(This page contains general cultural information and is not intended to be anything other than a guideline.  If you have specific questions, ask the good growers in your local orchid society.)

Nothing in the history of orchids has given rise to as much debate as culture. Good growers all know what works for them and won't change a thing.   They abide by the old maxim, "If it's not broken, don't fix it."

But there is one thing that each expert grower has in common:  like Frank Sinatra, they do it their way.  There is not one special way to grow Phalaenopsis. There are in fact several but finding out which way is best for your plants is not always an easy task.

If you want to read what is probably the best book on the subject of orchids (not only Phalaenopsis despite the title), it is Bob Gordon’s book, Culture of the Phalaenopsis Orchid, Revised Edition. His worldwide survey book is the second best book on the subject.

Bob's book is a must have and a must read.  It can, and should, be read and re-read.  There is always something to learn.  That does NOT mean that we agree with everything Bob says, but we do agree with most of it.

Listed below are some general comments.  At the end is how we grow.  It works for us, in our conditions. 

Potting

First of all, there is the question of clay versus plastic pots. 

Potting medium

There is no "ideal" potting medium.  Some of the most common potting media used are:

The important thing is to find out what works for you and, if you find it, you can improve on it, but do it with some plants in small increments.   Don't change everything all at once because you think that you may have found something a little bit better.  You could also find something a whole lot worse.

Water and watering

Know your water.  What is the pH?  Dissolved solids?  Plants need a medium that is slightly acidic for the best absorption of fertilizers, including micronutrients.  How often you water will depend on where your plants are grown, the type of medium, the ambient humidity, etc.  But a basic rule of thumb is to let the plant dry out and then water.  How dry?  Many people say that, if you are unsure, you should wait the extra day.  (N.B. Be careful about this if your plants are in spike or in bud.)  

Fertilizer

Everyone who has ever seen a container of fertilizer knows that all fertilizer comes with three numbers:  the first number represents nitrogen content, the second represents the phosphorus content and the third number represents the potassium content.  In addition to those three components, some (but not all) fertilizers contain micro-nutrients, or trace elements, i.e. elements in minute amounts.   These elements include iron, sulfur, boron, etc.  Most fertilizers have minute amounts of these micro-nutrients, but the specific trace elements and the amounts will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and from fertilizer to fertilizer.  By using several different fertilizers, you can usually get most (or all) of the micro-nutrients, assuming of course that the fertilizers you are using contain micro-nutrients.

Air movement

Air movement may be the most overlooked part of plant culture.  Air movement can lower ambient temperature as well as reduce fungal and bacterial infection.  No matter where you grow, no matter how, the importance of good air movement cannot be over-emphasized.

Light

Plants need light.  This can mean anything from the light they get on a windowsill, to fluorescent light, to high intensity lights, to a greenhouse.  Orchid plants, like humans, can get sunburned.  However, sunburn just peels off you and I but it remains permanently on an orchid plant.  How much light do Phalaenopsis need?  Different people will give you different answers but I say give them just enough so that they come close to but don't burn.  (N.B.   Flower colour tends to fade in bright light.) 

Someone once said to me that we baby our plants too much.   They need stress.  That is what causes them to bloom.  Plants attempt to reproduce when they feel threatened.  Whether it is the temperature, the amount of light, etc., they must have some stress, failing which they simply "fade away" over time.

Temperature

Phalaenopsis have certain preferred temperatures.  As a rule, we can say that Phalaenopsis like a day temperature between 80-85F (27-30C) and a night temperature of about 60-65F (15-18C) but different species may be more specific and have different demands.  For example, Phal. lobbii (also masquerading as Phal. parishii var. lobbii) prefers to be mounted with good air movement. 

Margaret and Charles Baker wrote a book entitled Orchid Species Culture (Apparently, this is the first volume for an encyclopedia.  The second volume is on Dendrobiums.) which covers the genera Pescatorea through Pleione.  The book is available from Timber Press (or your local orchid society library).  The Baker have a web site with great cultural information.  http://www.teleport.com/~cmbaker/    

What have we learned in over 100 years of growing orchids - a lot and yet often not enough.

Potting

Repot often.  If we compare a young seedling to a baby, we know that babies have trouble fending for themselves.   Seedlings need some TLC.  They react poorly to mineral salts.  Do you want your seedlings to grow quickly.  Repot every 4 (yes 4!) months until the plants are adult.  Once they are adult, try to repot every 10 months or so.  The larger the plants, the longer they can hold out.  

How we grow at Bedford Orchids

We grow in sphagnum moss under fluorescent lights in a home.   Some of the plants are grown in a greenhouse also in sphagnum moss.  All pots have styrofoam in the bottom (for drainage).  However, those grown in the home have the moss packed tighter than those grown in the greenhouse.  That is because the humidity in the greenhouse is higher and you have to let the plants dry out.   When the moss is looser, it dries out quicker.

Plants are fertilized two out of three waterings.   The third watering is plain water to wash away the mineral salts in the fertilizer.   

Fluorescent lights - what type should you use?  We have tried almost every type of light.  The only difference that we could see after one year was the price. 

How far should the plants be under the lights?  Far enough so that the plants do not get burned (Yes, they can get burned under lights.) but far enough away so that you can water easily.

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WHAT I'VE LEARNED

Almost everybody has grown or grows plants on their windowsill. Most of us begin this way. Like many of you, I began growing orchids on a windowsill. The windows were from waist height to the ceiling all around the room. One wall faced southeast and the other faced southwest.

The windowsill was quickly replaced by a small plant table, which was replaced by a plant stand, which was replaced by a larger plant stand and which was finally replaced by the mother of all plant stands measuring approximately 4 feet by 15 feet.

