Care of orchids is not as difficult as you may think. One key area to focus on is timing of water as you care for orchids. The best time to water the orchid is early in the morning. In the care of orchids, it is vital not to wet the leaves, as that may cause crown rot.

Ideally you can use rainwater for watering your orchids – really it is the best way to care for orchids. However, in some places, collecting rain water is illegal (but maybe a small bowl would be ok!). When you are trying to really care for orchids – and rainwater isn’t available – well water is a close second. Unfortunately, many of us do not have access to either – that puts us in need for bottled water. Tap water is just not good for taking care of orchids.

Orchids not only care about timing – they also care about temperature. If you collected rain water, just let it sit inside the house for a day or two and get to room temperature. The cold water from outside or from the frig could shock your orchid. The more time you spend learning about how to care for orchids, you will see that they thrive in high humidity – around 40-60% is ideal. To keep the humidity there, remember to water them every 5 to 12 days or so.

With all that humidity, it is important that you have good air movement too. Air circulation can cut down on rot and bugs. The experts suggest that you do some testing of the ventilation around your orchids. They also suggest – as part of your learning curve – that you take into consideration the amount of light. Orchids need sunny days. You can get away with the use of fluorescent bulbs but be careful with incandescent bulbs.They can burn or damage your orchid.

Watch carefully for pests like snails, slugs, aphids, and mealy bugs. Learning to care for orchids will require you to learn how to deal with these insects. Your preference for pesticides or organic measures will determine how you handle this matter in the care of orchids.

Tags: flowers, gardening, green house, growing flowers, how to care for orchids, how to grow orchids, orchid care, orchid tips

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 4:58 pm and is filed under gardening, growing orchids, home gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.