Caring for Orchids
Posted on May 27, 2010 by Hugo
Orchids have the potential to flower repeatedly, giving many years of pleasure. They are easy to look after if you follow a few simple guidelines:
Watering: Tap water is fine for orchids. However, if you live in an area with hard water, it’s best to use either clean rainwater or filtered tap water. Ideally use tepid water and water weekly – increasing the frequency during the hot Summer months and reducing it in Winter. NEVER stand orchids in water for longer than a couple of minutes.
Feeding: Orchids, like all plants, need regular feeding to support growth & flowering, but they’ve evolved to require lower levels of mineral nutrients than most other plants, so only feed every other watering during flowering, and every 4th watering in the dormant phase. SERAMIS Liquid Plant Food is ideal as it contains the optimum balance of nutrients for your plant. Follow the instructions on the bottle.
Light: Orchids can be placed anywhere in the house as long as they have good, but not direct, sunlight. Glass vases make an ideal container for orchids, allowing light to get to the roots which are used to being exposed to sunlight, but take care if the vase does not have drainage and make sure there is not any free water left for the roots to stand in.
Temperature: If it’s comfortable for humans, in general it’s OK for orchids, with most species thriving at 18-23°C.
Humidity: This is the key to success with orchids – most species appreciate high levels of moisture in the air. Try to mist them on a regular basis by spraying the leaves (NOT the flowers) with SERAMIS Orchid Spray.
Re-potting: Most of the popular orchids seen today originally came from a habitat where they naturally grow on the branches of trees. So orchids don’t grow in soil, and you should never use soil or peat to re-pot them. SERAMIS Orchid Mix is an ideal substrate to use – it combines the coarse open texture of bark with highly porous SERAMIS granules that hold onto the water until the plant’s roots need it. It’s the ideal mix to provide air and water to the roots.
Re-potting should be done every other year, ideally in the Spring, before flowering has started. Re-potting is usually done to increase the size of the pot and allow for more growth, but also it can be because the substrate has compacted and is preventing air to get to the roots. Note: this compaction does not happen with SERAMIS Orchid Mix – which keeps its structure over many years.
Re-potting with SERAMIS Orchid Mix is as simple as 3 easy steps:
- Take a new, slightly larger pot – ideally with drainage holes – and partially fill with SERAMIS Orchid mix.
- Place the orchid in the pot and fill with SERAMIS, gently tapping the pot to settle the mixture until it just covers the roots. You may want to carefully remove any dead roots, which should easily come away with gentle pressure.
- Water the orchid, ensuring any excess water is allowed to drain away.
