Orchid Care Tips // Garden Answer

Hey guys, Laura with Garden Answer. In today's video I want to talk a little bit about orchids. So we haven't done much about orchids on our channel and we just finished filming a really short orchid video for a Swimless website so I figured we'd film one for you guys. So what I'm going to do is talk about some beginner's tips for Phalaenopsis orchids or moth orchids. I really like this variety because they are really easy to find. You can even find them in grocery stores. They've got huge blooms. They bloom really consistently for me and they bloom for a super long period of time up to about six months. This one right here bloomed for me from April through December last year so that was like eight months. So they're really really easy orchids to take care of. The first thing is repotting. So they typically like to be repotted every one to two years and it will depend on how big your plant is, how big your pot is, and how well it's grown for you that year. You might be able to go every other year or once a year. I really like to look at my plants really really closely once a year even like so far popping them out of the pot to take a look at the root system especially if you've got them in closed pots. You know orchids a lot of times they come in these clear pots and if you can find these and you can find them big enough so that you can keep repotting your orchids into this these are so nice because you can see what the roots are doing right through the sides of the pot. When you are ready to repot you want to use a specific orchid soil or orchid mix. It's not really a soil. It's like a bark like texture. So you look for an orchid mix soil. They are epiphyte so it means that they don't grow in soil. In nature you find them clinging to trunks of trees so they like a lot of ventilation around their root system. So this type of mix is really really good for them. You don't want to use something with a lot of peat or anything that holds a lot of moisture. There are also specific orchid pots like this one right here. You can see the extra holes. They go all the way around the bottom of this pot and that provides a little extra ventilation. It's not 100% necessary but they do really well and that's another reason why I like these. These have a ton of holes at the bottom and then you can poke extra holes in the side. You can heat up a nail or something like that and poke them through the side and create extra ventilation and your orchids are super thankful for that. The next thing is watering. So usually I water my orchids about once a week and that's kind of a general rule for this type of orchid. It really does depend on where they're at like the environment they're in. If it's a humid environment or if it's really dry, if it's hot, if it's in more light, those are all factors. So typically once a week or when the bark mix is dried out you can stick your finger way down in the pot and you can feel that moisture level and that's another another time when the clear pots are super handy because the roots are really telling. If they are bright green and they look just really vibrant that means that the plant is hydrated but if they've turned kind of a silvery gray that means that they need a drink. So it's really nice to be able to see that right through the pot and if you use these you can just slide them down into a decorative container. So I am looking, I'm looking for somewhere where I can stock up on multiple different sizes of these because I would love to be able to use them. You can really detect problems early too when you've got a clear pot. A couple other things about watering. You want to use lukewarm water. These are tropical plants and they do not want to be shocked with ice cubes. I used to water with ice cubes. I used to do that and my orchids never really did that well. I kind of like no wonder. So I've learned a lot through the years taking care of them. So use lukewarm water. You can set them in a pan full of water and let the media kind of suck it up and you know around the root system or you can water over the top. You just want to make sure that if any water gets into the crown of the plant that you use a napkin or a towel or a paper towel and blot that water out because you don't want to create or cause crown rot and that's what will happen if water just sits in the crown. The next things I want to talk about are light air and humidity. So they like a bright indirect light so kind of bright shade. Phalaenopsis orchids are more of a low light lover. They can take more low light than some other varieties but I've got them in a spot that's just it's on a south facing window but it's protected by kind of a bookcase. It kind of gets shaded a little bit but it's still super bright and they are really really happy. They also like higher humidity than a lot of other plants and if you live in a really dry climate like I do or if you heat your house with wood like I do so it's kind of a double whammy here in eastern Oregon you have to provide supplemental humidity and you can do that by using a spray bottle and misting them a few times a week. In the summertime you might have to do that a little more often or you can set them in a tray full of pebbles that has water in it. You just want to make sure that your pot is not sitting in water that it's just resting on top of the rocks so that your bark mix doesn't suck up any extra moisture and possibly rot the root system. So what will happen is the water that's underneath those pebbles as it evaporates it'll create a more humid environment around your plant. It's a super handy kind of hands-off way to create humidity. And the last thing is fertilizing. So you want to make sure just like with cactus and succulents and African violets there's an orchid specific food. They require something different than other houseplants so just make sure you pick something up that's specific for orchids and I use if I can remember every week I try to remember to use a half strength dose of fertilizer but if you want to do it on more of like a bi-weekly schedule you can use a full strength. So half strength every week or full strength every two weeks and you want to make sure every once in a while to just water with plain water so that if there's any nutrient buildup or any salt buildup that you can help flush that out and that's another reason why repotting is super helpful. You can get some fresh bark around the plant and so there isn't any excess fertilizer in there. So that's it. Those are some basic tips. I think that was four or five basic tips for Phalaenopsis orchids. I hope that this inspired you to maybe want to try orchids if you haven't already. They really are easy and they give back so much and for so long. I think it's totally worth it. So thank you guys so much for watching and we will see you in the next video. Bye!