Quick Tips For Growing Orchids Indoors

While the natural habitat of orchids is primarily on trees and plants in tropical or subtropical areas, growing orchids indoors has become popular in recent years. You can grow orchids in your home 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 a 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, today we’ll look at how we can grow and care for indoor orchids. Orchids make wonderful houseplants. 

If you’re like many people, your first tropical orchids will end up on the windowsill, so let’s look at how to create the best environment for your orchid in the windowsill.

Tips for Growing Orchids on a Windowsill

Which window you choose to place your orchid on will depend on the kind of orchids that you are growing. In general, in most climates, a bright southeast-facing window will provide the right light for most orchids.

If you have bay windows that extend beyond the plane of the window and function like a beautiful mini greenhouse, orchids would do well there.

If you do 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.

Growing Orchids In Greenhouses

A greenhouse can be a very good place to grow your favorite plants, including orchids. Depending on the style, both the light and temperature can be maintained properly.

Some orchids will do very well in hot, tropical climates, like Vandas. Others like the see a temperature decrease in the night time like the Phalaenopsis orchids.

Your greenhouse will be a special place for you to come and enjoy your hobby. It will be your “sanctuary”.

Before you purchase a greenhouse be sure you fully understand what will be necessary to help control both the temperature and the light. For example, Phalaenops like bright light but not direct sunlight. They do like a West setting and late day sun. The Cattleya orchids do well in sunlight.

Greenhouses vary both in size, shape and cost. Some use wood as the frame, others use aluminum. It seems that aluminum stands up better to the whims of nature than does wood. It also looks better for a longer period of time.

If you live in the Northern part of the US you definitely will need a heat source for your plants. This could be gas fired small furnaces or electric heat. Remember, when you turn the heat on humidity goes down.Some greenhouses will need to have the humidity controlled.

Good ventilation and humidity are very important. Most plants including orchids depend on good air circulation. A fan can do this very easily. Be sure to keep the fan clean to avoid the spread of disease from one plant to another.

Growing orchids in greenhouses will allow you to grow plants year round. You plant what you want, when you want to, and how you want. You can control the light, temperature, watering and humidity so you will have a healthy, viable greenhouse for your hobby.

Sometimes You Need To Put Your Orchids Under Lights

If you are in an urban situation and natural light is inhibited by tall buildings or other obstructions, it is possible to grow orchids indoors using fluorescent lights. In some situations, using plant carts with additional lighting is an ideal way to enjoy orchids.

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 or warmer place will satisfy their needs for an appropriate environment. The rule of thumb is: if you are comfortable, then your orchids will be comfortable as well.

Humidity & Air Circulation Are Important

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) for keeping your orchids happy.

Watering in the home environment is different than watering in a greenhouse, as the heat can fluctuate more in the home. It is important to pay more attention to when your orchid plants need water.

Several factors can affect how quickly an orchid dries out:

• the size of the pot
• the type of container
• the type of medium
• the level of ambient humidity

When in doubt, don’t water.

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 your 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. 

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