Orchid Care for Beginners

Orchid Care for Beginners

I killed my first orchid within three months. Looking back, I did everything wrong. I watered it like a regular houseplant, kept it in the plastic pot it came in, and wondered why the leaves turned yellow and fell off one by one. When my mom gave me another one last year (a gorgeous white Phalaenopsis), I decided to actually learn what I was doing wrong.

Turns out, orchids are not as fragile as people think. They just need different care than most houseplants. The rules that work for your pothos or snake plant will absolutely destroy an orchid. Once I understood what these plants actually need, keeping them alive became much easier.

If you just bought your first orchid or received one as a gift, this guide will help you keep it alive and maybe even get it to bloom again. I’m focusing on Phalaenopsis orchids here because that’s what you find in grocery stores and nurseries. They’re the ones with the flat, round flowers that come in white, pink, or purple.

Understanding Phalaenopsis roots

The first time I saw healthy orchid roots, I thought something was wrong. They were thick, silvery-green, and growing outside the pot. I almost trimmed them off. Good thing I didn’t.

Orchid roots are nothing like the thin, soil-loving roots of most houseplants. In nature, Phalaenopsis orchids grow on trees in tropical forests. Their roots cling to bark and absorb moisture from rain and humidity in the air. They’re epiphytes, which means they use trees for support but don’t steal nutrients from them.

Because of this lifestyle, orchid roots need air. They actually photosynthesize, just like leaves do. This is why most orchids come in clear plastic pots. The roots need light, and you need to see what’s happening inside the pot.

Healthy roots look plump and green when wet, silvery-white when dry. The tips are usually bright green. If you see roots like this poking out of the drainage holes or growing over the edge of the pot, leave them alone. They’re doing their job.

Brown, mushy roots mean rot. This happens from overwatering or soil that stays too wet. According to research from the American Orchid Society, root rot is the number one killer of grocery store orchids. People treat them like regular plants and keep the potting medium constantly damp. The roots suffocate and die.

Black or dried-out roots are dead. You can trim these off with clean scissors, but focus on preventing more damage rather than obsessing over every dead root. My white orchid had a few dead roots when I got it, and it’s doing fine now.

The key thing to understand is that these roots evolved to dry out between waterings. They grab moisture when it rains, then dry off in the breeze. Your watering schedule needs to mimic this pattern.

Why you should NOT use ice cubes

Someone somewhere started the rumor that you should water orchids with ice cubes. I see this advice everywhere, even on those little care tags that come with the plant. Three ice cubes once a week, they say. Easy and foolproof.

Except orchids are tropical plants. They come from warm, humid forests in Southeast Asia. In what world does it make sense to put ice on a plant that evolved in the tropics?

The ice cube method supposedly prevents overwatering by releasing water slowly as the ice melts. But you know what else releases water slowly? Watering properly and letting excess drain away. The ice cube trick is a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist if you just learn to water correctly.

Dr. Marc Hachadourian from the New York Botanical Garden has pointed out that ice can damage orchid roots. The cold shock stresses the plant. Even if the damage isn’t immediately visible, you’re not doing your orchid any favors.

There’s also the issue of quantity. Three ice cubes equal maybe a quarter cup of water. That might work for a tiny orchid, but most Phalaenopsis need more than that. I’ve found my orchid does better with a thorough watering every week or ten days rather than a tiny amount more frequently.

The ice cube method might keep your orchid alive for a while, but it won’t help it thrive. If you want flowers and healthy growth, you need to water properly. Which brings me to the next section.

Above: A close up look at the symptoms.

Soaking the roots properly

This is the method that changed everything for me. Instead of pouring water over the top of the pot and hoping for the best, I now soak the entire root system.

Here’s what I do. Once a week (sometimes longer in winter), I take the orchid to my kitchen sink. I remove the decorative outer pot if there is one. Then I run lukewarm water over the bark or moss until the whole thing is soaked. I let it sit in a bowl of water for about ten to fifteen minutes.

The roots turn bright green when they’re fully hydrated. You can actually watch this happen. The silvery coating becomes almost transparent, and the green underneath shows through. This is how you know the roots have absorbed enough water.

After soaking, I let all the excess water drain completely. This part is critical. The pot should never sit in standing water. I usually leave it in the sink for another ten or fifteen minutes to make sure it’s done dripping.

Only then does it go back in the decorative pot. If water collects in the bottom of that outer pot, I pour it out.

Between waterings, I let the potting medium dry out almost completely. I stick my finger in the bark to check. If it feels damp, I wait. If it’s dry and the roots look silvery, it’s time to water again.

This might be every seven days in summer or every two weeks in winter when the air is drier and the plant isn’t actively growing. The American Orchid Society recommends checking the plant rather than following a strict schedule, and I’ve found this to be true.

