Tips keep your orchid in bloom
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| Wednesday, February 06, 2008 | No comments posted
Jennifer Kay/The Associated Press
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Keeping an orchid healthy is relatively simple: Know what you have, and don’t over-water.
“People think that they’re thirsty, that ‘I better get that orchid a little drink of water,”‘ said orchid grower Bob Fuchs. “They rot them.”
Whether buying orchids in a grocery store, a big-box retailer or a specialty garden shop like Fuchs’ nursery, it’s important to identify the species. Two popular species — sun-loving vandas and elegant phalaenopsis orchids — have different watering regimes.
“If you have an orchid in your house, a phalaenopsis that’s growing in a mossy mix, put a couple ice cubes a week on top of the moss,” Fuchs said. “Let that melt in there and that’s enough water for a week.”
Vandas can tolerate heavier, daily waterings if they’re allowed to drain and dry thoroughly.
The round flowers on vandas should be doused during waterings to ward off mold, Fuchs said. But the moth-like flowers on a phalaenopsis should not be watered.
It pays to search out the orchid species best suited for your region, Fuchs said. The orchids in the grocery store are probably cloned from species that might thrive in humid jungles, but not in drier climates.
“A lot of these places, they pump the orchid and make it grow very fast, so they don’t always survive as well as the ones you buy from a local orchid nursery who nurtures the plant and grows it in your region,” Fuchs said.
Other tips for orchid care:
* Orchids should not be placed in direct sunlight or be subjected to temperature extremes, such as near air conditioning vents, window sills or outside doors.
* Once a month, feed the orchid a water-soluble houseplant fertilizer.
* When all the blooms fall off, trim the stem close to where it grows from the plant. If cared for properly, the plant will bloom again.
On the Net: More orchid care and information is available on the American Orchid Society’s Web site, aos.org.
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