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Various Types of Orchid Pots

Jun6

If you plan on growing your orchid plants in your home then you are going to need to choose the correct pots in order to have these flowers blooming and flourishing for as long as possible.

There are many factors that you need to know about in finding the container for these plants to live inside of and in this article you will learn about the various types that you can get for your plants right now. Here you will discover the several options you will have and what are the best ones for your specific plant right now.

Plastic Pots

The most popular container that you can use in your new hobby is plastic. There are many reasons they are so popular, but the main reason is that they are available in most stores and they are very cheap. You don’t need to spend much money on these types which makes this hobby much more fun and forgiving.

You should always make sure that the particular plastic container you purchase has various holes for drainage and air circulation that you flowers will need to have for healthy blooms. If they are not equipped with holes on the sides and bottom then you should look for another pot until you find the right one.

Terra Cotta Pots

If you are a serious gardener and like growing orchids you may decide on the unique terra cotta pots that are also available in select stores in your neighborhood. If you are a person that likes giving their plants lots of water or if you are having problems with your flowers becoming water logged then this may be the right type container for you to use.

They tolerate much more water because the material that these pots are made out of will evaporate water much more quickly and have better drainage than any other types that are available for you to purchase.

Basket Orchid Pots

This is an unusual type of container that can be used within your home by hanging it from a window sill or other place in your home. These can also be hung outside of your home or in shady areas where your flowers will like to thrive for healthy and beautiful blooms. You can find these types of containers to be made of various materials such as metal wire, wood, or even sometimes potter material.

They will provide your flowers with much more air circulation and better drainage than plastic pots. Although these are great for these types of flowers they will cost much more than plastic pots that are found in most stores. You will also have to search for basket pots and are only found is specific garden outlets.

Other Facts about These Pots

The roots of these flowers can sometimes grow right through the drainage holes making it difficult for repotting correctly. You will have to try and avoid this from occurring if you want to keep these plants around for years to come. These are just some simple facts that you will need to know about the correct orchid pots for these exotic flowers.

Using a Greenhouse To Grow Orchids All Year Long

Jun6

If you are lucky enough to own a climate controlled greenhouse, then you have the perfect environment to grow these tropical plants directly at your fingertips. However, they will not work with all types of orchid flowers.

The majority of greenhouse orchids like distilled light and warm, humid climates. This being said, the direct sunlight that can be found in some houses could be too harsh for the average flower. Ideally, you want to have a perfect environment, where you can provide bright, indirect or distilled light. A shade curtain is the perfect solution to create this type of environment.

Keeping Temperatures at a Perfect Level

If you reside in a cooler climate, your houses will need to be equipped with a heater. Although they do require a dormant period, anything cooler than 45 degrees will kill your plants if not corrected immediately. In addition, climate control is also necessary during the warmer months. Most of them like an environment between 60-80 degrees during the day, and at least 15 degrees cooler at night. If your climate does not naturally cool down by 15 degrees, then you may need to artificially simulate this environment.

Watering Your Flowers When Growing Them in These Houses

In the cooler months, many types only require watering once every two weeks and fertilization once a month. During the warm months, you will need to increase the amount of water that you give your plants. These flowers requires watering once or twice a week, however, in a tropical environment, this need may increase depending on the amount of sunlight that they are exposed to.

Additional Advantages to a To Housing Them in This Environment:

  • Easy to maintain the humid environment that they thrive in. These houses are naturally humid, producing a similar environment to the tropical ones that most of them prosper in. However, if you find that humidity is lacking, you can wet the floors or mist the plants, without having to worry about the potential wear and tear in your home environment.
  • Easy to control air movement: making the ideal situation for the roots to breathe and to avoid harmful toxins.
  • Roof, side vents, and ceiling fans can also be used to increase air flow.
  • Grow them all year round without worrying about the seasons.
  • Control the climate and light environment without any effect to your personal lifestyle.
  • Increase flowering

Disadvantages to a Greenhouse Environment:

Cost is perhaps the largest disadvantage to maintaining these houses for orchids. Most of them require that certain light, temperature and moisture levels are maintained in order for them to thrive. Consequently, this increases the maintenance cost for the greenhouse.

