Hi, on a sudden impulse today the wife bought a beautiful yellow orchid
from B&Q. I 'm a complete novice, but always believed that orchids like a
high humidity. We have a small terraced house with central heating,
consequently the air gets very dry over the winter. At the moment the
orchid is on a south facing window. Please can you advise on what steps to
take to keep the poor thing going.

torge conrad maguar writes
Hi, on a sudden impulse today the wife bought a beautiful yellow orchid
from B&Q. I 'm a complete novice, but always believed that orchids like a
high humidity. We have a small terraced house with central heating,
consequently the air gets very dry over the winter. At the moment the
orchid is on a south facing window. Please can you advise on what steps to
take to keep the poor thing going.

Is it a Phalaenopsis? Most of them are - and they're supposedly the
easiest to grow in the house.

I'll tell you what works for me, but I have no claim to expertise in
orchid growing. But all 5 of mine (3 Phalaenopsis, Cymbidium and
Odontocidium hybrid) are at the moment either in full flower or with a
flower spike growing.

Get a plastic tray, fill it with pebbles, fill it with water, and stand
the orchid on the pebbles. They do not like wet soil, so it's important
that the pot shouldn't be in the water.

They like bright light but not sun, so you're OK with the S windowsill
in winter, but move to a N window for summer (I'm assuming you're mid
terrace and therefore don't have an E window). And they prefer to be
cooler rather than hotter. Somewhere where you pass through lots of
times during the day (hall, kitchen, bathroom) may be better than living
room. But with all houseplants you compromise between conditions and
enjoyment - no point giving a plant ideal conditions if you hardly ever
get to enjoy it.

Water it once a week from the top - you're just letting the water drain
through and out the bottom, not trying to soak the compost.

Let the aerial roots wave around in the air, don't try to bend them back
into the pot. They won't appreciate either being bent or being
encouraged into damp compost.

When the flowers are over, you may be able to stimulate another stem by
pruning the existing one - recommendation is I think 2 buds from bottom,
but I have pruned much higher than that and got new flowers.

If you're enthusiastic, buy a small bottle of orchid fertiliser and
apply according to the instructions. You should get another flower stem
coming a few months later (and since the flowers last months, it doesn't
matter if you have to wait awhile for the next spike).


--
Kay

torge conrad maguar wrote:

Hi, on a sudden impulse today the wife bought a beautiful yellow orchid
from B&Q. I 'm a complete novice, but always believed that orchids like a
high humidity. We have a small terraced house with central heating,
consequently the air gets very dry over the winter. At the moment the
orchid is on a south facing window. Please can you advise on what steps to
take to keep the poor thing going.

Firstly, do NOT put it in a pot holder, the pot it is in should be
transparent if it is the type I suspect, the ROOTS need light as well,
water it sparingly, do NOT let it stand in water, you can feed it, but
use either a specific orchid feed, or a very dilute, about 1/4 strength
normal plant feed. When the flowers die off DO NOT cut the stem at all,
leave it, it's very possible that new short flower stems will appear
from the main flower stem, may be a week or two. Leave the original
flower spike till it dies back itself. Then just cut it right down.
Once all risk of frost is past, you can put it out for the summer, make
sure it gets plenty of sun, then, as the days get shorter and cooler in
September, and BEFORE any chance of a frost it should throw up a new
flower spike, but in any case bring it indoors for the winter. If you
haven't a garden to put it out keep it in a sunny spot, but away from
the window so it doesn't get too hot. Mine spent the summer in the open
here in Spain, and the outdoor temperature reached 40 degrees C, and I
had no problems, I've just brought mine in as they all have new flower
spikes, but then again, we do not get frosts here, so I can afford to
leave them out this late.

I was given an orchid (probably from B&Q or a supermarket) for my birthday.
Would never have bought one for myself but it has been and still is well
worth the effort of caring for!

It arrived in full bloom at the beginning of May. The flowers lasted at
least three months and now there are more to come in time for Christmas.
There is even a new short stem ready to flower too.

Not knowing anything about orchids and with very limited instructions I went
to a garden centre and looked on the care label of one they were selling
that looked like mine. "Water weekly and allow to drain." So I did and still
do. I also invested in a little pot of orchid feed. Just a pinch added to
watering water.

No pruning.

I don't remember his proper name so I call him Oliver.

Sue W.

--
Derby, England.

Don't try to email me using "REPLY" as the email address is NoSpam. Our
email address is "thewoodies2 at ntlworld dot com"


"torge conrad maguar" wrote in message
...
Hi, on a sudden impulse today the wife bought a beautiful yellow orchid
from B&Q. I 'm a complete novice, but always believed that orchids like a
high humidity. We have a small terraced house with central heating,
consequently the air gets very dry over the winter. At the moment the
orchid is on a south facing window. Please can you advise on what steps to
take to keep the poor thing going.