Everyone knows that one of the most beautiful types of flower in the world is the orchid. But they also know that orchids are hard flowers to care for. They’re sensitive to a whole host of things that have to be carefully monitored, and it requires a lot of extra work to make sure that they not only survive that they actually develop and bloom at all! Luckily, there are a lot of people out there who are willing to offer help with orchid flower care.
One of the keys to orchid flower care is to make sure you pay attention to how much your orchid actually needs to be watered. Because they’re tropical plants, people wrongly assume that they need to be watered multiples times a week. However, that’s not the case at all. In fact, that will kill the orchid’s roots. Orchids generally need to be watered every 5 to 12 days; this varies by type but only very slightly. Summer months require more watering of course, but that’s the general rule of orchid flower care: water only once a week.
It’s also important to note that orchid flower care also requires that you know what type of watering your orchid needs. Cymbidium orchids need to be kept evenly moist at all times, for instance. Other types of orchids need to dry out between watering, and yet other types that need to dry out between watering except when they’re in an active growth cycle!
Another complicated aspect of orchid flower care is how much light an orchid needs. Some orchids are low-light plants and should be kept inside, away from direct sunlight which can burn them. Most people find that placing these orchids near windows with curtains is effective because while they still get sunlight it’s not direct sunlight. Moderate-to-high-light orchids are very different. Those should be placed outside and to the west so they get lots of sunlight – somewhere around 12 hours of sunlight a day. If you’re unsure if your orchid is in the right type of lighting, here’s an orchid flower care tip: check its leaves. If they’re green and unwrinkled, the orchid is healthy. If it has thin, wilted leaves, you’re doing something wrong! The leaves should also be a healthy bright green as opposed to dark green, which indicates too little light. If the leaves have reddish tint that means it’s getting too much sunlight.
Orchid flower care can be complicated but the flower itself is so exquisite it’s worth the work.