In addition to cost, you need to be very aware of any possible diseases or insect infestations that could occur. If not caught immediately, an infestation will quickly spread in this type of environment, damaging and perhaps even killing your plants.

Overall, greenhouse orchids are the way to go if you can afford the extra maintenance of one of these structures, the advantages to growing them in this environment far outweigh the negative. A greenhouse environment will not only help your plants grow, but can also create a mini escape where you can watch your incredible plants flourish.

Planting Orchids Successfully In Your Home Beginning Today

Jun6

Though beautiful orchids appear exotic, delicate, and temperamental, nothing could be further from the truth. This plant is so varied and appears in so many locations around the world that you can certainly find a beginner species that will work at home for you.

The Pure Basics That You Must Understand

Though you need to know some specialized things to successfully raise them, they do not require the attention as that of the popular, less exotic rose. When you become acquainted with the specific caring requirements for successful planting and cultivation.

This article will give the basics of potting and planting these flowers, but remember, the varieties are so vast that “one size” will not “fit all.” As you become more and more adept at working with them, you will learn which particular kinds of care will work best with each.

The Beginning of Your Quest to Growing Beautiful Flowers

When beginning your foray into the world of cultivating orchids, you will need to know several very specific things—which locations are best, which climates are required, how much humidity and light are necessary, and how much moisture must be supplied. These are all extremely important, but you can’t worry too much about that until you do the basic—getting your bulb or plant in a proper pot—for either outside or inside.

So you probably have questions about potting first, like—which kind of pot do you choose? A quick trip to your local nursery or other place that sells plants and containers will let you know what some of your choices are.

The Best Types of Pots You Should Use for Healthy Blooms

The cheapest and easiest to handle are the plastic ones. These are great for the indoors because they usually have at least one hole in the bottom. They need proper drainage, so the hole is quite important. But if you plan to propagate them outdoors, plastic pots are less than ideal because the wind can blow them over easily.

Clay Pots are Another Good Choice for You

Another pot you could choose is made of clay. These too have a hole in the bottom and sometimes even side holes, like those used for planter strawberries. Clay is very good in keeping your plant drained because water evaporates fairly quickly from clay and the beauty and taste of these pots add to the attractiveness of your plant.

Even Clear Ones Can be of Great Value

Clear polyethylene pots are also good, and though they might not drain quite as well or be as attractive as clay pots, they allow the plant’s roots to get sun. Last but not least are the basket style pots. For trailing types these often work best. The baskets are frequently already filled with sphagnum moss and other material that drains well.

Sometimes you can get them ready to go. What species or variety of orchid you are choosing will help determine specifically what choice you will make, and your garden specialist can help you with this specific item.

Soil That You Must Use for Successful Plants

Now on to the kind of potting soil or organic matter that you will use to anchor your plant into its new home. Don’t even consider using bought planting soil, soil from composting, or any other kind that you have probably used with other plants as this soil will hold too much water and will overpower the plant with too many nutrients.

What you need are one or more in a combination of these: fir bark, sphagnum moss, redwood bark, coconut husks, or tree fern fiber. While these more or less dry materials may be different from what you’d expect, stick with them. Though there are some other choices, these are the best.

Inorganic Choices That Can Also Help In Growing these

Flowers

Like many other kinds of plants, these plants need inorganic matter as well. Some possible choices are ones that drain well, and some that allow the roots to have more light. As you propagate more and more different kinds of flowers, you will learn which materials or mixtures of materials work best for each kind of orchid.

Some choices are charcoal, which is particularly good because it breaks down poisons; vermiculite, which allows the roots to get the proper light and which holds the proper amount of water, allowing the roots to breathe not too much and not too little; or heavy lava rock that permits the plant’s roots to breathe without breaking down. As with the organic matter, other choices do exist as well. Just ask your plant special from who you purchase your new plant.

Some Things You Should Know about Repotting Orchids

A special note about planting and transplanting them: when you see your plants getting “root bound” or “pot bound,” you don’t need to repot them. This type of plant, like some other tropical flowers, actually thrives on tight roots. Don’t repot them until it’s absolutely clear that it’s necessary. Remember, though they are not that hard, they do require a bit of specialized knowledge in order for the beginning enthusiast to be successful at growing these wonderful organisms.

