There’s a growing interest in houseplants and other forms of indoor gardening across the US and Canada, and we’re happy to see it. Gardening is for everyone, and in almost every space there’s some sort of gardening that can work and let you enjoy spending time caring for and learning about plants. Indoor gardening offers many unique possibilities, among them the opportunity to grow and care for orchids. These beautiful, varied, and much-prized flowers are so diverse that it’s difficult to talk about them in general terms, but we’ll do our best. Please consider this a very basic beginner’s guide to orchids and their care. Let’s dig in!
What are Orchid, Exactly?
Members of the Orchidaceae family, orchids are fragrant flowering plants and—strangely--relatively closely related to asparagus. Prized for their beautiful blossoms and lovely scents, orchids are near-global in their distribution, found in every environment except arctic climates. While orchids are most common in the tropics, their wide distribution means that these flowers have a relatively wide variety of preferred conditions, nutritional needs, and watering requirements.
Due to their diversity and impressive natural range, orchids are grown and loved in cultures all around the globe. There are almost too many to lists—orchids are grown as decorative plants, used as ingredients in perfumery and incense, and even used as food. Several species produce edible tubers, flowers, or seed pods; natural vanilla is derived from various species of orchid (most often Vanilla planifolia). Many if not most countries have organizations for orchid enthusiasts, and new varieties of orchid appear every year as the result of both professional and hobbyist breeding. The world of orchids is rich and ever-changing, making this a really special space in the world of gardening.
Growing Orchids at Home
As decorative plants, orchids are often a specialized hobby for gardeners and indoor plant lovers. Some varieties of orchids can be very demanding in terms of the care they need, requiring carefully regulated temperature, moisture, and soil conditions in order to thrive and blossom. Thankfully many are easier to grow, and we’ll stick to those for now since this is meant to be a beginner’s guide. For more advanced information about orchids, we recommend checking out the information offered by the American Orchid Society or finding a local orchid club or orchid lover’s group near you.
The first step in growing orchids indoors is to select a type of orchid for your indoor garden. While many orchids required deeply involved and specialized care, there are a few types that are relatively easy to grow indoors, including the following:
Moth Orchid (Phalaenopsis)
Dancing Lady Orchid (Oncidium)
Cane Orchid (Dendrobium)
Corsage Orchid (Cattleya)
Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum)
As an addition bonus, these are varieties of orchid that are most commonly seen in garden stores, nurseries, and plant supply businesses. We’ve seen Moth Orchid for sale in supermarkets as a houseplant, to give you some idea as to how accessible it is. Each variety has its own needs—remember, orchids are a very diverse family—but commercially purchased plants should come with a plant tag giving some instructions as to how best to care for them.
With that said, there are some general suggestions we can offer that should help you get started growing the most common types of orchids. Most orchids do like bright indirect light, which can be a challenge in some indoor spaces but can be easily solved with a sun lamp for a single plant or small collection of plants. Without enough light, orchids may thrive but they likely won’t blossom, and growing the flowers is most of the fun! Some orchids may not respond well to overly hot environments, so avoid windows that bake in the sun during the summer months.
Most orchids are epiphytic, meaning that they do not grow in soil and instead rely on thicker “air roots” to hold them in place on rocky surfaces, in rough soil, or on the branches and trunks of trees. This quite naturally affects how we grow them—orchid people often use the phrase “growing media” or just “media” instead of “soil” to describe what they grow orchids in. Sphagnum moss, gravel, and lava rock are all commonly used, but the most frequently employed option for most orchid growers is a coarse tree bark mixture. This allows for good drainage yet positive moisture retention and bark mixtures (and other growing media) for orchids are available in many garden stores.
Orchids can be relatively particular about containers, requiring both good drainage and good air circulation in order to thrive. Terracotta containers, ceramic containers with good drainage holes, and fabric containers are all good choices depending on your preference.
Orchids: Beautiful Flowers for Every Home
Orchids are genuinely special—there’s a kind of magic to them that sets them apart from other flowers. Some of it is the challenge found in growing them, some of it is their diversity, and some of it is difficult to define. Orchids can become a hobby of their own, which is wonderful for many indoor gardeners! Growing orchids is complex and this blog is meant solely as a beginner’s guide—we strongly encourage you to check out some of the resources we’ve linked to in order to get more information. But we also hope that we’ve encouraged you to consider giving orchids a try in your own home garden. If you do jump into the world of orchids—or if you’ve been growing orchids for a while—we’d love to hear from you about how it’s going and what you’ve learned along the way!
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