How to diagnose and correct common problems

 

Houseplants pests/diseases

 

Growing Indoor Orchids

 

By Jon VanZile

To grow an orchid, you have to think like an orchid.

The golden rule for orchid success is to duplicate the plant's natural conditions as closely as possible. In nature, most orchids are epiphytes, meaning they grow on other objects, clinging to rough bark or even stone. The showy orchids favored by most people are usually either phalaenopsis hybrids (so-called moth orchids) or dendrobium hybrids.

These plants thrive in these conditions:

• Strong light, but not direct late-afternoon sunlight (although dendrobiums can handle more sun)
• High humidity
• Turbulent air flow around the roots
• Regular periods of drying, alternating with drenching rains
• Temperatures between 50 degrees and about 85 degrees

The closer you can come to creating these conditions in your growing area, the more success and better blooms you will have.

Most store-bought orchids come packaged in cheap plastic pots with the roots packed in soaked moss. Obviously, this violates two of the main rules of successful growth. There is no air flow around the roots, and the roots are never given a chance to completely dry out. Thus, the plant cannot breathe and root rot is inevitable. Orchid roots are highly specialized organs designed to soak up water very quickly and breathe. They do not extract nutrients from soil.

Repotting for Success

The first step with any store-bought orchid is to enjoy the bloom. Don't attempt to repot a flowering plant.

After the bloom is done, go ahead and cut off the dead flower spike with sterile snippers and repot the plant. Orchids should be potted into specialized orchid pots in orchid mixture. Orchid pots feature wide drainage slits so water will literally run through the pot. They are widely available. Orchid potting mixture is usually composed of several chunky ingredients, including pine bark, charcoal, and even styrofoam.

To repot your orchid, follow these steps:

1. Remove it from the plastic pot and carefully remove as much of the moss as you can. Healthy roots should be white and firm, with a small green growing point.
2. Cut away any shriveled, rotten or blackened roots.
3. Set the plant into the pot and fill in around it with potting mixture. The plant should be firmly situated, but it will not be completely anchored. Eventually, new roots will grow through the potting mixture and attach to the pot itself, thus anchoring your plant.

Once it's repotted, find a good spot. An east facing window with a few hours of mild morning sun is perfect. To provide the necessary humidity and catch run-off water, put the plant into a wide, deep tray and fill the tray with gravel.

Tips for Care

Caring for your orchid is pretty simple. During the summer months, water it weekly and heavily. Let the water drench the roots and fill up the pebble tray (this will provide extra humidity). It doesn't hurt every so often to even put the plant in the kitchen sink and really soak it down. Don't worry, you won't kill it as long as it's allowed to dry out afterward. During the growing season, feed it weekly with a weak solution of a powder or liquid fertilizer. Many growers use Peter’s 20/20/20 fertilizer at quarter strength.

In the winter, keep your plant warm and cut the water back to once a month or so. Mist it every so often to make sure it stays hydrated. Don't fertilize it.

If you see signs of distress, such as yellowing leaves, wrinkled leaves or no blooms, move the plant and keep tweaking your conditions. Once an orchid finds a happy spot, and falls into a routine, the plant should regularly throw out new roots and leaves or canes (depending on the type) and reward you yearly with a beautiful bloom.

 

Caring for Orchids—What Do I Do With My Gift Orchid?

 

By Jon VanZile

So you've got an orchid as a gift ... congratulations! These beautiful flowers are rapidly becoming the most popular potted houseplant, behind only poinsettias at Christmas.

For many people, getting a gift orchid raises a question: What should I do with it to keep it? For many people, their first gift orchid is the beginning of a long-term love affair with these exotic flowers. But it can seem like a long way from that lovely gift orchid to a thriving collection of flowering plants. This article is designed to help you take those first steps.

Identify Your Orchid

There are about 30,000 species of orchids in the wild, and more than 100,000 registered hybrids. Yet when it comes to gift orchids, the overwhelming majority are one of two varieties:

• Phalaenopsis, also called moth orchids. These plants have round flowers with a pronounced lip that grow on a single tall stalk arising from a whorl of fleshy, oval leaves. Flowers are usually white, purple or pink, or some combination thereof.
• Dendrobium. Dendrobiums are sometimes called cane orchids. They have smaller flowers that grow in rows on stalks that arise from thick canes, oftentimes with several flower clusters per plant. Flowers are typically white or purple. Dendrobium leaves are narrow and emerge from the sides of the cane.

