A few people have reached out on how I care for orchids.  I feel like this post is long overdue in response, considering it is not very complicated.

I counted on the phone with my dear friend asking this question the other day…I have 27 orchids. 19 of them are flowering. By “flowering” I mean have a new stem, or a new stem with buds, or blooms. Of the 8 not flowering, about 5 of them just dropped all their flowers, such as this beauty here.

Orchid care is pretty easy. I used to think that it was just my two great east facing windows which get filtered light. I was wrong. I know this because as I have accrued orchids over the years, they don’t all fit in those windows. I really get the same results all over the house. SO if you don’t have east light there is still lots of hope.  Just place orchids in a window with indirect light, or a room with bright indirect light.  The key word here is indirect light.

Every week, religiously, water orchids. Take the orchids to a sink and really soak the medium, letting all the water run through. Every week, or every other week, use a fertilizer specific to orchids. I fertilize every week Spring and Summer, and then go to every other week in the Fall and Winter.

I stop using fertilizer on orchids that are in full bloom, which is usually when I move them to use into centerpieces and such. After an orchid is done blooming I cut the stem completely. I know stems can be cut back three notches, and shoot off new stems, but they usually look kind of wonky like that in my humble opinion. All preference I suppose.  This does happen frequently due to my children playing ball in the house, or my husband clumsily chopping off flowing stems opening and shutting windows.  Broken orchid stems cause me heartache.  The heartache is lessened by knowing they still will bloom, just a little differently.

Orchids last for months.  Literally.  They give back a lot, in return for very little care.

In short,

1.  Water weekly, soaking through and draining well.
2. Fertilize weekly, or bi-weekly.
3. Place in indirect light.

DONE. That is it.

Orchids are not only pleasing to the eye, but also great air detoxifiers. I read homes should have one plant per 100 square feet. I read it on the Internet somewhere so it must be true! My husband says that is my likely story to use as an excuse to buy more plants. He knows me so well.