Phalaenopsis Care Guide

Phalaenopsis Care Guide Phalaenopsis orchids are the most common and very popular orchids for indoor growers, mainly due to their large, colourful and long-lasting flowers that are sometimes even fragrant. They are easy to care for even for beginners and well suited for growing in our homes.

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 burn the leaves. Grow lights can also be used.

Watering: The best rule is to look at the colour of your orchid’s roots – have the roots turned silvery? It is time to water your orchid. Are the roots bright green? No need to water yet. Temperature: Above 15°C year round, 18°C or above for summer blooming varieties. If temperatures are on the lower end, moderate watering to prevent root rot.

Feeding: Always choose a quality commercial orchid fertiliser diluted to manufacturer’s instructions - overfeeding can damage your plant. Feed every second or third watering during summer and sparingly during winter months.

Flowering: Your orchids could either be a “winter flowering” type or a “summer bloomer”. Summer bloomers will often have broad mid-green glossy leaves, thinner than their winter flowering counterparts. A winter flowering phalaenopsis will have dark green, thick, leathery leaves that are hard to bend without snapping them. Winter bloomers will usually start growing flower spikes when night time temperatures drop in autumn. This means usually around Christmas and January you will have a fully developed stem and a cascade of flowers will open and bloom for several weeks to months. If the orchid is mature and still has not produced a flower spike, ask yourself if the temperature difference between daytime and night time is at least 5°C. If not, increase the temperature difference for a while and flower spikes should appear. Summer bloomers usually do not produce a large cascade of flowers, they flower sequentially on the same flower stem. It is therefore not advised to remove their flower spikes after each flowering as these will stay green, grow out a little more and flower again in a few weeks or months.

Re-potting: Phalaenopsis orchids in nature are epiphytic – they grow attached to tree bark on branches and tree trunks. As such, their roots are always exposed to excellent air circulation and dry off quickly after a rain which helps prevent root rot. In our home conditions this means that we need to use a potting medium that suits our conditions and will prevent water-logging the plant for too long as well as prevent the plant from drying out too quickly. If your home is on the colder side, high quality bark chips are the best potting medium as this will be airy and will not retain moisture for too long. If your home is warm year round, you will want to consider a mixture of bark chips and dried long fiber sphagnum moss. The sphagnum moss will retain a bit of extra moisture which will help the medium stay moist for a bit longer during hot summer months while the bark chips will ensure there is plenty of air pockets and circulation of air around your orchid’s root system.

This guide was prepared by @Orchivorous