Orchid Care
Orchids are hardy plants that do not die easily (we know that’s debatable through experiences shared with us by orchid hobbyist, enthusiast and amateurs alike). But as long as fundamental conditions are catered to, orchid plants will do just fine.
This guide will share about species/genus-specific pointers on how to keep the plant healthy; followed by more advanced techniques. Notably, every orchid hybrid is unique and optimal conditions can only be deciphered through certain trial and error; notwithstanding genetic, seasonal and environmental attributes.
First and foremost, the type of conditions will depend on the species/genus of the orchid. So, knowing the species/genus is the first step in gauging desirable conditions. But in general, most orchids available in tropical Singapore can be categorized as:
1) Need 50 ~ 75% exposure to sunlight – (Examples: Dendrobium, Oncidium, Cattleya, Spathoglottis, Doritis, Phalaenopsis, Alicerea, etc.)
2) Need 75 ~ 100% exposure to sunlight – (Examples: Vanda, Mokara, Aranda, Ascocenda, Aranthera, Holttumarra, Yusoffarra)
3) Need 25 ~ 50% exposure to sunlight – (Examples: Paphiopedilum)
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The guide that follows, is about orchid species/genus commonly found in Toh Garden, and other relevant topics :
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Hi there,
Thanks a lot for your guide.
I’d like to see on your website about Vanda orchid orchid care too as Vanda are difficult to grow for the beginner.
Looking forwards to seeing your update soon.
Thanks in advance,
Nwe Lay
I just purchased a Vanda Ruby Prince branch, but I don’t know whether I should put the branch in a port curved with orchid’s media or just hugged in basket like other vandas grown with long rots. Please advised. Thanks
Wedney
Hello Nwe lay & Wedney,
Most local Vanda needs full sunlight, without which, the plants will thrive but will not flower well. Vanda, as with most orchids, also need to be fed regularly with fertilizers for them to flower well.
If you have a garden, you can plant your Vanda on the ground, stake the plant with a bamboo to provide support, and use wood shavings as growing media.
Vanda can also be grown in hanging baskets, but do remember that since the roots are exposed to air, you will need to keep them moist more frequently, particularly if they are grown in hot spots.
For young Vanda plants, it is advisable to keep them out of direct sun until the plant matures as sometimes leave burns may occur if the plant is too young and their leaves have yet to harden.
We will make a general tutorial for growing Vanda gradually. =)
silverelf
Hi, I am keeping a pot of orchid (white flower with some pink at the bottom) in memory of my beloved pet and so it is very dear to me.
Recently I noticed the bottom part down to the roots have turned brown and become very soft.
However, the leaves are very green, firm and looks “normal” which obviously the plant itself is not in a healthy condition.
How can I save this plant? What should I do? Shall I bring down to your place to have a look? Please help urgently.
Thank you in advance.
Hello delpiero,
You may send us a picture of your plant for us to identify the cause or bring it to our nursery to have someone look at it.
From your description, I can guess that you have most likely encountered root rot problems.
To rectify, you will need to trim off the rotten parts. Make sure that you cutters are clean each time after you cut and trim more into the healthy parts of the plant to ensure that the entire affected region is cut off. After that dip your plant entirely in fungicide before repotting it again.
Check out our common orchid pathogens page for more information here.
silverelf
Hi
You webpage is very informative.
In you webpage you mention dendrobium require 50-75% of sunlight. Is this sunlight you refer to morning or hot afternoon sun?
Hi Anakcili,
50 – 70% sunlight would refer to both duration and intensity. In the case of Dendrobiums, it’s recommended to expose them generously to the morning sun. That way, the plant could “warm up”, before being exposed to the hot afternoon sun. Monitoring the leaves would help you ascertain the amount of exposure. Direct exposure to the hot afternoon sun may damage the leaves, because they have not been “warmed up” ; or it has been exposed excessively.
Would greatly appreciate to receive advice on these:-
1) Is it possible to plant orchid along the HDB corridor or balcony spaces?
2) Could we plant orchid using hydroponic system?
3) Could Toh Farm be able to clone a specy for us and if so what would be the price and how long would we be able to see the result?
Thank you
laussen
Hello Laussen,
1)Yes, it is possible to plant orchids along HDB corridor or balcony spaces depending on the type of orchid and the climatic conditions of the mentioned spaces.
2)It depends on which type of hydroponic systems but aeroponic systems will be better as most orchids don’t like their roots to be waterlogged.