How To Provide Your Orchids With The Right Amount of Fertilizer

Jun6

In the wild, orchids get their nutrients in rainwater, from bird droppings or from surrounding rocks and minerals. In your home environment though, yours will find less of these and will need a simple fertilizer. Though the potting mixture you use will provide some of what they need, you must provide them with the minerals they crave. Some minerals are easily depleted and need to be replenished.

Macro-nutrients N-P-K

These include (N) nitrogen, (P) phosphorus, and (K) potassium. Different kinds of combinations of these are available, and you can you can get them in different forms, such as liquid, or crystals to dissolve. Most agree that an inorganic fertilizer that contains mineral salts and which are soluble in water are the best. Most growers think that the phosphorus is what causes the plants to grow, but too much can prohibit blossoming. If you lesser the nitrogen or increase potassium your plants will have more blossoms.

What These Elements Can Do For Your Blooms

These minerals provide for different stages in your orchid’s growth and development. For example, potassium aids in fruit and flower production, as is phosphorus. Nitrogen is important in the early development of the plant, and the plant needs more of it, especially if wood is part of your mixture because the wood breaks down bacteria that the plant needs. The proportions of the minerals, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium should be 30-10-10.

During winter your flowers will go into their dormant phase when they will stop growing and stop producing flowers. You should provide food and water less frequently at this time because they plant needs to rest.

Here are the simple steps in providing fertilizer to your plants:

  • Make sure you have chosen the correct product for your plant. Your gardening shop can help you with this. Never use regular plant fertilizer because they contain urea and ammonia which your flowers can’t use and could potentially kill it.
  • Use a half to one quarter of what the package tells you. This is because salts build up. You should flush them out regularly with warm water.
  • Water your plant well before adding the dissolved fertilizer.
  • Never put dry types on your orchid. It is very powerful and will kill it. Always apply it in liquid form.
  • Pour the solution directly on the plant, not on the roots. It will penetrate to the roots.
  • Be absolutely certain that you drain all the left-over water off the plant in order for the roots to dry back out. Only then should you put the plant back in its decorative container.

Interesting Facts Regarding Orchids:

Did you know that the ones considered endangered, are harvested illegally in Tanzania and Zambia and their roots are made into a kind of meatless sausage?

In Borneo there are between 2500 and 3000 exotic species exceptional for their scent and beauty that are all becoming extinct because of deforestation?

Harvard has found bee pollen that suggests that orchids date back 80 million years!

How To Grow Orchids Successfully Starting Today

Jun6

So you have decided that you want to learn how to grow orchids and you have come to this article. Well you’re in luck because that is exactly what you will discover in this interesting article for all types of enthusiasts.

If you are new to growing these interesting plants, then you are going to have to read this article in order to discover the secrets to properly cultivating them the right way. There isn’t much to planting these exotic flowers you just need to have the right knowledge and information to be successful at it.

Selecting The Perfect Soil Mix For Your Plants Today

Now that you want to learn truth about growing these flowers successfully, the first thing that is required for these plants is using the necessary soil needed for optimum growth. They are sensitive plants and will need soil that consists of not only organic materials but inorganic as well. Some types of organic materials that are used with these flowers are coconut husks, redwood bark, tree fern fiber, and sphagnum moss.

You also have a choice of using inorganic matter as well that includes charcoal, lava rock, alifor, and pearlite. Separately these materials are sort of useless to your orchid plants, but when they are combined they can give amazing life and beauty to these tropical flowers. The best way is to go to your local garden center and purchase a bag of commercially made soil that has the exact mixture that is needed to grow beautiful blooms.

Light is the Key Source for Getting These Plants to Blossom

Light is a main factor in the survival and health of your new plants. If you want to learn how to grow them you are going to have to know exactly the best places to cultivate your flowers. They are very particular when it comes to sunlight because they need it to create amazing blooms, but they don’t want too much of it. Too much can cause problems with the leaves such as sun burn. Their natural environment is in tropical areas that have very tall trees that would normally block out most of the sun’s harmful light.

