hints for your garden. Your email address will not be shared and you can unsubscribe automatically any time - but we don't think you will want to!
Note: This free offer may end at any time.
Newest Additions
More Gardening Info
Bonsai for home or garden
Gardening Articles
Gardening Ideas By The Barrowload
Successful Orchid Growing Demands Knowledge of Each Plant’s Origin
See more in General Gardening
Even amateurs can successfully grow orchids if they take the time to learn about the differences between the major families of these exciting plants, as well as their different needs.
Orchids come from a wide variety of environments which differ from one another in almost every respect. As a result, you will find that some species produce their flowers early in spring, others in summer and yet others during the dull days of winter. Their respective times of beginning their seasonal growth also vary, but for convenience you may rest all of your orchids in the winter. The majority will then begin to push up their young shoots as soon as the days lengthen and the sun gains increased power.
When orchids are in their growing periods (as opposed to their dormancy), they must be treated differently with respect to heat, based on where they originated. The East Indian orchids need a good amount of heat. Inside, keep the temps surrounding the plants at 65 degrees Fahrenheit during night and 70 during day. Outdoors they will thrive at up to 75 degrees in the early spring, and temperatures as high as 85 or even 90 are acceptable during the high summer months. However, direct sun rays can harm the plants, so be sure to shade them at these times.
East Indian-type orchids therefore must be well supplied with moisture from the air that surrounds them. Mist them often! Or, try pouring water over the tables, growing benches and pathways of your greenhouse. If you can do this every day, it will result in a nice moist heat to rise and constantly surround your plants.
Brazilian orchids come from a cooler climate one that is not so highly saturated with moisture. These, natrually, need both less heat and less moisture, but they do require warmth during the peak growing time. You will find the same goes for orchid species from Mexico. They should be artificially heated to about 60 degrees by night and from 65 to 70 by day early in the season. As days lengthen the temperature may be allowed to increase so that during the months of May through August the night heat may range from 65 to 70 and
by day from between 70 and 85.
Then there are the so-called cool orchids, which ideally should be kept in a separate growing area. These plants come from such places as Ecuador and Peru, and similiar regions, where they are found high up on the mountainsides. You must grow these at a lower temperature. You might try a range of 45 to 55 degrees during the winter, and 50 to as high as 65 during the summer. However you grow them, you must ensure that they are shaded from the sun most of the time. Too much heat is really dangerous to the family of cool orchids!
There are many other groups and subgroups of orchids, too many to go over them all here. If you want to learn more, the best and most thorough guide to modern orchid growing, beyond question, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded online. Now, there are lots of books about orchids but Mr. Howard’s guide constitutes a complete education all to itself. And, it’s suitable for beginners as well as more seasoned orchid growers. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of postings on all aspects of orchids.
Related Articles
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
For Your Garden
Gardening Heaven
What's Hot
Don't miss your chance to sign up for our gardening newsletter - it's up there on the left!