Orchid Care

If you are just starting out with orchids, it can be difficult to understand the care requirements. A number of factors are important, and if these can be understood you are on the right path to growing some wonderful orchids, even in e UK.

The topic of Orchid Care is raised often in gardening forums and despite what is written in some leading publications, all orchids are NOT tropical plants, in fact the UK has its very own native orchids, and at last look the climate in Devon was not tropical.

The fact is that some orchids are particularly 'easy care orchids' , and we must also admit some are very difficult, and it's not just the tropical ones that cause problems.

Six factors of orchid care

• Light
  
• Temperature
  
• Humidity
  
• Moisture
  
• Drainage
• Fertilizer

What we are trying to do is replicate these conditions, as the orchid would have experienced them in its natural environment. Some orchids are fairly 'flexible' in their requirements, some are demanding and will sulk unless they get what they want,

So here is a rundown on Orchid Care Factors

1. Light
   Orchids require different amounts of light, some require full sun, many require what is widely termed filtered light. In the natural environment many orchids are understory plants, they grow beneath a forest canopy, light is filtered through the foliage and rarely direct. But not all, and some cope with full sun, but grow better in filtered light.
   
   
2. Temperature
   Simply put, some orchids like cool climates, other warm climates.
   
   
3. Humidity
   Again, some require high humidity other do not
   
   
4. Drainage
   One of the biggest factors in orchid care is proper drainage. Orchids may be epiphytic types, terrestrials or Lithophytes. The epiphytic orchids grow in trees, usually attach themselves to the bark in some way, pretty good drainage here.
   
   The Terrestrials grow in the ground, a range of drainage conditions. And the Lithophytes grow on rocks, again, pretty good drainage. And of course some species grow in a range of conditions maybe on rocks or in trees, but drainage requirements are similar.
   
   This why we have specific orchid growing mediums, from bark chips, to sphagnum moss, they all drain differently. Its also why we grow some orchids it containers, some in hanging baskets and some in slatted orchid baskets made of teak.
   
   
5. Moisture
   Again the requirements differ, some require constant moisture, some like less, a few like to almost dry out between watering.
   
   
6. Fertilizer
   A common mistake is to over fertilise orchids, if we think about the three basic growing types, Epiphytic, Terrestrials and Lithophytes then we quickly see that only one of these has access to lots of nutrients. Over fertilisation is one quick way to kill your orchids, the roots burn.

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