Orchid Care - Simple Guidelines To Follow For The New Orchid Grower
Orchids are one of the most attractive flower-bearing plants in the world. They are distinctly unique and delicate to look at. People cultivate them because of their incredible variety, dazzling flowers and even vibrant leaves. Because of this, a lot of people think that caring for one is complicated. Actually, most orchids are very easy to maintain. They didn't survive the Jurassic period if they weren't tough and really adaptive to begin with. They require only the basic things that any plant needs to survive. To assist you beginners out there, here are some orchid care tips you can follow:
Shine On!
Orchids like a lot of plants out there need light. Essentially, most orchids thrive best in bright indirect sunlight. Give them too much sunlight, and you risk burning their multi-colored flowers and leaves. Place them near windows or below the shade of a bigger plant or tree, but do not completely leave them in the dark. Like the saying goes too much or too little of anything is always bad. That is why the only two places you cannot locate these prehistoric plants are the dark, cold glaciers and intense deserts. Keeping this radiant orchid care tip in mind will surely contribute to the life of your plant.
Drizzle Dazzle
Another orchid care tip that is a no-brainer is watering them. Water them once or twice a week. Be certain though to water them a little more or less depending on the temperature. When the climate is a little bit warmer, water them more (and less when it's colder). Be sure not to leave them drenched in water. Make sure that if you grow them in pots, they have holes at the bottom where water can exit completely. This plant's sponge-like, ball-shaped roots instantly take in water and nutrients around them. Actually, their ball-shaped roots earned them the name orchid from the Greek work "órkhis" which means testicle.
Fertilize, Fertilize, Fertilize
If you are serious about raising these plants, think about fertilizers. This orchid care tip is not compulsory but very much advised for optimum growth of your orchids. It is recommended to use soluble fertilizers, which are best for orchid growing. Do this once a week. At each end of the month, clean the pot with water to eliminate fertilizer deposits such as salt.
Temperature Tip For The Serious Grower
Orchids can be easily sorted into what temperature they need when growing. There are cool-growing, warm growing and intermediate growing ones. If you want to know the type of your orchid, do some research. There are lots of free resources offered online these days. Take time to sort them properly and supply the required temperature for each kind to acquire the optimum result.
Usually, nighttime and daytime temperatures need to differ for each type. It's such a waste to just watch a beautiful plant wilt away because you didn't perform adequate research before anything else. Just a little information about your specific plant can prevent this from happening. Now, if you follow these orchid care tips carefully, you are sure to have perfectly grown plants. Nevertheless, if you really are serious about cultivating these plants, spend more time learning about these incredible plants before embarking on your journey of growing them.
About the Author
And to access even more orchid care tips, download my totally FREE "5 Biggest Orchid Care Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them!)" report by going here: http://www.orchidcarezone.com
Mary Ann Berdak is the publisher of OrchidCareZone.com - a top online destination for orchid care tips and advice.
Tell others about
this page:
Comments? Questions? Email Here