Orchid Care Tips Blog

Repotting Orchids

Now is the time to start thinking about repotting your Orchids. For any Orchids that have finished blooming, the best time to repot is within the months following blooming. If you have a Phalaenopsis Orchid, every 1-2 years is good to repot. If you have a Dendrobium Orchid, Cattleya Orchid, Miltonia Orchid, or Cymbidium Orchid, the best time to repot is when you see a new growth.

Message Board

If you have any Orchid care or selection questions, go ahead and post them to our Orchids message board!

When is the best time to repot my Orchid?

After the Orchid is done blooming. If it is an Orchid with numerous canes or Pseudobulbs (Dendrobium, Cattleya, Oncidium, Miltonia, etc.), wait until the new growth starts. If it is an Orchid without Pseudobulbs (Phalaenopsis, vanda, etc.), just wait until after blooming.

My Orchid just dropped all of the blooms after only a very short time blooming. Why?

Could be any one of these reasons:

• Got too cold or hot
• Smog problem or air not good
• Not enough humidity
• Too much sunlight

What kind of Orchid should I grow as a beginner?

Easiest Orchid for shade: Phalaenopsis
Easiest Orchid for bright light: Dendrobium

What kind or Orchid do I have? It looks like this…..

Post a photo to a site such as flikr.com for free, post to our discussion board and provide a link to see a photo of your Orchid, and we’ll answer your question on the discussion board.

Why should I grow an Orchid?

It will be with you a long time if you care for it well. Orchids are amazing plants for many reasons which you can read about here.

Hi everyone, we’ve had a lot of people joining this blog - thank you for participating. Your emails, posts to our discussion board, and guestbook comments are much appreciated. I want to make sure you know where to go for what on the Orchid Tips website - there are different places to go for different things.

As you have Orchid care questions, the best place to post them to get answers from me in the evening is here:
http://orchidcare.imagine123.com/discussion-forum/
It doesn’t take long at all to create an account.

If you have comments on the Orchid Tips website, but no Orchid care questions, please post comments about our website here:
http://www.imagine123.com/guestbook.html

If you want to read the blog entries, you’re already in the right place, and can enter comments if you like. Please, though, post comments about posts on this blog and save up your Orchid care questions to post on the discussion boards.

Enjoy!

Orchid Care and Troubleshooting - Things to look out for and fixes for common Orchid care problems

Orchid has small plant growing on flower stem
Plant is in distress, some part of the growing conditions are incorrect, probably over watering, not enough humidity, or too much light. For care information go here

Orchid has spots on flowers
Bacteria is forming on flowers from watering too late in the day - make sure to water earlier so that leaves and flowers fry out by night.

Orchid hasn’t bloomed in over a year
Either not enough humidity (get a humidity tray), roots not happy (repot), light incorrect (read about Orchid care at URL above for correct amount of light)

Orchid flowers fall off days after they open
It got too cold or warm and dry for the flowers - make sure temperature doesn’t get too cold or too warm. If it does get too hot, cool the plants with ventilation/fan, and mist.

Orchid plant bulbs were once firm and are now shrinking
Over or under watering - if roots are now dead plant needs to be repotted, if plant has been under watered, start watering more.

Orchid plant seems healthy, but frozen in a sense, where it never grows much or starts flower spikes
Pland needs a humidity tray and to be fertilized

Orchid mix is degrading fast
Make sure you have a mix meant for Orchids

You feel this is all overwhelming and there are too many things to learn
Read this website, or get a good Orchid book for reference

You feel your Orchid/s don’t bloom for long enough
Get more Orchids as there are Orchids that bloom at all times of the year. Here are some long blooming good ones.

New Orchid care website updates!

Orchid Care Section Updated

New Frequently Asked Questions

Top 10 Orchid Care Techniques to Help an Orchid Plant in Need

1. Get a humidity tray
   
2. Don’t over water your Orchid
3. Give the right amount of light
4. Make sure you have the right temperature range
5. Mist your Orchids if it is hot and dry
6. Don’t let fungus or bacteria grow on the Orchid leaves - take care of this right away
7. Increase air ventilation for your Orchids
8. Repot your Orchid
9. Give your Orchid time, and don’t over care for your Orchid once you have improved growing conditions
10. Make sure not to fertilize your Orchid too much or too little

Make sure to choose the right Orchid variety for your care conditions.

