Phalaenopsis Care

NOID Phalaenopsis Orchid

The Phalaenopsis orchid, or the moth orchid, is your common grocery orchid that you can easily buy at a reasonable price.  It is known for it's many hybrids ranging from dark purples to pristine whites and the various patterns from dots to lines.   The orchid is easily distinguished by its butterfly shape.  Still, it is, in my opinion, the number one type of orchid that is killed by people.  

Despite its reputation of being easily killed, the phalaenopsis orchid is actually one of the easiest and most rewarding orchids that is easily attainable at your local supermarket. Just follow a couple of these rules, with little adjustments depending on your environment, that phalaenopsis orchid will not be a dead orchid but a thriving plant that can last through the years.

LIGHT: The orchid does not need a lot of light, but needs light anyways.  How much? About 1,000 to 1,800 foot candles.  I don't even know how much foot candles are worth, so this is how I tell if my phalaenopsis is getting enough light.  When the orchid is growing, you should place it near a window.  When the sun is out, and you put your hand under the sunlight, you should not be able to see your hand's shadow or just a blurry image of your hand.  If you only have bright sunlight, like a southern exposure, you could easily solve the problem by filtering the light with the curtains. 

TEMPERATURE: They like the same temperatures as we do or a little bit higher.  If you can't stand the cold, then the phalaenopsis orchid can't stand the cold either.  

HUMIDITY: 60% or above.  I use a hygrometer that I bought from a Japanese Dollar store called Daiso that could be easily found all over the Bay Area.  I've seen Home Depots and Lowes carry them.  But once you buy a hygrometer, be prepared to be my orchids that need more and more humidity.   Anyways, if can't get it to 60% then you can place the orchid in a tray of pebbles with just enough water to be seen on the surface of the pebbles.  The only problem with the pebble tray method is that you have to rinse the tray and pebbles every month.  Another way I learned from a professional orchid grower is to fill a plastic tray of water, put a smaller clay tray upside down on the tray of water, and then put your orchid on the podium.  Attractive algae and moss will grow on the clay giving the orchid a more natural look.  But if you have a lot of orchids like me, then you don't need or have space for the clay method.  You could just group a lot of orchids or plants together to naturally increase the humidity. 

WATERING: Phalaenopsis likes moisture, but could dry out between watering slightly.  The orchid that you buy from the grocery stores or the home improvement stores are usually grown in a tightly packed moss.  If you have a large orchid grown in moss, you can go three to even a month without watering.  If you have a small orchid in moss, you could go two weeks without watering.  BUT IT DEPENDS ON YOUR ENVIRONMENT!!!!  So my advice, if you pick up the pot and it is fairly light, and the top inch of moss is dry, you could water.  It is better to dry out your phalaenopsis than to over water it.  It is literally a pain in the butt to get orchids to grow new roots when there are none left.  Any type of water is okay for phalaenopsis, they're not picky, but the water should be room temperature to lukewarm. 

Fertilization:  Fertilize every time you water.  First water, and then fertilize.  I've been using a 20-20-20 fertilizer, a balanced fertilizer.  You should use a third or half of the recommended amount on the label for your orchids.  

Blooming: This orchid blooms any time in the year.  I have orchids bloom for me non-stop for an entire year.  This is because phalaenopsis have little bumps on their stem that could branch out new orchids in about a few weeks.  After the orchid finishing blooms, just cut the stem back to an in above the next little bump. So, if you're impatient. This is the orchid for you. 

Potting: This orchid could be grown in sphagnum moss to a fine bark mix to a course bark mix.  They really don't care.  Just as long as the potting medium fits your environment.  If you don't have as much time to care for you orchid or your environment is very dry, use sphagnum moss.  Fine bark mix is a good mix for any location, just requires once a week water.  Course bark mix is for orchids that live in very humid climates or for those people who like to water their orchids twice a week.