Taking Care Of Orchids At Home

Caring For Orchids At Home – Phalaenopses, Dendrobiums & Cymbidiums

Last weekend I went to the best Orchid Show ever. It was down in Bolinas, about forty minutes away, at the place called California Orchids. Actually, it wasn’t an official show, just a sale. I was told to get there early because plants sell out fast so wasn’t expecting to find such a large greenhouse complex, packed full of the most stunning and unusual Orchids.

After happily wandering around with dozens of other Orchid lovers for an hour or so, I had totally blown my April flower budget on Orchids and then my husband bought a couple more. So we went home with around ten orchids to add to the mix already living in my kitchen and living room.

Taking Care of Orchids

I know a thing or two about taking care of Orchids but am by no means an expert. Many people are scared of not meeting their needs and throw them away once they have flowered which is a real shame. I have always gone for the tried and trusted ones that get on with it in the shade house or on the verandah, like Cymbidiums and Dendrobiums

I have a couple of Dendrobiums now, one from the sale on Saturday which has spectacular cerise flowers. They also like bright light and I water them about once a week. They don’t like too much difference between day and night temperatures so do better on my counter, under the skylight. The other one has not re-flowered yet and I think it’s because it was forced to bloom out of season. Spring is the right season for blooms but I might be lucky and get a late one. They don’t need fertilizer when in flower and then moderately during the growing season. In Zimbabwe I had them under trees and they loved that and grew fast during the growing season. There I could leave them out all winter but here I would have to bring them inside when it gets cold. Dendrobiums should be re-potted at most every two years but I had them growing on trees as well where they dig into the bark, not to be moved.

Having moved to Marin, I have been very pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to grow Phalaenopses on the lounge window sill in bright light. I bought two plants over a year ago when we moved into this house and they have not stopped blooming since. As one stem starts to fade, another is there, about to open. It’s incredible. It’s probably because I’m actually feeding them, but it also has to do with the change of day to night temperatures. They like cooler nights and it always gets chilly at night here, even in summer. I have some in the kitchen on a counter, not by the window. They also re-bloom but not as fast, having less light and a more stable temperature away from the window. My sister gave me a watering tip for Phalaenopses – an ice cube on top of the mix every couple of days. Works a treat and they never get too damp. Taking care of Orchids is easy when you have such accommodating guests. An Orchid expert recently told me that if your Orchids stop blooming, just move them to another room! So I am giving that a try with a couple of plants that were in the kitchen and haven’t re-flowered, popping them near a window upstairs.

I had several Cymbidiums in Zimbabwe which all flowered beautifully under the tree which lost its leaves in winter. They still had cover from the midday sun but lots of light otherwise. Then that tree was cut down and I moved them onto the much shadier verandah and they definitely flowered less there. Cymbidiums only like water about once a week and need a very coarse potting mix, mainly bark and charcoal, and only need to be re-potted every few years, by which time they’ll be overcrowded anyway. High nitrogen fertilizer should be used in spring, while low nitrogen fertilizer should be used from from mid summer to winter. Feed one teaspoon to a gallon of water once a month. I’m told that they can take temperatures as low as 30 degrees Farenheit but don’t like the frost.

For those fussier types, California Orchids has the perfect solution for taking care of Orchids. When the flowers are over, just call them and, for a fee, they come and fetch them and look after them lovingly until they start blooming again!

If you want to get the most out of your orchids, read how to avoid common mistakes with this free pdf.

Happy gardening and don’t forget your sunscreen.

By the way, here is a link to a list of gopher resistant plants:http://www.groundcoversandgardening.com/gopher resistant plants and if you want to buy plants that deer probably won’t eat, Burpee has a good selection.

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