Caring for Orchids in Their New Home

Bringing an orchid plant into its new home can be traumatic for both the plant and you! You have to get to know each other. Most orchids you buy will have come from a very high-light, high-humidity environment of a commercial greenhouse. You bring them into your home environment, which is usually less bright with lower humidity, so the plant has to make some adjustments. Doing this with the least amount of distress is your goal, and in this section, I help you get there.

In Chapter 5, I give you the details of routine orchid care, but here I want to give you some tips that will make the short-term transition easier for both of you.

If the plant is in bloom
Here are some tips that will make the flowers on your new orchid last longer:

1. Place the plant somewhere in your house that’s bright, but where it won’t get direct sunlight, except possibly in the morning. Too much harsh sunlight can bleach out the flowers.
2. Keep the plant on the cool side — not above about 75°F (about 24°C). Flowers stay fresher longer this way.
3. Be sure to keep the plant well watered. Even though the orchid plant stops growing much when it’s in bloom, theleaves and flowers still need water.
4. Don’t let any bees or flies in the room where your orchids are blooming. If the bees or flies pollinate them, the flowers will collapse afterward.
5. Don’t put the plant close to ripe fruit. Fruit gives off ethylene gas, which can cause flowers to collapse prematurely.
6. Keep your orchid plants away from strong fumes like paint thinners or other pollutants. These can cause the blossoms to fade.
7. Don’t spray the flowers with water or place the blooming plant in a room that is highly humid with no air movement. This can cause spotting on the flowers from fungal diseases.

If the plant is not in bloom
Before you add your new, not-yet-blooming orchid to your collection, follow these tips:

1. Look under the leaves and at the younger growth to make sure there are no bugs.
2. To be on the safe side, isolate this new plant from your collection for at least three weeks. This will allow time for hidden insect eggs to hatch out.
3. As a further precaution, spray the plant thoroughly with an insecticidal soap. Use a paper towel to wipe off the excess spray. This will not only kill any soft-bodied insects but will also clean the leaves.
4. Consider repotting the orchid into your own potting mix. That way you’ll be assured that the potting mix is fresh and you’ll know its watering requirements.

Humidifiers, Heaters, and Ventilation Equipment

Your home environment is designed to make you, not necessarily your plants, comfortable. Fortunately, many of your living requirements are the same as the living requirements for most of the orchids in this book. In some cases, though, you’ll need to modify your orchids’ growing space to better suit them.

Humidifiers
The importance of providing sufficient humidity for better health for both you and your orchids is detailed in Chapter 5. To humidify an entire room, there are at least three possible approaches, covered in the following sections.

Evaporative-pad humidifiers
With these units, fans blow across a moisture-laden pad that sits in a reservoir of water. Evaporative-pad humidifiers are my first choice for home humidification because

1. They’re reasonably priced and readily available.
2. They don’t spray the room with droplets of water that can carry mineral deposits and bacteria.
3. They circulate air at the same time.
4. They only increase the humidity to about 50 to 60 percent (most have an adjustable humidistat, which measures humidity). This is a level that is beneficial to plants, but not sufficient to cause moisture damage to the house.
5. They require no plumbing and very little maintenance just change the moisture pads one or two times a season.

Cool-mist humidifiers
Cool-mist humidifiers can be effective for small areas, but with constant use, they can cause deposits of minerals on leaves and be a bacteria carrier.

Greenhouse-type foggers or humidifiers
If you have a greenhouse or a very large growing area that really needs a lot of humidity, a greenhouse-type fogger or humidifier is for you. These units can be pricey. They’re plumbed into a constant water supply that is controlled by a float (much like a toilet bowl). The humidity level can be regulated by a separately purchased humidistat.

Ventilation
Adequate air circulation is very important in orchid culture. Fortunately, many convenient and inexpensive pieces of equipment do this job admirably. Here are some of the best choices:

1. Ceiling fans: These are readily available and do a super job of moving large volumes of air in a figure-8 pattern at a low velocity. Most of them have reversible motors, so they can either be set to pull the cooler air from the floor (usually the summer setting) or push hot air down from the ceiling (usually the winter setting).
2. Oscillating and standard fans: You can find these in all blade sizes, and most have variable speeds. All will do the job, but you’re better off getting one with a larger blade size and running it at low speed. This will move more air but not at as high a velocity, so the plants won’t become dehydrated by a strong air current. Also, for oscillating types, splurge on a better-grade model that has metal or heavy-duty gears; otherwise, they’ll strip in short order, and you’ll then have a stationary fan.
3. Muffin fans: These are very small, handy fans (3 to 6 inches/ 8 to 15 cm) that are used to cool electronic equipment like computers. They’re great for bringing a gentle, quiet breeze to a small corner of your growing area. You can find them at electronic or computer-supply stores or in catalogs.

For more information on the importance of ventilation and air movement, see Chapter 5.

Heating
If you’re like most people, you’ll rely on your home heating system to provide most of the heat for your orchids. You can supplement that with small electric heaters or water-resistant heating mats commonly used to start seeds. If you’re growing under lights, you can enclose your growing area in plastic film to help retain heat produced by the lights and ballasts.

Thermometers and hygrometers
I have to admit, and my wife will quickly concur, that I’m a nut about temperature and humidity monitoring. I’ve got remote sensors all over my home that tell me maximum and minimum temperature and humidity levels each day. As I explain in Chapter 5, temperature differentials are important to know about if you’re interested in getting your orchids to bloom. Thanks to modern digital thermometers and hygrometers that are simple to use and not expensive, you can keep track of temperature and humidity with little effort.