I know this can’t be right. I grow orchids at my home 20 minutes from Sacramento. I also have a few more at my office. I’ve accidentally killed phals by allowing them only two weeks without water. How can anyone water once in three weeks?

Well, Patti, some people can water once in 3 weeks, but this really illustrates the problem with one-size-fits-all orchid care instructions. Soundbites may be dangerous to your orchid’s health. I would guess that the author of the advice grows Phals potted in moss in perfect greenhouse conditions. Many orchid pros water once every 3 weeks. They pot the Phals in tightly packed moss, which acts like a sponge. It can hold a lot of water, especially in high humidity. With a goal of minimizing water use, they’ve set up their growing environments accordingly. So it is possible.

Of course, most home or office growers don’t have optimal conditions. Even if your orchids grow in moss, your light levels, humidity, air movement, and temps vary. Each of these affects watering frequency. If your orchids are potted in bark, then you need to consider that it can dry quicker than moss. That’s why an orchid care regimen needs to be flexible, and soundbites do not account for fluctuating conditions. If a formula says “once every 3 weeks,” or “3 ice cubes per week,” take that as a starting point. Then, you need to pay attention to your plants. Check these helpful watering tips, and create your own schedule.

• Orchids with pseudobulbs are entering dormancy. If they sport swollen stems like those in the first photo below, they may only need water once or twice per month over winter. Too much water can cause rot, or mess up the plant’s flowering schedule. Cut back on fertilizer, too.
• Orchids without pseudobulbs, like Phals, Paphs, and Masdevallias, don’t go dormant. However, with seasonally lower light levels and cooler temps, it’s best to reduce their water and fertilizer slightly.
• All orchids need good humidity, but home and office heating can dry the air like an arid desert. Low humidity can cause blooms to wilt, and invite pests like spider mites, mealybugs, and scale. Find helpful tips to raise humidity here.
• Consider adding extra light to compensate for the weak winter sun.
• Members of the Cattleya family, like the red and yellow hybrid in the second photo below, may be affected by too many hours of artificial light. They require long, dark nights to trigger flowering. Keep them away from any artificial light at night.
• Remove dead leaves or flowers. This helps limit hiding places for unwelcome pests or disease.
• Don’t panic if a few older leaves wither and drop. Some varieties of Dendrobiums, like the cool grower in the final photo below, lose all their leaves. Other types, like Cycnoches, Epipactis, and Thunia, are also deciduous. Continue to give them bright light and good humidity. Water when their pseudobulbs start to shrivel, only once or twice per month.

As bog plants, most need moist soil. Unlike orchids, carnivorous plants like to sit in trays of water. Only use rain water or purified water, since they cannot survive with tap water chemicals. Artificial fertilizer can kill them, too, so be careful not to splash when fertilizing orchids. However, compost is safe for them. Do not feed them meat like hamburger or poultry since they cannot digest it. All they need is pure water, a few bugs, and bright light. Remove old traps that brown and die. Some types go dormant over winter.

Besides Venus Flytraps and pitcher plants, there are many varieties of sundews, whose leaves have sparkly tentacles of deadly glue. Butterworts (a.k.a. Pinguiculas, or Pings for short) don’t appear lethal, but their broad leaves have tiny, sticky hairs, and act like flypaper.

Indoors in my orchid collection, I’ve made room for a small sundew and a Ping. They’ve been efficiently digesting little pests like gnats, aphids, and other inadvertent hitchhikers from the back garden. Our 2 pet cats love to hunt larger insects, so these small-insect eaters round out my pest control team. Creepy carnivorous plants are indispensable for many orchid growers like me.

To learn more and select the best carnivore companions for your orchids, check these resources:

• The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants by Peter D’Amato
• The International Carnivorous Plant Society
• An online natural history article
• Wikipedia’s carnivorous plant article

Any organic matter can cause allergies, and orchid sensitivities do exist. Naturally occurring chemicals in plants may be benign to most people’s immune systems, but bother others. In addition, orchid growers may use pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or growth hormones. These chemicals can sometimes cause symptoms in sensitive individuals, ranging from mild reactions to more severe rashes or breathing problems.

