How many of you received or bought a Phalaenopsis or moth orchid for the holidays? I was gifted one and may have found some on sale and bought a few more. The flowers last for months so how could one resist? Besides, poinsettias aren’t the only flowers that can be used for holiday decorating, though I do love those too.

Plant display

You can see in the picture above my collection of orchids that are blooming right now. I have them in a corner of the dining room on plant stands. They make a great display and brighten the corner when we are eating. Now, they look good there, but are not there when they aren’t blooming. The corner is quite bright, but it wouldn’t be enough light for them to grow and flower next year. They need to be in a much brighter spot after flowering to be able to produce enough energy to bloom next year.

After Flowering

I personally take my non-flowering orchids and put them near my artificial light stand where I grow my African violets and other plants. They receive light 12 hours a day every day the rest of the year. When they start sending out bloom stalks, I move them to the dining room or wherever I want color. Now, if you don’t have a light stand, which I’m assuming most of you do not, placing your orchid in a bright window such as the east or west is perfect. I personally have so many plants already in every window, putting them under lights works better for me.

Care

I think growing a Phalaenopsis is as easy as growing an African violet, yet some people think violets aren’t that easy. With the moth orchid, as with the violet, you shouldn’t let it dry out completely. This shortens the life of the flowers and stresses the plant. I usually water my orchids approximately once a week, but it may be a bit longer. Of course, they need to be checked before watering, especially the ones grown in moss.

Potting Medium

Which brings us to the two types of potting media you will usually encounter. The moss I mentioned and then there is the orchid bark. I’ve also seen styrofoam peanuts used, but not very often. When I re-pot my orchids, I use the same media that is already present in the container. If your orchid is in a plastic pot, which they mostly are these days, it is easy to see the root zone and see what is going on. Usually you can tell by looking whether the media is wet or dry. The color of the roots is a big indicator, too. If they are green, they are moist but if they are a gray color, they probably need water.

You can see the pieces of bark in this container above.

Sphagnum Moss

It is easy to tell if the sphagnum moss above needs water or not by just looking at it . You can take it out and feel it, as well. The bark is darker when it is wet and you can also tell the difference by the weight of the plant  whether it is wet or dry.

Watering

How do I water my phalaenospsis orchid? I can guarantee it isn’t watered with ice cubes! I don’t care how many people do it or how successful they may be, I’m not putting ice cold water on my orchids. As I ask people when I give my presentations, “Would you want ice water on your feet?” I didn’t think so.

I take my orchids to the kitchen sink and use the sink sprayer to spray the planting media with tepid water. They also enjoy their leaves being sprayed, but do not let the water sit in the middle of the plant. I have learned the hard way that if it is left there and doesn’t dry out, the leaves rot and they all fall off. After that happened, I make sure to use a paper towel to blot the water out of the center of the plant. Also, since most of the orchids come in a plastic container inside of a decorative container, I take the plastic pot out of the decorative container to water it and let it drain well before returning it to the decorative cover. This guarantees the orchid isn’t sitting in water and rotting.

Now, when it comes to re-potting, that is for another post. I want to wait until they are done blooming before re-potting, as you should as well.

I’ll leave you with some pictures of my orchids blooming last winter. If you have any questions or comments, please ask in the comments below.

Have a great week, plant friends!