Easy to grow orchids

Easy orchids to grow at home

Though moth orchids (Phalaenopsis) are the world’s most popular house plants, there are many other types of orchid that are more very easy to obtain, cheaper and just as attractive.

Moth orchids have been produced by tissue culture in their tens of millions, but almost the same techniques have been used to other orchid genera, making them well worth considering.

Growing checklist

Orchids need the proper conditions – light, temperature and humidity – and they should benefit you with impressive blooms.

In the home, orchids can be categorized into  three main categories:

• Warm-growing orchids, including moth orchids, like 16 – 18°C (60 – 64°F) at night and 18 – 29°C (64 – 85°F) by day.
• Cool-growing orchids require a minimum 10°C (50°F), around 20°C (68°F) during the day.
• Intermediate orchids require minimum 13 – 15°C (55 – 60°F) by night, around 24°C (75°F) daytime.

Orchids to try

Cymbidium (right): cool growing. Easy to grow, these are plants with strappy foliage and spikes of large, elegant flowers in green, yellow, white or pink. They need bright but not direct light, and plants get pleasure from being outdoors June to September (which help flower bud initiation).

Miltonia: cool to intermediate growing. Pansy orchids are well known for the shape of their large, open, face-like flowers in shades of white, yellow, pink or red. They’re often beautifully noticeable in contrasting colours. Keep them in bright but not direct light.

Paphiopedilum: intermediate to warm growing. Slipper orchids attract some people and repel others. Tropical species grow on the floor of rainforests so are adapted to low light but require high humidity. Hybrids with attractively spotted foliage like warmer temperatures.

Dendrobium (right): – cool growing and more tolerant of low humidity than most. These are obvious for their thick, longer than normal pseudobulbs or canes, growing many flowers in white, yellow, pink or red.

Odontoglossum: tiger orchids are intermediate growers from the high Andes. They grow many star-shaped flowers in long, arching sprays, in white, yellow, pink or red, frequently heavily noticeable and spotted. Grow them in bright, not direct light. High humidity preferred.