I attempted to grow and in fact grew many types of plants, including lots of orchids. Looking back on it now, saying that I grew the plants is probably overstatement. The orchids were alive, they did grow somewhat, they flowered occasionally and it usually took them quite a while before they went to their big reward in the sky. Judy Adams is a paph grower who lives just south of Montreal. On a regular basis she would tell me how much I needed lights and how much the plants would benefit. Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, was the way I looked at it. The plants were alive, they seemed to be doing OK and lights were expensive, and where would I put them, how would I hang them, etc.?

Judy was insistent and, after a while, I figured that maybe there was something to what she said. So I bought one light stand: one of those stands with plants on three levels. The light stand in question had four 40-watt tubes and two reflectors on every level. I put the plants under the lights in trays, four trays on every level. The trays are about 10" x 20". I watched what happened. Initially, I didn't really see anything. But I guess it's a little like going to the gym. After about 30 days, you notice a change. Not a big change, but a change. An improvement. The plants look better. They seemed to be growing better. After 90 days, the experiment was over. I bought three more light stands.

Several people I know grow in a solarium. For the most part, their plants are every bit as good as plants grown in a greenhouse. They may not have the humidity they would get in a greenhouse but they are watered regularly, they get the required amount of light and they are repotted when needed.

So now I had my plants growing better than they had ever grown before and finally being exceptionally vigorous and literally growing out of their pots. Up to this point, I had used various potting media but none of them were particularly successful. About this time, people began talking about sphagnum moss. It was also New Zealand sphagnum moss at that time. (Nowadays, people sell something called New Zealand sphagnum moss. Apparently, it is the same species of moss that grows in New Zealand but this moss comes from Chile. The difference in quality is the difference between night and day. However, some suppliers sell the moss from Chile which costs them a small fraction of the price of the New Zealand sphagnum moss for the same amount that they were selling the New Zealand sphagnum moss. They are simply charging what the market will bear. Clint Butler sells New Zealand sphagnum moss. His prices are reasonable, he tells you that it comes from Chile and he sells the different grades at different prices. He is honest and reliable. Some other vendors . . . )

I decided to get some New Zealand sphagnum moss and began to pot my plants in it. Well, the plants began to grow even better and I was beginning to have a serious problem. Lack of space. Well . . . another light stand, and another . . . Things were getting out of hand. The plants were growing too well. I was repotting them every 18 months or so and I was happy. The plants were happy. Things had never been so good.

And then . . . Michel Salembier began to grow orchids. He began to purchase flasks from me. And they grew, and they grew quickly, and they grew well . . . By the time he had been growing orchids for four years, Michel and Marie-Claude Salembier began to get AOS awards on their plants. Not only their phals, but also their phrags.

Michel grew under high intensity lights in his basement, and boy could he grow! He would take plants from flask and they would be blooming in 18 months. Michel didn't believe in community pots for plants directly out of flask, although I still swear by them, especially for people growing in a home. Michel is a waterer. He loves to water his plants. He waters often, he even overwaters. But he compensates. Michel has learned the art of potting a Phalaenopsis in a pot with two strands of sphagnum moss. Because of this and the huge amount of air that circulates, he can overwater.

I pot my plants into moss that is so densely packed that occasionally it is hard to squeeze in the label. However, my plants are in a home, the humidity is low, and I only water when the moss is completely dry, about once a week. When I pot, I choose the pot size based upon the amount of roots and nothing else. The size of the leaves has nothing to do with the pot size. I fill the pot with Styrofoam peanuts loosely packed about two-thirds of the way. Then I pack in the moss as tightly as possible. When I water, I feel each pot and, if the moss feels even slightly damp, I wait a day.

Michel taught me something else. Repot. Repot often. Repot more often than you need to. Imagine a baby. Well, a small plant is like a baby. Babies require more care than young children, who require more care than teenagers, who require more care than adults. Tiny deflasked plants require more care than seedlings, which require more care than near blooming size plants, which require more care than . . . I’m sure you get the picture. Almost all water contains dissolved solids, fertilizer adds salts and, after a few months, the potting medium (whatever it is) is no longer "pure". I now repot plants from flask after 4 months, and 4 months after that and then 1 year out of flask. For adult plants, I try to repot every 8 or 9 months. The moss can be expensive but purchasing a replacement plant is even more expensive.

Most people run into problems of Phalaenopsis as the Phalaenopsis grow larger. You put them into larger pots, you use more moss, the moss stays wet longer, you don’t adjust your watering schedule . . . Since you are now overwatering, the roots begin to rot and your problem is over because now that the roots are rotted, you have to put the plant in a smaller pot. There are several ways to work around this problem. Some people place a small inverted pot inside the large pot to insure good air circulation. Some people use a larger proportion of styrofoam peanuts. Lastly, there are those who say that the largest pot that a plant should be potted in is 5 inches. They figure out the amount of potting medium that would go into a 5 inch pot and that is how much they use, regardless of the size of the pot.

I have learned (Yes, Virginia, some old dogs . . .) that no matter how well you grow on a windowsill, almost everyone will grow better under lights. There is one major exception to this rule and that is a solarium or, in some areas, a front or back porch, as mentioned above. There is a very serious problem to growing under lights. I have become an expert, possibly the world’s leading authority, on growing an inflorescence into the lights and burning it. I am getting better but of course, to paraphrase a well-known song, you only burn the ones you love.

We will be happy to answer your questions on culture. However, we cannot over emphasize the importance of joining your local orchid society. Seek out the people who grow the best, ask them questions. There is no one right way to grow orchids but there are a lot of better ways.

GOOD GROWING!

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The best article on breeding was written by a friend.   If you would like to read it, click on "I want to read it" below. 

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