A prized gift that often replaces flower bouquets: the orchid, and more specifically the phalaenopsis orchid, is very appealing. But how can the bloom be extended for more than a few months?
Special advice from Michel Giraud, member of the French Orchid Amateurs Society.
Orchids sold in flower shops and horticulture stores are hybrid varieties well suited to growing in apartments. Usually Phalaenopsis is one of the parents.
They cope well with moderate temperatures, but not when it gets too cold.
Best avoid dropping the mercury below 60°F (15°C). Also watch out for drafts when you go in and out of the room: move your orchids to a place where the temperature doesn’t swoop up and down.
In summer, you can bring them out to the garden and place them in the shade, preferably rather high up to keep them out of reach of slugs and snails which love eating them.
Exposure is very important to succeed in growing orchids: they must be placed in a very luminous spot but without any direct sun, for instance near a window with a curtain to veil the light.
Once you’ve found the right space for them, don’t move them around, they loathe that!
Adequate light will ensure you’ll have the joy of seeing them bloom again every year.
Five things decide whether a shop-bought orchid flowers again or simply fades. Here they are side by side, with the mistake that most often undoes each one.
| Need | What to provide | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Light | A very luminous spot, screened by a curtain | Direct sun, and shifting the pot around once it has settled |
| Temperature | Moderate and steady, never under 60°F (15°C) | Draughts and swings in temperature as you come and go |
| Water | Once a week, draining the pot in the sink | Roots left standing in a saucer of water |
| Food | Succulent fertiliser every two weeks | The full dose on the packet — half is plenty |
| Substrate | Pine bark, peat and clay pebbles, renewed every couple of years | Leaving an exhausted mix in place as it breaks down |
| Summer outdoors | A shaded spot in the garden, raised well off the ground | Slugs and snails, which are fond of orchids |
Get the light and the stability right first: the rest is routine.
Orchids hate excessive water but appreciate moisture. To give them the dose they need, water them once a week, draining the water out in the sink.
Never let the roots bathe in a saucer full of water! However, you can put the pot on a bed of gravel in which you’ll often add water, this will create a higher level of moisture around the plant.
The orchid requires food: a bit of fertilizer every two weeks.
Use common succulent plant fertilizer, but only half the dose written on the packaging is enough already.
Since it is a vine that hangs to trees in nature, the orchid grows airborne roots.
Potted, it must be placed in a substrate prepared from pine bark, peat and clay pebbles, which slowly evolves as time goes on, partly because of the fertilizer.
It is thus recommended to repot every couple years in a similar special mix.
Laure Hamann