Here are some fun, interesting Orchids to grow that we recommend. Again, there are interesting, not mainstream choices. =)

Enc tampensis alba ‘Mendenhall’ AM/AOS (Cattleya Type Orchid) This is a nice clear green and white Orchid. Very interesting sprays of flowers. Award winner. Link on Amazon.

Eplc. Butterfly Kisses ‘Mendenhall’ AM-AD/AOS (Cattleya Type Orchid)This is a very floriferous orange Cattleya award winner variant. Award winner. Highly recommended. Link on Amazon.com.

Darwinara Charm ‘Blue Star’ HCC/AOS(Orchid plant) (vanda type orchid plant) This is a Vanda Orchid with small fragrant blue flowers. Award winner. Link on Amazon.com.

We’ve just posted 10 new Orchid FAQ - Frequently Asked Orchid Care Questions we’ve been collecting, to the Orchid Tips Website. If you have Orchid questions yourself, please feel free to ask them on our Orchid care discussion boards, and when we have enough good new questions saved up from new posts started, we’ll post a Page 2 of Frequently Asked Orchid Care Questions.

Enjoy!

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These are my three favorite Orchid books for the beginner through advanced Orchid grower.

Late one evening this coming week I’ll post my favorite books for just the beginner Orchid grower, as well as my favorites for the only advanced Orchid growers. The three books below are excellent Orchid care resources that you’ll want to keep on your bookshelf for years for Orchid care reference.

Enjoy! - L.T.
8/23/06 11:10 PM

1. This is a wonderful book. This has always been one of my favorites as it is very rich in content: Taylor’s Guide to Orchids: More Than 300 Orchids, Photographed and Described, for Beginning to Expert Gardeners. If you click this link to Amazon.com, you can look inside this book and buy at a discount at this link.
2. Flora’s Orchids is a beautiful hardcover book. Great Orchid care information and more. Click here to take a look at this book on Amazon!
3. Understanding Orchids: An Uncomplicated Guide to Growing the World’s Most Exotic Plants is a great book, well designed with a lot of photography. It is filled with Orchid care information as well as Orchid varieties. Click here to check out this book on Amazon - they give free super saver shipping and excellent discount book price. =)

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As an Orchid expert, these are the top 7 kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids I recommend to choose and grow. There are many kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids, and I have chosen an execellent representation below to show the cross section of the categories of Phalaenopsis Orchids. I do love all kinds of Phalaenopsis Orchids as they are easy to care for, beautiful, and flowers are long lasting. Included below are some great premium Phalaenopsis Orchids that will perform well, as well as some of my favorite novelty Phalaenopsis Orchids.

Enjoy! - L.T.
8/22/06 9:18 PM

1. Mini Green PhalaenopsisThis is a mini green Phalaenopsis Orchid. Although this plant won’t bloom longer than other types of Phalaenopsis Orchids, it is mainly sought after for being more compact. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
2. Premium Standard Purple PhalaenopsisThis is a standard, premium purple Phalaenopsis Orchid in a 5″ pot. This is the most common standard pot size. This Phalaenopsis will perform and have good plant strength. Click to read about this purple Phalaenopsis on Amazon.com.
3. Compact Novelty PhalaenopsisThis is a novelty Phalaenopsis Orchid. Novelty Phalaenopsis Orchids are my favorite as I love the waxy, thick texture many of these have, their compact nature, long time flowering, and most importantly, variety in colors, patterns, and flower shapes. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
4. Award Winner Novelty Phalaenopsis with Blended Flower ColorThis is another novelty Phalaenopsis Orchid, but with taller arching spray of flowers and blended flowers. This plant is an award winner and therefore you know the flower shape pleases us Orchid judges with perfect symmetry and other features. Flowers are also well spaced. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
5. Premium Standard White PhalaenopsisThis is a wonderful perfect premium white standard Phalaenopsis Orchid. This is a large plant which is very strong and should flower for a nice long time. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
6. Award Winner Yellow Novelty Phalaenopsis with Clear ColorThis is an award winner yellow novelty Phalaenopsis with white lip. Phalaenopsis Orchids this clear are often very sought after and hard to find. This plant has wonderful shape and clarity of color. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.
7. White and Pink Blended Premium Standard Phalaenopsis Award WinnerThis is an award winner pink and white blended Phalaenopsis. This plant has very nice color and is a great plant. Click to read about this Phalaenopsis on Amazon.

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