How to Grow and Care for Phalaenopsis Orchids (2024)

Phalaenopsis Orchid Care

• Choose a location with plenty of bright, indirect light; a south- or east-facing window is ideal
• Use an appropriate orchid growing medium, not potting soil, for the plant
• Water around once a week and allow the growing medium to dry out between waterings
• Feed a moth orchid with anorchid-specific fertilizeror a balanced fertilizer formula such as20-20-20at half strength. Administer fertilizer when the plant is actively growing.
  

Light

Like most orchids, Phalaenopsis needsbright, indirect light from a south- or east-facing window to produce blooms. Rotate your orchid from time to time to keep its growth even. If there is not sufficient natural light, you can use a fluorescent tube (40 or 74 watts depending on length) grow light. Place the Phalaenopsis about 12 inches underneath the light.

Soil

In native conditions, moth orchids grow on trees. To mimic these conditions, potted orchids are often grown in a medium made from fir, redwood, or Monterey pine bark chips.

You can also buy a commercial potting mix that is made especially for orchids. Phalaenopsis need plenty of air circulation around their root system, and won't thrive in standard potting soil.

Water

Phalaenopsis has a lower tolerance for drought. During the growing season, water the orchid weekly or whenever its exposed roots turn silvery white.

Run room temperature water over the plant, bark, and aerial roots three or four times over 10 minutes, giving the orchid plenty of time for absorption. Be sure the plant has drained completely. Water should never be allowed to rest around the stem of the plant. This will cause the roots, stems, or leaves to rot.

Temperature and Humidity

Phalaenopsis prefers temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit but adapts well to normal house temperatures of 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Orchids also like contrasting night and day temperatures. To induce a flower spike, the plant needs a few cooler nights, with temperatures around 55 F., to bloom.

Fertilizer

During the growing season (summer), fertilize your orchid with a diluted orchid fertilizer every third or fourth week. Skip feedings during fall, winter, and spring (flowering season) when too much fertilizer will lead to excessive foliage and no bloom.

Types of Phalaenopsis Orchids

There are 63 true species of Phalaenopsis orchids and seven hybrids. Some grower favorites include:

• Phalaenopsis 'Liodoro' produces wavy, bright green leaves and pink and purple star-like flowers.This plant can reach a height of 19 inches.
• Phalaenopsis schilleriana boasts large 2.5-inch, pink and purple flowers,withdark green variegated leaves.Each stemon this variety can grow up to 200 flowers.
• Phalaenopsis stuartiana produces white flowers with yellow and red dots on multiple branches and can reach up to 30 inches high.
• Phalaenopsis appendiculatais a miniature orchid that blooms in mid- to late-summer and can be used as a hanging plant.
• Phalaenopsis amabilis, often called a moon orchid due to its bright white flowers, requires more light than other Phalaenopsis and the leaves take on a reddish edge.

Pruning

Prune mature orchids once a year during their dormancy period, after the blooms have faded. Using clean scissors or a knife, cut the top portion of the stem back to one inch above a node to encourage a new stem section and more blooms. You can also carefully deadhead the plant, however, spent flowers may just fall on their own.

Remove any brown or black leaves, and snip back unhealthy roots that are either dead and brown, or mushy. It is normal for your orchid to grow roots above the soil. These are aerial roots—don't cut them off. You can just leave them.

Propagating

Orchids can be propagated by seed, but the process is time-consuming, so it's best to leave this to commercial growers. Home growers, however, can propagate their moth orchid by replanting the orchid's naturally produced "baby," known as a keiki.

Orchid keikis are identical copies of the parent that periodically appear on either old or new flower spikes. After the keiki is about a year old, you can remove it from the parent plant and pot separately.

Here's how to propagate orchids from a keiki:

1. Gather flower scissors, alcohol wipes, a pot, a spray bottle, and an orchid-specific potting medium.
2. Wait until the keiki is about a year old, three inches long, and has developed two or three leaves of its own and several good roots.
3. Disinfect the blades of the scissors with the alcohol wipes and carefully remove the keiki from the parent plant, keeping the roots intact.
4. Moisten the bark potting medium and plant the keiki in a pot (it's okay if the top parts of the roots are exposed).
5. Mist the baby plant daily with water until it becomes established.
   

Potting and Repotting Phalaenopsis Orchids

Repot Phalaenopsis orchids in the spring, after the bloom is done, or when you see roots growing out of the pot (about every two years). Use a pot that is an inch or two bigger than the existing pot, and disinfect it with a weak bleach solution (orchids are very sensitive to bacteria).

Let the pot dry fully, and then fill it with an orchid potting media. Gently remove the orchid from its existing pot, cut away any brown roots, and then place it into the new pot with the moistened bark medium. Gently push the soil around the roots. Mist daily until new roots form.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Moth orchids don't tend to have major pest problems. But they can attract common houseplant pests, includingaphids,fungus gnats,mealybugs,spider mites,scale,cigar-shaped thrips, and whiteflies.Most pests can be removed with a stream of water, insecticidal soap, orneem oil.

In addition to root rot from overwatering, orchids also can become afflicted with variousfungal diseases, phytophthora (black spots on leaves), botrytis, leaf algae, and petal blight.

How to Get a Phalaenopsis Orchid to Bloom and Rebloom

In the wild, Phalaenopsis orchids only bloom once a year. But indoors, you can get them to bloom every six months with a few simple steps.

Once the last bloom has dropped, cut the brown stem off to no more than 3 inches in height. Continue caring for your plant as normal and feeding it a diluted liquid fertilizer to promote growth and blooms.

Once the stem has grown a new leaf, it's ready to rebloom. Relocate your orchid to a cooler area—one with temperatures of 55 to 65 F and bright indirect sunlight. After one month in this cooler environment, your orchid should produce new blooms.

Common Problems with Phalaenopsis

Wrinkled Leaves

If your orchid's leaves are wrinkled, you're likely under-watering and there's too little humidity. To increase the humidity, add a pebble tray with water below the plant, but don't let the pot sit in the water.

Yellow Leaves

Overwatering and root rot are often the cause of yellowing leaves.4Give the orchid growing medium time to dry out between waterings. If that doesn't work, repot the plant and remove any unhealthy roots.

Buds Dropping

Orchids can experience bud blast—a condition where the flower buds drop without blooming. This is usually caused by sudden changes in temperature, humidity, moisture, or fertilizer. Maintaining ideal growing conditions should lessen the occurrence of problems.