Learn About Growing Orchids Indoors

Let's take a look at growing orchids indoors. You can grow orchids in many places, from the kitchen window to a greenhouse or sun room. If you live in the tropics you can even grow them attached to tree in your backyard!



You can even put your orchids in the garden displayed on beautiful garden furniture sets. This garden furniture will not only provide fashionable places to sit and entertain your garden guests but also, it will provide lovely places to display your orchids in the beauty of your garden.

However, right now we are focusing on growing orchids indoors.

If you're like many people your first tropical orchids will end up on the windowsill. Orchids make wonderful houseplants. So let's look at what you need for growing orchids indoors.

Growing a Phalaenopsis Orchid Indoors

                Growing Orchids Indoors on a Windowsill

So really the question becomes which window should you choose? Again, like with many questions regarding orchids, it depends upon the kind of orchids that you are growing. In general, in most climates, a bright southeast-facing window will provide the right light for many kinds of orchids.

It is also possible to grow orchids in window greenhouses. These are the sort of bay windows that extend beyond the plane of the window and function like a beautiful mini greenhouse. They can be somewhat expensive but are very serviceable for growing houseplants and orchids in some situations.

If you do other grow other houseplants, a window where African violets flower well would be perfect for Phalaenopsis and a window where Christmas cacti bloom would be great for a Dendrobium or a Cattleya. It's important to pay attention to your plants to make sure they receive adequate light. It is of course a good sign if they are blooming. And sometimes signs of red or maroon pigment leaves, leaf bases and even the root tips indicate that the light is correct.

Many orchid plants will grow and bloom well with four hours of direct morning or afternoon sun. South and east windows in temperate climates however do need some shading. Screens can help or thin curtains can be used.

Beautiful Cattleya Orchid

                    Growing Orchids Indoors Under Lights

It is also possible with growing orchids indoors to use fluorescent lights, particularly if you are in an urban situation and natural light is inhibited by tall buildings or other obstructions. In some situations using plant carts with additional lighting is an ideal way to enjoy orchids as a hobby indoors.

As a general rule of thumb, the preferred temperatures for many orchids are somewhere between 55°F to 85°F. across both night and day temperatures. Many orchids however are very adaptable and simply moving them to a slightly cooler slightly warmer place will satisfy their needs for an appropriate environment. The rule of thumb is: if you are comfortable than your orchids will be comfortable as well.

In many places the summer months are often quite hot. If you do not have air conditioning, it is important to keep the humidity up on the very warm days. Air circulation is also very important (and underrated) to keeping your orchids happy.

Watering in the home environment is different than watering in a greenhouse is the heat can fluctuate more in the home. It is important to pay more attention to when your orchid plants need water. A number of factors can affect how quickly an orchid dries out: the size of the pot, the kind of material of the pot, the type of the media, and the level of ambient humidity. When in doubt, don't water (or when in doubt go drought.)

It's important when watering to use lukewarm water. Somewhere between 60 to 70° is ideal. Using cold water can shock the plants a bit. And it is NOT (contrary to common belief) acceptable to water orchid plants by putting ice cubes on their media. This is just a wives tale and should not be done! It takes time and experience to figure out what your orchid plant needs with respect to water are and not all plants will be the same.

It is good to increase the humidity around your orchids in home environment. In general, 40 to 70% humidity is great. That said orchids do seem to like the lower humidity along with a lower temperature at night. It is possible to increase humidity by daily misting or spraying however it's important to be careful not to encourage fungal infections. I like to use humidity trays which are designed precisely to increase the humidity and keep the orchid plants above the water. Check out this page if you are interested in, the ones that I think are the best.

So as you can see growing orchids indoors is not only possible but easy. It can be a great enhancement to your indoor living situation as well as the source of many beautiful blooms.

Growing Beautiful Orchids Indoors



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