Caring for Orchids

I have completely revised my site on orchids (http://www.growingandcaringfororchids.com or http://orchidcaring.growingandcaringfororchids.com}
Hopefully it has become more useful to you and easier to work with.
Feel free to leave your comments to the various posts / chapters.
Enjoy!

Dendrobiums, Vandas, Oncidiums and Cattleyas love sunny warm growing environments. Choose those orchid varieties if you want to place them in a sunny spot in your yard. Keep them healthy by providing shade during mid-day. More frequent watering and misting is required when you are growing orchids outdoors.

The Ladyslipper Orchid and the Moth Orchid are two good choices when you will be growing orchids outdoors in shady areas. These plants thrive in shade and give the area a flash of color. Matching the orchids with their light preference is just the beginning. You must still be vigilant with routine care in order to keep your plants healthy.

Outdoor Orchid Care Tips

When growing orchids outdoors, protect them from the wind, heavy rain, salt spray from the ocean and hail. When the weather is unpredictable, move your orchids back inside, even if it is for a few hours while waiting for a storm to pass.

Position your orchid pots to help keep your plants safe. Put the pots against walls that will protect your plants from strong winds. Place your orchids under shrubs or ferns that will overhang them like an umbrella and offer shade and protection from rain.

Growing orchids outdoors should begin in steps so you do not shock your plants. To keep your orchids from being sunburned, get them used to the sun by taking them outdoors for longer periods of time each day.

When growing orchids outdoors, they become easy prey for slugs and aphids. These pests love orchids but luckily, they are easy to get rid of. You can simply pick the slugs off the orchids. The aphids can be removed by spraying them with a mild soapy solution and wiping them away with a damp cloth.

Always closely inspect your orchid plants for pests like aphids before you bring them back into your house. Do not bring them inside if you see signs of an infestation or you risk the health of other plants in your home.

As we live in Australia (Melbourne in fact) the molybdenum orchid is a native species . My wife was given some pots by a friend some 20 years ago. She has been caring for them all these years and now has at least 40 pots of them. I like to observe how she looks after them. Click here to see our website (http://www.orchidcarer.com).

Care of these orchids takes quite an amount of time, especially during autumn (May-June) when their growth period starts, the flowering months (July-September) and even more so when the flowering season is over and the plants go dormant during the hot summer months. That is the time she takes the older plants where the roots have become pot-bound and that have not flowered that season, divides the root system and re-pots them in 2,3 or even 4 pots with new orchid mix(mostly charcoal and some sandy soil, mixed with some organic plant food. The new pots are then placed around the garden in shady areas to avoid the hot sun in summer (temperatures go well over 100 degr.F or 38 degr. C) (they also make welcome gifts to our friends and neighbors)

The care of orchids is a difficult subject in as far as there are so many different species and kinds of orchids, each requiring its own care. The care of orchids depends very much on the kind of orchid you are caring for. The type of soil required (if at all), whether they like acidy soil or soil derived of acid, is important for the care of orchids,as for any plant. Then of course the amount of soil drainage is of extreme importance for the care of orchids.

The care for orchids sometimes requires a tropical climate and outside of the tropics the care of those orchids will require a hothouse where temperature and humidity can be controlled. Other orchids like a hot and dry climate, others again thrive in a cool or even a cold climate. Thus the care of orchids depends on many factors. Then again there are seasonal differences to be considered,which influence the care of such orchids. Whereas tropical species are used to a more or less even climate year round, orchids from the Northern or Southern hemispheres will have quite different growing and blooming seasons and thus determine the care for those orchids.Thus the time of separating roots and fertilizing will differ on where the orchids are from and thus affect the care of such orchids.

The care of orchids is a very intriguing and exacting science. Witness the care Nero Wolfe, the great (fictional) detective, created by by American aut