AboutOrchids

With beautiful, long-lasting blooms, orchids are overtaking traditional holiday plants like Poinsettias in popularity. Despite their reputation for being difficult, many commonly sold orchids are easy to grow, and can survive some neglect and abuse. Like Poinsettias, many people buy orchids in bloom, and throw them out when the flowers fade. But even when orchids are a disposable commodity, it helps to buy the right orchid for the conditions you can provide. With thousands of orchid varieties, there’s one to fit just about any holiday need. Here’s some orchid buying advice on top of this earlier post on orchid buying basics.

• For low light conditions common in homes and offices, try a Phal or a Paph. Both can keep their flowers for weeks or even months. Well-tended Phals may stay in bloom through the whole winter.
• For very bright light conditions, try a Cattleya, Dendrobium, Epidendrum, Oncidium, or Vanda.
• For cool or drafty rooms, try a Cymbidium, Masdevallia, or Odontoglossum. Some varieties of Dendrobium, Miltonia, and Paph can also grow in cool temperatures.
• For large, showy flowers that only need occasional watering, try a Cattleya.
• If it’s heading into winter where you live, many orchid varieties are dormant and won’t need much water. If you’re planning to keep the plant, slowly increase watering in spring.
• Young orchid plants may take years to flower, so buy blooming size, or mature, plants. They should have flowers or buds ready to open.
• Always provide high humidity for your orchid. Most home and office heating dries the air, which can make flowers wilt and drop quickly.

My good friend and fellow orchid nut Kim lives a few blocks away. She’s just on the other side of Dolores Park in San Francisco’s Mission District, and our microclimates are very close. Like me, she’s run out of room for orchids inside, so she enjoys cool growing varieties that can stay outside all year. For a recent visit, I actually remembered to bring my camera, and got some nice shots. The first set shows a purple Encyclia (an Epidendrum relative,) an orange Masdevallia with purple spots, and a purple Arpophyllum (with flowers similar to the related species that I keep.)

Next, this fascinating Coelogyne provides another great example that not all orchid beauty comes from warm, tropical jungles. This species is native to the foothills of the Himalayas, in a region stretching through India, Nepal, China, and Burma. The flowers have a great fringed lip, and they can last for months.

Finally, some of Kim’s non-orchid blooms include a waxplant and a bromeliad. With such wonderful flowers, it’s always a pleasure to hang out in Kim’s garden.

Sobralia flowers never fail to  impress. Many species in this genus have big blooms. With flowers as large as 10 inches (25 cm,) this species is one of the most remarkable in the family.

The flowers look like Cattleyas, but the similarities end there. Unlike Cattleyas, this Sobralia species likes heavy water and fertilizer, and doesn’t mind cool temperatures. Native to rainforests from Mexico to Costa Rica, it grows in a wide variety of conditions. It lives at elevations as high as 11,000 feet (3400 m.) That helps explain why it can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. Mine lives outdoors on the deck all year, and I try to keep it on the dry side for its winter dormancy.

Sobralias like to be potted in small pots and dislike repotting. Their bamboo-like leaves grow on strong stems. Although this species can grow up to 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, my plant is only 1.5 feet (0.5 m.) The contrast of such a large flower on a short plant provides a striking effect.

If you’re looking for dozens of orchids that stay in bloom for a whole month and require no care, these orchid calendars are guaranteed to please. Which one should I buy? The 2010 Orchids Wall Calendar has stunning photos of different flowers every month. On the other hand, the Smithsonian Institution 2010 Orchids Wall Calendar is full of beautiful photos, too, with some unusual orchid varieties. Maybe I’ll just buy them both. After all, I can’t kill paper orchids.

Pseudo-what? That word is pseudobulb, pronounced “SOO-doh-bulb.” Like the bulbs of tulips and daffodils, orchid pseudobulbs store water and nutrients during the dormant season. Many popular orchids, like Cattleyas, Miltonias, and Oncidiums, have them at the bases of their leaves. Pseudobulbs come in a wide variety of forms. They can be egg-shaped, spherical, or flat. Some are smooth, while others are wrinkly. Dendrobium and Epidendrum pseudobulbs look like swollen stems.

No matter what they look like, pseudobulbs serve the same purpose: to provide a reserve of water and nutrients for the orchid. Some varieties can survive for months during a dry season in their native homes. To mimic this natural dormancy, growers can cut back on watering during fall and winter. Wait and watch for the pseudobulbs to shrivel slightly, and then water. Depending on other factors, such as light, temperature, humidity, and air movement, dormant orchids may only need water once or twice a month during winter.