For those affected by fragrances, there are many scentless orchids. Most commonly sold Phals, Paphs, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, Masdevallias, and Oncidiums have no perfume. Avoid Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, and Miltonias, which usually have scents.

Artificial fertilizers may cause reactions. Some people may be sensitive to potting material like bark or moss. A few orchid varieties have sap that irritates skin. Some types of lady slippers grow prickly hairs on their stems and leaves, but they are not commonly cultivated.

No flower is 100% allergy free, but orchids have the advantage of their harmless pollen. In fact, the Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America has chosen the orchid as its official flower. So put away those plastic blossoms, and try orchids instead. Your nose will thank you.

I’ve had this plant for 6 years, and it’s been a reliable annual bloomer. A nasty hailstorm damaged it last winter, but it flowered on schedule anyway. The arching sprays of sparkling white blooms can last 2 or 3 months. They may show wear-and-tear from rain, wind, heat waves, or pests, but the flowers persist. This one grows outdoors on my back deck all year, where it receives bright light with some direct sun.

Even though they’re lithophytes, they grow well potted in bark. Sarcochilus like regular water and fertilizer. Their leaves and roots are susceptible to damage from the slug and snail killer metaldehyde. However, snail baits with iron phosphate are safe for them.

• Move orchids from their brighter winter locations to shadier areas for spring and summer. Orchids should receive enough light so that leaves are a light green color. Dark green leaves may indicate too little light to bloom.
• Watch for new leaf and root growth, which often starts as flowers finish. This is a good time to repot, if necessary. Check here to see if you need to repot your orchid.
• For dormant orchid varieties like Cattleya, Dendrobium, and Oncidium, increase watering and fertilizing gradually.
• For deciduous orchids like Bletilla, Cycnoches, and Thunia, water new growth minimally for the first few weeks. Too much water may rot new leaves.
• As always, maintain high humidity and good air movement. Dry or stagnant air invites pests and disease.

It’s frustrating enough to kill an orchid, but it’s more frustrating when I can’t figure out what went wrong. Mine started going downhill a couple years ago, when its annual cycle of new leaves pooped out. The old leaves and pseudobulbs stayed green until recently, but then gave out without producing any healthy new growth. Photos show the interesting yellow flowers which face downward.

Since I’d been able to provide adequate conditions for blooming in the past, I’m left to wonder what changed. It’s possible that it acquired a plant virus during a pest invasion, and declined over time. It may have been that our foggy summers, which have been extra cool for the past couple years, didn’t offer it enough warmth to continue. In its native range from South Africa to Tanzania, it’s undoubtedly used to warm conditions. Maybe some unidentified problem popped up, and some future orchid trivia will jar loose an explanation. Its cause of death may elude me, but at least its photos live on.

Start by cleaning sharp garden clippers with rubbing alcohol, dilute bleach solution, or hot water and soap. These methods don’t completely sterilize the blades, but they’re sufficient to prevent the spread of plant infections. Prune away any dead or damaged parts of the plant. Cuts can be made as close as possible, taking care not to harm nearby leaves or roots.

If there’s more than one orchid to prune, clean the blades in between each plant. The idea is to prevent the spread of nasty viruses or bacteria. Tackle each orchid’s pruning needs all at once to minimize the number of times you’ll need to clean your blades.

It’s also possible to prune a Phal’s fading flower spike, and force it to rebloom. Always clean your clippers or scissors before attempting this pruning trick.

• Grouping plants together
• Placing orchids in humid areas of the house, like a bathroom or kitchen
• Using a cool mist humidifier
• Putting flowerpots on top of a tray of pebbles with water (keep the pots above the water level!)
• Spraying regularly with a mister

Another winter challenge is insufficient light. Most commonly grown orchids originate in tropical regions of the world, where the sun is strong all year. Low winter sun and short daylight hours leave plants in a light deficit. Growers who see little sunlight during the winter should move orchids into brighter light, or consider adding some artificial light for the season. In time, your orchids will reward your extra winter care with strong new growth and blooms.