3)Yes, cloning of a species or a hybrid is possible. Kindly drop us an email at enquire@tohgarden.com specifying the quantity of plants that you would like, and at which stage (flasks, seedlings, mature plants or blooming plants) and we will provide you with a quotation accordingly.
Thank you.
Dear Sir/Madam, I Mr Dharma Rai and I’m very interesting about orchids plants. I want to know more about orchids. My home county is Nepal. Can I visit your orchids farm? I am waiting your response.
Your sincerely
Mr Rai
Dear Mr Rai,
Feel free to drop by anytime during weekdays, from 9am to 4pm, if you are interested in visiting on a weekend, kindly contact us prior so that we can assign someone to bring you around.
Thank you.
silverelf
Hi,
I have a small orchids farm in the philippines, and mostly is Vanda and few dendro, but I’m planning to expand the farm but a bit scared on maintaining it, due to my limited techincal idea on growing such plant. to answer this uncertainness do you provide a Book from basic to advance growing instruction which we can purchase.. your answer is much appreciated.
Ganie
hi,
i have many orchids growing on a dead tree trunk, given by my aunt. would it be easy for the orchids to flower as it is concentrating on growing roots all the time?(on the trunk no pots no limits)
Hi Christopher,
It is good for an orchid plant to have a strong root system, this is in fact true for all plants. A strong root system enables the plant to obtain a firm grip on the substrate that its growing from, thus achieving stability as well as good absorption of nutrients. By growing your orchids on a trunk with no spatial limits, your orchids will grow faster and larger as there are no spatial constrains. This is good as a larger plant will tend to produce more and better flowers. However, if you are growing different varieties of orchids on the same trunk, do take note that some varieties may grow much faster and may overcrowd or shade out the sun for the slower growing varieties. When this happens, you can transplant the slower growing variety elsewhere whereby it can receive adequate sunlight and nutrients.
silverelf
Hi, my sister bought me some Mokara from your garden last month and I brought them back to Taiwan. Most of the plants have grown new roots except one which leaves are close-up and has barely no root. What should I do to save the plant? Please give me some advise on the sunlight and watering condition. Thank you so much.
Hi Sharon,
Several reasons may have prevented the leaves from “opening up”. It could be due to genetic mutations and/or physiological damage to the “crown” – the uppermost part of the mokara plant where new vegetative growth occurs.
The “closed-up” leaves results in lesser surface area for exposure to sunlight – thus limiting growth in general (therefore the lack of new roots).
Firstly, trim off some of the leaves (just beneath the crown), as they are obstructing new growth. If the new leaves seems closed-up, you may manually & also *gently “ply” them open – just monitor it every other week or so.
In the event the above advice doesn’t remedy the problem. You may have to carry out something more drastic : cutting off the top section of the plant, induce growth of new plantlets. Feel free to refer to our post on vegetative propagation : Producing keikis
Sunlight: Partial (50% ~ 75% exposure) for re-planted/young mokaras; 75% ~ full sunlight upon maturity
Watering: Once everyday or two. Skip a day if it rained. The Mokara will be alright in pot medium that is periodically dry in a day. The plant would only look wrinkled if water is inadequate – simply increase the frequency and/or amount for watering gradually, obvious recovery can be observed over a month or so.
Environment: Mokaras are tropical plants – so it may take awhile to adapt to Taiwan
Seong Cheng, Toh Garden
HI,
May I know what “fungicide” do you use or sell? Are they the same as any other plant pesticide off the shelves?
I came across this commercial all in one plant “food” called No 7 Organic Essence. It has claimed to be fertilizer, pesticide, virus disease cure and soil revitalize for all plants and corps. Can this be used as fungicide?
I realized that few of my orchid plants have these tiny jumping insects jumping around when I “shower” the plants. My florist told me to soak the pot in water and these insects will eventually drown. She disapproved of using chemical spray to treat the plant as it might do harm to the plant. I did that however, one of the plants seems to have roots rot (my guess). The leaves started to turn brown and soft and eventually dropped off. It started with one stem, and now 2 other stem is showing the same sign. Is there a way to save the plant?
Thank you for taking time to read this and hope to hear from you.
Is it true that sympodial orchids are easier to flower than monopodial orchids? I have a Dendrobium and a Mokara. My dendrobium has already flowered but no matter how I hard tried, my Mokara just simply refused to flower.
Patricia> We use fungicide like Thiram once to twice a week. Yes fungicide are mostly the same but the application rate may differ for different concentration. You can always refer back to the packaging for more details.
