Successfully caring for orchids is no harder than caring for houseplants, it’s just different. Caring for orchids has been given a bad rap. The true is that caring for orchids is not that complicated at all. The fact is that despite their delicate and exotic appearance, most orchids are tough, durable plants with a strong will to survive. This means even relatively unskilled gardeners, orchid beginner can keep an orchid alive and be successful in caring for orchids. If you want to make your orchid thrive and bloom, you need simply stick to a few general caring for orchids rules and follow your own common sense. The most important factor in caring for orchids is close attention to the plants, their appearance and their behavior will indicate whether they are thriving.

The orchid family offers a vast range of orchid genera, each may have specific growing needs.  Most species that are suited for caring of orchids at home are the ones that grow in nature and known as epiphytic plants. They derive nutrition from the air, rain, and any decaying vegetation that the roots contact. Caring for orchids successfully you will need to follow the native conditions as much as possible. So before you buy orchid, you need to consider some species that do well in the growing conditions you can provide. You’ll have more success by choosing orchids that are easy to grow for beginners. There is some species that is considered to be easy in caring for orchids: Cattleya Orchid, Oncidium Orchid, Paphiopedilum Orchid, and Phalaenopsis Orchid. Some general caring for orchids rules regarding temperature, humidity, light, air circulation, and water apply to all orchids.

General Rules Caring for Orchids

1.         Humidity: Successfully caring for orchids you need a high humidity of at least 50%. Therefore it is almost necessary for the pots to be positioned above a tray filled with pebbles and water but the orchid pots themselves shouldn’t set directly on the pebbles because drainage is an essential element in caring for orchids too. Misting the orchids can be beneficial too, but this should be done only when there is sufficient light and air circulation so that the orchids can dry before night.

2.         Water in caring for orchids: Orchids should be watered approximately once a week when the potting mix becomes dry, but they must never be allowed to remain wet or soggy for more than one or two days at a time. The best water caring for orchids is the one which has been allowed to sit for 24 hours, to allow the chemicals to dissipate. Very important task in caring for orchids is to feed orchids with water soluble ‘orchid fertilizer’ every two weeks during the growing season.

3.         Light: The light requirements for orchids vary with the types of plants. Some general caring for orchids light requirements is about four hours of sunlight during the winter months if you want orchids to thrive and bloom. In the absence of natural sun, use of fluorescent ‘grow lights’ can provide necessary light.

4. Potting: In caring for orchids is recommend to use ready made orchid potting mixes which are available at most garden centers. You should use mixes mainly because of the ease and availability. Also it is fairly inexpensive and is blended to the proper texture and acidity. If you want to make your own mix, you can do that by mixing components like osmunda fiber, ground tree fern stem, or ground bark.