To Grow Lovely Orchids, Learn their Origins

Even beginners can successfully grow orchids if they take the time to learn about the differences between the major groupings of these exciting plants, as well as their varied needs.

Orchids come from a wide variety of environments which differ from one another in almost every respect. As a result, you will find that some species produce flowers early in spring, others in summer and yet others during the greay days of winter. Their times for beginning their seasonal growth also varies; nevertheless, for convenience, feel free to rest all of your orchids over the winter. The majority of these will begin pushing out shoots as soon as the earth begins warming up in the spring.

When orchids are in their growing periods (as opposed to their dormancy), they must be treated differently with respect to heat, based on where they originated. The East Indian orchids require more heat than other kinds. Inside, maintain the air temperature around them at 65 degrees Fahrenheit at night and 70 degrees at day. Outdoors they will thrive at up to 75 degrees in the early spring, and temperatures as high as 85 or even 90 are acceptable during the high summer months. Nevertheless, you should shade the plants from the direct rays of the sun.

Wherever therefore any of these East Indian orchids are growing the atmosphere should be well supplied with moisture. Mist frequently! As well, you can simply pour water over the tables and paths of your greenhouse or other growing area. If you do this every day it will produce a nice, moist heat to rise.

Brazilian orchids actually come from a cooler climate, one in which the air is not nearly as moisture-saturated. These, natrually, need both less heat and less moisture, but they do require warmth during the peak growing time. The same applies to the majority of orchids that originated in Mexico. They should be artificially heated to about 60 degrees by night and from 65 to 70 by day early in the season. As the days lengthen, temps may be allowed to increase. During approximately May through August the night heat may range between 65 and 70 and
by day from between 70 and 85.

There are also the cool orchids, so called. These should be kept in a separate area from other orchids, if you can. These plants' native habitats are the Andean countries of South America, where they are found growing high up. These must be maintained at lower temperatures. Try 45 to 55 degrees in the winter and 50 to 65 in the summer. However you grow them, you must ensure that they are shaded from the sun most of the time. You can easily kill the cool orchids with too much heat!

There are many other groupings and subgroupings of orchids, too many to go over them in this short post. If you want to learn more, the best and most complete guide to modern orchid growing, hands down, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded on the web. There are many books on the subject of orchids, but Mr. Howard's guide is a complete course in itself, suitable for beginners as well as the more experienced. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of articles on many aspects of orchids.