{"id":23701,"date":"2015-12-26T01:00:02","date_gmt":"2015-12-26T09:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/?p=23701"},"modified":"2016-01-24T20:04:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-25T04:04:03","slug":"holiday-orchid-care-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/2015\/12\/26\/holiday-orchid-care-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Holiday Orchid Care Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wondering what to do with your gift orchid? It’s beautiful, but can you possibly keep such a fragile thing alive? Relax, most orchids sold today are easy to grow. Check the orchid care tips below to learn how to keep your plant happy.<\/p>\n

\"Phalaenopsis<\/a>\"Paphiopedilum<\/a>\"Epidendrum<\/a><\/p>\n

What kind is it?<\/a> \u2013\u00a0 Identify your orchid to learn more about its care needs. Phals, or Moth Orchids<\/a>, are the most common types (see the first photo above for one example.) Other favorites include Cymbidiums<\/a>, Oncidiums<\/a>, and Lady Slippers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Light<\/a> \u2013 Place your orchid in bright light. Many varieties enjoy morning sun<\/a>, especially while light levels are low in winter. Some types, like Cattleyas<\/a>, Dendrobiums<\/a>, and Vandas<\/a>, will eventually need direct sun to flower again, but you can keep them in the shade while you’re enjoying the current blooms.<\/p>\n

Humidity<\/a> \u2013 Orchids hate dry air, which can wilt flowers, damage leaves, and attract pests<\/a>. Raise humidity by grouping plants together, or placing your orchid in a humid bathroom or kitchen. To increase humidity, spray leaves regularly with a mister, or use a cool mist humidifier. Many growers place flowerpots atop pebbles in trays of shallow water, always keeping the pots above the water level.<\/p>\n

Watering<\/a> \u2013 Use room-temperature water to completely soak the roots and potting material<\/a>. Let all the water drain out of the holes in the bottom of the pot. Don\u2019t let plants sit in water for too long, or their roots may rot. Whenever you water, remove wrappers, ribbons, or decorative containers which block the drainage holes.<\/p>\n

Cut flowers<\/a> \u2013 Give orchids the same care as other cut flowers. Place in lukewarm water, and keep the vase out of direct sun. Change their water every couple days. High humidity will help the flowers last longer.<\/p>\n

\"Cymbidium<\/a>\"Vanda<\/a>\"Cymbidium<\/a><\/p>\n

The photos for today’s post are a small fraction of a fraction of the wonderful sights at the Pacific Orchid Expo. These are a few of Dave’s pictures from the 2015 show. You can buy tickets online for next year’s show, happening February 26 – 28, 2016 at Fort Mason in San Francisco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Tolumnia<\/a>\"Cymbidium<\/a>\"Oncidium<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wondering what to do with your gift orchid? It’s beautiful, but can you possibly keep such a fragile thing alive? Relax, most orchids sold today are easy to grow. Check the orchid care tips below to learn how to keep your plant happy. What kind is it? \u2013\u00a0 Identify your orchid to learn more about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-growing","category-photos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23701"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23824,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23701\/revisions\/23824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.aboutorchids.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}