This is something that you will have to simulate. Create an environment that shields your flowers from the sun such as a piece of cloth or even sometimes a curtain can do the trick. Some people actually leave their flower in the shade for the entire day and it keeps them healthy. If all else fails you can use artificial light to grow them.

Watering Can be Easy With The Correct Process

A common misconception about growing these flowers is that you have to give them plenty of water in order to get beautiful and colorful blossoms. You first must understand that watering is crucial but it is not necessarily a good thing to have too much. It is actually much healthier for your plant to have less than is needed. Why is this? Well for one reason disease, bacteria, and fungus thrive in wet and cool conditions so if you dry out your plants there will be virtually no trace of any of these elements.

It also makes it much easier for you to know exactly when to water them. Place your finger down into the soil to find out if the soil underneath is moist. If it is moist you will not have to add H2O at the moment. It doesn’t matter if the top is dry it only counts if where the roots are water is present. This is exactly how you should begin cultivating them correctly whether it is indoors or outdoors. These strategies will work for both conditions.

Now that you know the exact steps to having beautiful blooms in your home, it is time for you to choose the proper flowers that you want to have flourishing in your house today.

Discover The Secret Strategies To Easily Growing Orchids Indoors

Jun6

A popular myth about orchids is they are very difficult to grow. Well I’m going to let you in on a little secret; they are not difficult to grow at all. Yes, it’s true with the right information, knowledge, and techniques you too can begin growing them in no time.

All they need is the right habitat in order to thrive and flourish correctly. That’s exactly what this article is about. I will discuss some simple techniques that will help your flowers to thrive in the perfect environment.

Selecting The Correct Orchid Medium

The first thing you need to know about growing these precious organisms is using the proper medium. The truth is they will not tolerate soils that are less than perfect. What I mean is that they can only be grown in specific soil that consists of organic or inorganic matter. Some examples of organic matter include coconut husks, osmunda fiber, and fir bark.

Some examples of inorganic matter include charcoal and lava rock. You can easily find perfect plant mixes in places such as home depot, Lowes, etc. You can even visit a local greenhouse and see if they carry these types of mixes as well.

Creating the Perfect Environment

They require a very particular environment in order for them to flower properly and beautifully. The whole point for cultivating these plants is to see them flower, right? They must have the proper temperature. It all depends on what kind of flower you grow in order to determine the correct temperature. But there are some things you should know about their temperature needs. For example, when planting these flowers inside you should never let the temperature drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

There are no types that can tolerate any temperatures below 50 degrees. If the temperature outside is forecast to get below this temperature you should bring your plants inside. Just as well they do not like temperatures that are too hot as well. The temperature should not get above 80 degrees Fahrenheit otherwise your flower can dry out too fast. These are some things to keep in mind when growing orchids.

Humidity Set at Proper Levels

Living in a humid climate has its advantages and disadvantages. First of all they love humidity and will not grow without it. There are ways to get around this even if you don’t have humid conditions where you reside. One thing you can do is place a humidifier where you’re growing your plants to increase the moisture content in the air.

One cool trick you can do if you don’t want to purchase a humidifier is placing a tray filled with water and stones underneath the flowers. Make sure the plants are not touching the water and this will give them the correct amount of humidity.

Watering is Key To Beautiful Blooms

The last important factor of growing these plants in your home is correct watering. Supplying correct measures of water is the most overlooked step when caring for them. This is a very crucial step and it needs to be done correctly. You need to prevent over-watering of your plants because water can cause fungal infections, bacterial disease, and other illnesses. Keeping your orchid too dry can cause death for your plant if you leave it dry for too long.

Keeping the soil moist is what you should be aiming for. Make sure the medium is moist at least an inch into the soil. You can find this out by using your fingers to test the moisture content of the soil. Placing your fingers down an inch you will be able to see if the medium is moist enough. By assuring the soil is moist will make growing them inside a breeze.

From this simple article you discovered the secrets to growing these flowers and how it can be easily accomplished without having to worry about causing harm to them. Follow these simple tips and you and your orchid will be happy for many years to come.