Knowing the name of your orchid will help you later, after the bloom.

First Things First

When you first get your orchid, it will likely be in bloom. Obviously, you want to prolong the bloom as long as possible, so whatever the tag says, here are a few tips that can help.

First, most gift orchids are potted in the wrong conditions for long-term growth. They are potted in plastic and packed with moss around the roots. In fact, orchids typically grow on trees and their roots are water-gathering organs that needs loads of fresh air flow to be healthy. Orchids with wet roots are susceptible to root rot and other problems. But you never want to repot a blooming orchid, especially one that arrived in such a beautiful container. It's too stressful on the plant and it will drop its blooms.

Instead of repotting, it's better to hold off on the water. Don't worry! Most people who are new to orchids think the plants needs loads of water to grow well, but it's just not true. Unless your orchids are growing in the open air, suspended in baskets where they can completely dry out within an hour of being watered, your orchid actually needs very little water. So here's a great piece of advice: every time you think you want to water, wait three days. Or a week. Your plant won't suffer.

Next, don't place your orchid where it will experience cold drafts or exposure to direct sunlight or heating vents. Very dry air, direct heat, and chills are the enemies of your flowers. Your bloom will last longer if you can provide a mild, warm and somewhat humid environment.

Provided your orchid is happy, expect the bloom to last at least a few weeks, sometimes more.

After the Bloom

When the bloom is over, it's time to shift your thinking from a "gift plant" to one you want to keep around for a while. This means snipping off the old flower spike near the base (some experts keep these spikes on, hoping it'll rebloom from the same spike, which does sometimes happen). It also means, depending on the season, repotting your orchid into a more friendly container with the right growing medium.

 

Essential Orchid Supplies

 

 

Orchid Growing for Beginners

By Jamie McIntosh

If you’ve ever ventured down the orchid aisle at the nursery, you might be reminded of that Sesame Street song “One of These Things Is Not Like the Others.” What are all of these mysterious potions, elixirs, and gadgets? Can orchids really be that different from other flowers? If you’ve picked orchid growing as a new hobby, you will be able to tell that these six things are not like the others, by the time I finish my song.

Orchid Pots

Orchid pots, with all of their fancy cutouts created to look like flowers and geometric designs, actually serve a very important purpose. The cutouts provide necessary air circulation to epiphytic plants that often grow on tree branches, free of any soil. While ceramic pots are attractive and durable, many orchid growers prefer clear plastic orchid pots. The transparency allows growers to monitor orchid root health, and the pots can be cut away from the plant at repotting time, which causes minimal disturbance to root systems.

Orchid Potting Mix

When you buy your orchid, you’ll notice that it’s planted in something other than soil. Bark, rocks, moss, and vermiculite are a few of the common planting mixes used for orchids. While you probably won’t need to purchase a special orchid potting mix right away, you’ll need this if your current orchid media starts to break down, or at repotting time.

Orchid Fertilizer

Orchids benefit from a special fertilizer type that provides the right nutrients even in the absence of the normal soil microorganisms that help to break the fertilizer down. A urea-free balanced fertilizer that provides an equal amount of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium is ideal. Nitrogen in the form of urea takes too long to break down in the orchid growing environment, making this nutrient unavailable to the plant when it is needed.

Humidity Trays

A humidity tray consists of a grid or other elevating device atop a tray that you keep filled with fresh water. The slow evaporation helps boost the humidity level for orchids that are growing in a typically dry home environment. The simplest trays are made from inexpensive plastic, but you can also invest in a wood or copper framed tray. If you need a large tray for several orchids, consider buying one with a drain so you won’t have to pick it up and risk dumping water all over the floor.

Grow Lights

A grow light is only necessary for some indoor growing situations where the light from a north-facing window is inadequate, or when you are growing a high light orchid like a vanda that refuses to bloom in your home. Look for a full spectrum light that provides at least 20 watts per square foot of growing space.

Orchid Supports

If you purchased an orchid in bloom, chances are the blooming inflorescence was already staked. Some orchids are very top heavy in bloom, especially those planted in plastic pots with lightweight media like cork, moss, or Styrofoam. Although staking won’t prevent an unsecured pot from toppling over, it may prevent the inflorescence from snapping off, denying you the blooms you worked so hard to achieve.