Unlike tulip bulbs, orchid pseudobulbs need to be kept completely above the potting material. They’ll rot underneath bark or moss. The final picture shows a Cattleya with papery sheaths that are typical for some varieties. The sheaths start out green, but eventually dry and fall off.

Orchid varieties without these storage devices, such as Phals, Paphs, and Masdevallias, do not go truly dormant. However, with less light and cooler temperatures in winter, growers can cut back watering slightly. Maintain high humidity for all orchids during winter, whether they have pseudobulbs or not.

San Francisco’s mild climate has been true to form this fall, with recent warm and sunny November days. Even though we’re lacking red and yellow autumn leaves, the garden has both bright colors and muted tones. Fuchsias in the first 2 photos enjoy our cool, foggy climate. It’s no wonder we always have some in bloom. In the third photo, this succulent doesn’t have flowers at the moment, but its leaves make a great blossom substitute.

We have a 2-story-tall Yucca tree in the back garden that blooms reliably in the fall. Dozens of large, bell-shaped flowers emerge above its large, pointed leaves, making the Yucca even a little taller.

Our downstairs neighbor George has added some great color to the garden with wonderful yellow roses. Up on the deck, a light pink Mandevilla blooms with muted hues. It all goes to show that fall colors come in many forms.

These tiny, charming flowers belong to a Stenoglottis, one of the easiest African orchids to grow. With purple polka dots and fringed lips, the flowers provide an enchanting show from late summer though autumn. Dozens of blooms are crowded onto each flower spike, and open sequentially over a few months.

This Stenoglottis is not an air plant like most commonly cultivated orchids. Instead it’s a terrestrial, and can grow in regular potting soil. In its native South African home, it also grows on rocks and rotting logs. Its blooms remain even as its leaves drop before going dormant in winter. I’ve already curtailed watering, and I’ll let it stay dry for its next few months. Eventually the final blooms will fade as well. In spring, new leaves will start to grow from the fleshy roots, and I’ll increase watering and fertilizing.

If you’re looking for some tropical beauty this month, I’d suggest heading to an orchid show. All over the globe, these shows are great opportunities to dive into orchids. If you’ve never been before, I can guarantee that you’ll see flowers with colors and shapes beyond your imagination.

Ok, maybe that title is a little harsh, but I do get frustrated with orchid advice that misses the mark. In today’s sound-bite culture, oversimplification is a perennial problem, and this video clip produced by a local San Francisco TV show (video no longer available) is a good example. While they give generally accurate info, some of their advice could be fatal to your beloved blooms. For instance, the gardening expert in the video says to water your orchid every 7 days when in bloom, and every 10 days when out of bloom. That’s fine if you have a Cattleya, which likes to dry thoroughly, but if you try that with a Masdevallia or Miltonia, which need daily water, you might as well toss them in the trash. I don’t want to use this post to pick apart a well-intentioned news piece, but I will warn you to beware of one-size-fits-all orchid advice. Remember that there are tens of thousands of varieties of orchids, and the perfect growing conditions for a Moth Orchid will kill a Vanda. So how do you know who to believe? Well, AboutOrchids of course! Also, do some reading, check out orchid shows, and visit your local orchid society. You can still enjoy the pretty orchid pictures in the news.

If cold temperatures are confining your gardening to indoors, your orchids can still keep you busy. In addition to the autumn chores I wrote about recently, this is a good time of year to look at light conditions. Orchids that originate from the tropics do not experience very short days or weak sun in their natural habitats. The sun remains strong in the tropics all year. Farther from the equator, the sun weakens considerably in fall and winter. To compensate, growers in temperature climates can gradually move their orchids into brighter light. Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, Epidendrums, and Oncidiums can be slowly acclimated to full sun. Even shade lovers, like Phals, Paphs, and Masdevallias, can tolerate a little direct sun. No matter the variety, increase light gradually to prevent sunburn. It usually takes me 2 weeks of gradual adjustments to move them into the brightest locale. Pay special attention to maintaining high humidity with the extra light.

If the sun isn’t cooperative, you may want to add artificial lights to boost light levels for the dormant season. Fluorescent lights work well since they last a long time, use little electricity, and don’t get very hot. Light bulbs should be close to the leaves, just 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) away, but not so close that leaves can burn. Just like natural light, any increases with artificial light need to be done gradually. Burns can cause large dead spots on leaves, usually starting white and then turning black. If leaves turn reddish at the edges, then the orchid is receiving its maximum light exposure. That’s good because it’s a guarantee the orchid is getting enough light to bloom, but stay vigilant to prevent burns.

Remember that most orchids need enough light to keep their leaves a light green color. Dark green leaves may mean insufficient light, while yellow leaves may mean too much light. Most importantly, when spring arrives don’t forget to move orchids back into the shade.