My bathroom has terrible lighting, so I can’t keep my orchid in there even though the humidity would be great. Instead, I sometimes mist the roots lightly between waterings if the air in my apartment feels really dry. This isn’t necessary, but it seems to make the plant happy.

Getting an Orchid to rebloom

My white orchid finished blooming in March. By April, I had a bare flower spike and a plant that looked healthy but boring. I didn’t know if I’d ever see flowers again.

Turns out, getting a Phalaenopsis to rebloom is not that hard. It just takes patience and the right conditions.

First, don’t cut the flower spike right away after the blooms fall off. Look at the stem. You’ll see little nodes where the flowers were attached. If the spike is still green, you can cut it just above the second or third node from the bottom. Sometimes a new branch will grow from one of these nodes and produce more flowers.

I did this with mine, and about two months later, a small side branch appeared. It gave me four new flowers. They were smaller than the original blooms, but I was thrilled.

If the spike turns brown and dried out, cut it all the way down to the base. The plant will eventually grow a completely new spike.

The secret to triggering new flower spikes is temperature. Phalaenopsis orchids need a difference between day and night temperatures to start blooming. According to information from the University of Georgia Extension, a drop of about ten to fifteen degrees at night signals the plant to produce flowers.

In fall, I started putting my orchid near a window where it gets cool at night but not cold. I made sure it wasn’t touching the glass on freezing nights. This temperature swing, combined with shorter days, eventually triggered a new flower spike.

It took about three months from the time I saw the spike until the first flower opened. I almost gave up, thinking nothing was happening. But if you look closely, you can see the spike growing slowly. Once the buds form, things move faster.

Light also matters. Orchids need bright, indirect light to bloom. I keep mine near an east-facing window. The leaves should be light green. If they turn dark green, the plant isn’t getting enough light and probably won’t bloom. If they turn reddish or get brown spots, that’s too much direct sun.

I haven’t tried fertilizer yet because my orchid has rebloomed twice without it, but research suggests a balanced fertilizer diluted to quarter strength can help. The motto is “weakly, weekly” for orchids. I might try this next year.

Above: The tools you need to fix this.

Repotting in bark vs. moss

When I first thought about repotting my orchid, I stood in the garden center staring at bags of orchid bark and orchid moss, completely confused. They’re totally different materials. How was I supposed to choose?

Bark is chunky. It’s usually made from fir or pine, cut into pieces about the size of your thumbnail. Water drains through it quickly. Moss is sphagnum moss, which is soft and holds moisture much longer.

Most orchids you buy come potted in moss because nurseries need to ship them and moss keeps the roots from drying out during transport. But moss can be tricky for beginners. It holds too much water if you’re not careful, and it’s harder to tell when the plant needs watering.

I repotted my orchid in bark last summer, and it’s been much easier to care for since then. The bark dries out faster, so there’s less risk of root rot. I can see exactly what’s happening with the roots because the chunks don’t pack down like moss does.

Here’s how I did the repotting. I waited until the orchid finished blooming. You should also repot if the potting medium looks broken down and compacted or if roots are growing everywhere except inside the pot.

I soaked the roots to make them flexible, then gently pulled the plant out of its pot. Most of the old moss came away easily. I trimmed off any dead roots with clean scissors. Then I placed the plant in a slightly larger clear plastic pot and filled in around the roots with fresh orchid bark.

The trick is not to pack the bark down too tightly. It should be loose enough for air to circulate. I left some roots exposed on top. This felt wrong at first, but those aerial roots are normal.

After repotting, I didn’t water for about a week to let any damaged roots heal. When I did water again, I used the soaking method I described earlier.

Some people prefer moss because they tend to underwater their plants or live in very dry climates. If you’re good at remembering to water and your house is dry, moss might work better for you. But if you’re like me and sometimes forget, bark is more forgiving.

The University of Florida IFAS Extension notes that both mediums work fine as long as you adjust your watering accordingly. The important thing is that whatever you use needs to provide air circulation around the roots.

I haven’t tried mixing bark and moss yet, but I’ve read that some people do this to get the benefits of both. Maybe I’ll experiment with that when it’s time to repot again.

Taking care of an orchid is different from caring for other houseplants, but it’s not harder. Once you understand what these plants actually need (air around the roots, proper watering, the right light), they’re pretty low maintenance. My white Phalaenopsis is currently growing its third flower spike, and I feel like I finally know what I’m doing. If you’re just starting out, give yourself time to learn. Your orchid will forgive some mistakes as long as you don’t drown it.

References

American Orchid Society. “Phalaenopsis Culture.” Available at www.aos.org

Hachadourian, M. “Ice Cubes and Orchids: Addressing the Myth.” The New York Botanical Garden.

University of Georgia Extension. “Growing Orchids Indoors.” Circular 1046.

University of Florida IFAS Extension. “Orchid Culture: Phalaenopsis.” Document ENH956.