Help growing orchids in the office

[dave b]

As long as there is some moisture in the potting medium and plastic pot, there is plenty of humidity at the roots. Leaving water in the bottom of the ceramic pot really isint worth it, and could just foul out and lead to problems.

Over time you will learn how quickly your pots dry out given your conditions (type of medium, temp, humidity, and airflow). You can then water as needed. People will try to lay guidelines as to once a week, 2-3 times a week, etc. Its helpful info, but never set in stone.

[oldbizmark]

I used to grow a lot of orchids but took the last 5 years off because of children. I am thinking about getting back into growing - but this time at the office. I am on the 37th floor with east facing windows. Just was curious if there would be any issue with the commercial glass blocking out part of the spectrum vital to orchid blooming. Are there certain orchids that would/wouldn't bloom with light coming in through an office building window. I know east facing is not ideal, either, but we can't all get the south facing windows. I am planning to get a humidity tray but would like to keep the setup as simple as that and maybe some fertilizer and a mister.

thanks for your advice.

matt

[bil]

Originally Posted by datousteve

Thank you for the advice. I just picked up my first orchid... a yellowish phal.

With regards to watering, it appears that people recommend doing it weakly weekly. What does this mean exactly?

It means that you use a very weak dosee of ffertiliser at every watering..
If you go to Ray's 'First Rays' page he has ssome ver good advice. I recommend reading it all, an dusing his calculator t wok out what you need.

[estación seca]

Originally Posted by oldbizmark

I used to grow a lot of orchids but took the last 5 years off because of children. I am thinking about getting back into growing - but this time at the office. I am on the 37th floor with east facing windows. Just was curious if there would be any issue with the commercial glass blocking out part of the spectrum vital to orchid blooming. Are there certain orchids that would/wouldn't bloom with light coming in through an office building window. I know east facing is not ideal, either, but we can't all get the south facing windows. I am planning to get a humidity tray but would like to keep the setup as simple as that and maybe some fertilizer and a mister.

thanks for your advice.

matt

Welcome!

This is an old thread. You might get a better response if you start a new thread. Perhaps go to the Forums from the left menu, then Introductions / Break the Ice. Click the maroon New Thread button near the upper left.

Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum do well in many offices.