Growing Orchid

How to Select your Orchid Flower

It may be true that the hardest part of orchid care may be the selection process. There are so many species of orchids available, that it is easy to become overwhelmed with the plethora of choices. Generally, when you are hunting for an orchid flower that will do well inside your home, the species to select from are phalaenopsis (also known as the moth orchid), cattleya (the most popular orchid found in bouquets), and dendrobium. By limiting your selection to these three varieties, you are more likely to find an orchid flower that you will be able to successfully grow indoors. You can then select from factors like when the orchid flowers bloom and how much sun and water each variety requires.

How to Grow Orchids

The first note to make when it comes to growing orchids is that most of these plants do not require soil to grow in. Many are considered “air growers”, which means that they usually grow on trees. Others grow in mulch on the forest floor, and still others root themselves in sand or soil. It is important to know which growing medium that your particular orchid flower will prefer. Light is another factor in the growing of orchid flowers. The majority of these plants will require plenty of bright, filtered light to thrive, so a southern-facing window is often the best location for your orchid flower. These plants also need sufficient water, but should never be allowed to become waterlogged. Finally, humidity is a key in good orchid care, so if your home is lacking in this component, make sure that you add additional humidity for your plant.

So the first rule of thumb in orchid care is to know where your plants come from. Here’s a brief guide. Epiphytes grow and flourish on tree trunks while hardy lithophytes make their home on rock and rock surfaces. On the other hand, the myco-heterotrophs are those that lack chlorophyll and feed on nutrients from decaying plant matter. The last category and one in which a large number of today’s household orchid plants belong to are called terrestrial plants.

Most household orchids include the popular varieties such as the Phalaenopsis (Moth Orchid), Dendrobium, Cymbidium and the lovely Cattleya or the Corsage Orchid. Even if these varieties are quite common, don’t think that it automatically becomes foolproof orchid care.

One should consider that successful orchid care involves being aware that varieties still follow their geographic influences with some general rules.

Some Useful Orchid Care Tips

Orchid Care Tip 1: While orchids don’t need extra care and are not generally delicate, you should remember that if you’re living in a temperate country, only bring them out during the summer. In temperate climates, regular living room temperature is generally okay should you wish to display your prized specimens there.

Orchid Care Tip 2: Ask the nursery for orchids that can grow optimally in particular parts of your house; example, your porch, living room or window sill. Some hybrids are bred for such specific areas.

Orchid Care Tip 3: If you are a novice orchid grower, try a variety or hybrid that is easy like Phalaenopsis. People like this variant because it can flower all year as compared to others who normally only blossom once a year. In taking care of this variety, remember to always cut the stem after flowering to ensure that it blossoms again or grows a new stem segment.

Orchid Care Tip 4: It’s okay to give your orchids fertilizers. Make sure to follow certain conditions like the orchid’s flowering season. While general fertilizers are okay, try looking for special formulations specifically just for orchids.

Cactus or Orchid?

While the large, showy blooms of the orchid cactus resemble those of other orchids, this plant is without a doubt a cactus. If you look closely enough, you will even detect the hairlike spines along the leaves and stem that characterize a cactus species. In addition to the name orchid cactus, these plants are also referred to as jungle cactus, which separates them from much of the rest of the desert flora that you might find. Many of the varieties of the orchid cactus will primarily bloom at night, when you will have to look closely through the darkness to find large, beautiful blooms of white or other hues. You can also find some species of orchid cactus that will bloom during the day, and now there are many other color variations available as well, as hybridization has progressed to many other varieties of this plant.

The term “epiphyllum” means “upon the leaf”. This refers to the fact that these plants often live on other plant surfaces, which is a typical characteristic for many types of orchids – another commonality between the orchid and the orchid cactus. This does not mean that this plant is parasitic in nature, however. The orchid cactus does not take anything from its host for survival. Instead, it relies on its environment to provide everything it needs to thrive. This is what makes the orchid cactus an epiphyllum instead of a parasite, just like the nature of many orchid plants.

Unlike other monocotyledons, it doesn’t have stems and its leaves look more like scales than leaves. A ghost orchid is almost all roots which are flat and create this wild tangle on tree trunks where they get moisture. Its outer layer called the velamen is what it uses to absorb nutrients.

The ghost orchid flowers between the months of June and August are white and are held upwards from spikes emanating from the roots to give it the illusion of floating like a white apparition, hence its name.

Why the Ghost Orchid is Valuable

Unlike its more gorgeous sisters who bank on their beauty to be commercially saleable, the ghost orchid relies on its extreme rarity for its intrinsic value. This rarity has classified it as being endangered. In fact, taking one of the Florida Everglades is punishable under state and federal laws. Adding to this rarity is the fact that the ghost orchid is notoriously difficult to breed in an environment outside its own natural habitat. Breeders who must attempt to cultivate the said orchid must replicate the orchid’s growing conditions as close as possible.

In its natural habitat, pollination of the ghost orchid is equally daunting and unique. Only one insect, the giant sphinx moth is up to this task as it is the only one with a proboscis long enough to reach into the flower.

Even its mycorrhizal symbiosis is unique. If conditions are not right such as when the fungus that symbiosis interacts with is not present, the ghost orchid could actually die, effectively reducing its numbers.

Moreover, setting a price for a ghost orchid (if it is ever put on sale under legal circumstances) is quite prohibitive. Yet there’s no need to buy the flower in order to appreciate it. Recent sightings of specimen in many areas of Florida’s Everglades mean that there’s more than a ghost of a chance to actually see a ghost orchid.

While the color blue is extremely rare in any kind of flower, a blue orchid can either be of only two original varieties: one is the coerulescens variety where the blue pigment is only visible on the lip while the sepals are white and second is the coerulea variety which has blue colored sepals.

With the exception of confidential botanical breeding groups, hybridization procedures for a blue orchid remain out of reach for mere hobbyists or weekend gardeners experimenting with such blue orchid varieties like cattleyas and laelias. But current information on such attempts might prove not only entertaining for would be blue orchid breeders but educational as well.

The Science of Creating a Blue Orchid

There are several rules of thumb to follow when attempting to come up with a blue orchid. Breeders must consider how the achieved blueness behaves or changes when put into an entirely new environment. The idea of course would be to have a blue orchid that remains blue regardless of whatever condition it might find itself in. In choosing blue orchid varieties for such experiments, choose one with significant coloration and preferably cultivated in a natural environment under normal conditions.

It is also important to study how crossing different colors can either achieve the desired blueness or change it. Green hued orchids are said to bring out blueness while it is best to avoid orange colored ones because it brings out the red from a crossed plant.

In studying scientific manuals and studies on the subject, one scientific fact is clearly being thoroughly examined as the key to a blue orchid. This is through understanding the biochemical basis for permutations that allow the emergence of a blue colored flower.

Colors in flowers occur when the pigment anthocyanin interacts with a co-pigment at a specific pH level. Analysis done in laboratories shows that certain combinations and reactions of both pH and alkaline levels can create specific colors. In this case a more alkaline set up will most likely give you a blue orchid while the opposite set up will give you red.