The tiny jumping insects, which may be orange to pale yellow are thrips larvae, these damages the flowers and cannot be eliminated by drowning, you have to apply pesticide to more regularly, fungicide doesn’t work on thrips.
CT> Its not true that sympodial orchids are easier to flower than monopodial. The conditions for growing sympodial and monopodials are different. Most monopodials require more sunlight than sympodials. Try shifting your Mokara to somewhere with more sunlight and see if it flowers.
Hi silverelf,
You mentioned that ” 50 – 70% sunlight would refer to both duration and intensity. In the case of Dendrobiums, it’s recommended to expose them generously to the morning sun “.
How to expose full morning sun & protect from afternoon sun for the same location?
Thanks,
Nwe Lay
Can we plant Dendrobium Lucian Pink in HDB corridor. Please provide watering and maintenance tips
Hi all,
NL> Yes, what you mention is true but it will more effort to keep putting on and off the shade. Thus its okay if you shade them from strong sun to prevent any damage to the leaves due to excessive light.
MM> Yes you can plant Dendrobium Lucian Pink at the HDB corridor provided that it has sufficient lighting. Some HDB corridor that receives full sun for most part of the day can be too hot for the plant as the cement heats up during the day as well as the plant may get leaf burns if placed too close to the wall. If your corridor doesn’t have much sunlight, you may have to prop up your plant, place it on a planter etc to let it receive more light. For more info on how to take care of Dendrobiums, kindly refer to http://www.tohgarden.com/orchid-care/dendrobium/
Hi silverelf,
Do you give your orchid rest period?
I heard dendrobium & Oncidium need resting period or else they will not bloom. Is it true?
How about for Vanda alliance? I don’t think they need that.
If you do give resting period to your orchid, when & how do you give?
Thanks in advance,
Nwe Lay
Thanks for the reply, if I need to replant Dendrobium Lucian Pink to a bigger pot, what is the procedure and what medium should be used.
I notice sticky patches on the leaves of Dendrobium Lucian Pink. What is reason for the same. Any specific care to be taken for the same. Please advise
Hi all,
NW> By resting period, do you mean to stop feeding them?
We do not have resting periods for our orchids. They are constantly fed throughout the year.
MM> You may find more information on re-potting of Dendrobiums in the link I sent you the last time. There are also pictures depicting the steps here, http://www.tohgarden.com/orchid-care/dendrobium/
Please send a picture to our enquiry email so that we can further advice on the sticky patches. Sticky patches could be due to chemicals or leaf rot etc.
silverelf
Hi Silverelf,
I mean do you reduce/stop watering when orchid matures to provide rest period especially for Oncidium & dendrobium.
Thanks,
Nwe Lay
i ve got a Rhynchostylis gigantea. is it a difficult plat to look after?
Hi Yee Fong,
The Rhynchostylis gigantea is a rather slow growing plant. Its not a difficult plant to look after but its not an easy plant to flower in our tropical climate. Generally, Rhynchostylis gigantea grows very well in our climate, it requires a good amount of light (about 50% – 60% shade) and require cool nights to flower. In our climate, it generally flowers about one to three times a year depending on variation in climate. Its flowers are highly fragrant and last up to 3 weeks in our climate. If you are looking for something slightly similar with fragrance but flowers more frequently, try growing the Vascostylis (Ascocentrum x Rhynchostylis x Vanda).
silverelf
Hi Nwe Lay,
I see, no we do not reduce nor stop watering/feeding our orchids to provide for a rest period.
silverelf
does orchid bears fruit? my Rhynchostylis seems to bears a fruit like object. do i need to pluck it off before it affects the plant?
Hi Yee Fong,
Its likely a seedpod that you are speaking of. The seedpod will generally take about 3 months to develop. Upon maturity, it ripens and burst to release powder like seeds. You can remove it if you find the seedpod unsightly. It will not affect the plant.
silverelf
Hi
I’m a newbie to orchid. I’ve 3 pots given to me. Sorry do not know the name. but I do notice that the leaves are beginning to turn yellowish.
Hi,
one more question, is it normal for the stem of the plant to looked wrinkle like bittergourd?
Hi Casey,
It is not normal for the stem of the plant to look wrinkled unless its an old plant that has already stopped flowering. Old plants are not productive but they tend to produce new shoots that are productive from the remaining nodes. New shoots should have thick and turgid stems and they will flower upon maturity.
Yellow of leaves can be due to several reason like insufficient sunlight, too much sunlight, too much watering etc.
silverelf