Rest Your Orchids the Right Way

Orchids need resting time every year. The exact time for this depends on the species, but for most orchids it should start some time in the fall and continue through most of the winter. You need to care for your plants differently at this time than you would during their energetic growth periods (spring and summer usually). This is a necessary part of growing orchids successfully.

A good general practice is to give your orchids rest from November through the middle of February. The way you do this is by lowering the thermostat and not watering as much.

For orchids from the tropics, maintain the air temp at approximately 60 or 65. Cooler-origin orchids can tolerate temperatures as low as 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

At this time, give your orchids only enough water to keep them from shriveling. The bulk of the moisture should be supplied by misting or by taking measures to keep the air humid. From time to time, though, you should poke down into the soil and examine the stem, roots and rooting medium of your plants. If these are beginning to dry out you can water them directly.

Some species will continue to grow during the winter months. These will required somewhat more water than those that truly go dormant. If you see new shoots coming up, though, try to avoid wetting them or they else they might rot.

Some orchids are deciduous. This means they will drop their leaves after they have finished their growth for the year. You must give these as much sun and light during their resting time as you can. This will let their pseudobulbs ripen, in turn letting them grow stronger and flower more freely.

Proper orchid care is not that hard or mysterious. But to prevent problems will require more detailed information than can be included in a short article. The most up-to-date guide to expert orchid care, hands down, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the Internet. Howard’s wonderful guide will provide a complete immersion in the subject. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing database of articles on many topics of orchid cultivation.

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