Jewel Orchid Care Guide

Jewel Orchid Care Guide

A group of orchids grown for their ornate velvety foliage, often with shimmering metallic-looking veins or striking patterns. These include a variety of genera otherwise unrelated. Some of them come from hot tropical areas, some are deciduous, some grow in relatively dry areas, some are terrestrial or semi-terrestrial, other epiphytic. This guide is for the purpose of care for the tropical warm to hot growing varieties such as Macodes, Dossinia, Ludisia and Anoectochilus.

Light: Bright position, away from direct sun. East facing window with a bit of early morning or late evening sunlight is acceptable, north window is ideal, particularly in summer. Mid-day sunlight can easily burn the leaves. Grow lights can also be used, however if these are too strong, install a diffuser – some jewel orchid leaves are prone to bleaching under strong light.

Watering: These plants come from tropical rainforests where they grow in the undergrowth, which remains constantly moist but never waterlogged. Depending on your chosen growing medium and whether you are growing your jewel orchids in ambient conditions or in a terrarium they may only need a small amount of water. If too waterlogged, the fragile stems will be prone to rot.

Temperature: Your jewel orchid is a warm-growing tropical plant. It can tolerate temperatures below 20°C but you will have to provide very good air circulation and only moderate watering – think barely moist sphagnum moss. In warmer conditions over 20°C they are a bit more forgiving but air circulation is still key to avoid root and stem rot. Generally, water only when the potting medium is approaching dryness but do not allow it to dry out completely. Feeding: Jewel orchids are light feeders. Since they are terrestrial, you can feed them a balanced liquid houseplant fertiliser, however it must be diluted to at least half strength, ideally to quarter strength.

Re-flowering: Jewel orchids in the UK naturally flower in late autumn or early winter. There is nothing special you need to do. Simply let the plant grow and mature over the growing season and that year’s growth should flower that winter. After or during flowering the weight of the flowers will force the stem to lie down on the potting media surface. Allow this to happen – the nodes on the stem will first send out roots, then new stems.

Re-potting: Usually it is the jewel orchid’s creeping habit that leads to repotting as a larger pot is often required after one or two growing seasons. Clean the old media from the roots gently, the roots are hairy so it will not be perfect. It is better to leave a bit of media on the roots than to damage them. Repot either into fresh soil-based media or into dried sphagnum moss. It is good to top-coat sphagnum moss with bark as this prevents algae growth and keeps the sphagnum moss fresh for longer.

This guide was prepared by @Orchivorous