Orchids are gorgeous flowers, and are moderately easy to take care of if you have a basic understanding of how to care for them. How you pot your orchid will help the plant maintain new growth and help it continue to bloom.

Before you even get started potting orchids – it is important to do some investigation into what your species/breed needs. There are 28,000 species of orchids – they do not all like the same thing. Your breed or hybrid may need fir bark, moss, some coconut husk, or some concoction that includes all the above.

It is important that your potting material provide for air ventilation and that it gives some structure to the root system of your orchid.

Many orchids originate in rain forests. You can imagine how humid it is there! What is really awesome is that orchids can grow on the side of these massive trees. Their roots dangling in the air and drinking up the water. What you can learn from this – do not let your roots be submerged in water for a long period of time. It just isn’t natural for them.

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.