Hello everyone! New Orchid lover here

[computerdude16]

Hi everyone. I'm very new to Orchids. Purchased my first one several months back and got another one today at Giant on the clearance rack. I absolutely fell in love with how beautiful the blooms are. I'm no expert but I am just trying my best to keep them alive. My first (Phal) has lost its flowers and is now growing new roots and a leaf! (I cut the flower stems because it had a lot of dead roots I needed to cut and I wanted it to focus on vegetative growth). Anyway, I have one question at the moment and that is this, I have my bedroom set at 65F year round. It's very comfortable to me and I don't want to change it. I would also like an Orchid in there with me. Right now I keep one in my bathroom and the other in my dining room. Is there any way (maybe a certain variety?) that I can keep one in my bedroom and still have it grow & flower as it should? Or do they simply need warmer temps to grow correctly? I'm also open to maybe 70F in the summer and 60F in the winter, or something like that. Sorry for the long post but I would certainly appreciate the help. Thank you!

[estación seca]

Welcome to the Orchid Board!

You can read about Phals here in a couple of sticky threads. From the left yellow menu choose Forums then Beginners. Near the top is a sticky thread, The Phal. abuse stops here. Also, from Forums, choose Phalaenopsis then Hybrids. At the top is a sticky thread with Phal. advice from Eric Goo of Phoenix Orchids.

60 F / 15.5C is too cold for Phals. 65 F year round is around the lower limit of where they are comfortable. They are warm to hot growing orchids.

There are other orchids that are fine with those temperatures. Do you mean constantly 60 F in winter, or do you mean going down to that at night?

[computerdude16]

I keep my A/C at 65F 24 hours/day during the summer and my heater at 65F 24 hours/day during the winter. It never changes. What I was suggesting was if I changed it to be 70F during the day and 60F at night (again all year just using different appliances) would that work to keep it in a healthy cycle of growing leaves/root and then blooming and then back and forth? I'm worried if I keep it 65F that it will confuse it and there might be no growth or it would stick in either the flowering or veg growth stages.

[estación seca]

Different orchid have different temperature requirements. Phals. will be OK, and can flower, at a constant 65 degrees. Sphagnum moss may not be ideal as a medium when they are kept this cool due to the evaporative cooling. Medium to large bark works better for Phals. at lower temperatures. You will need to learn to water them carefully. Let them get almost dry between waterings. I wouldn't let them go below 65 until you're an expert grower and learn how to manage watering under those circumstances.

One trigger for Phal. flowering is an average 20% decrease in temperature for 6 weeks in Fall, but I would get very nervous keeping them around 60 degrees. Other people do flower them successfully at constant temperatures.

One issue you will face being that far North is they prefer longer winter days than you have, since they come from close to the Equator. Many people get much better Phal. flowering using electric lights to extend the day in winter. They don't need much light intensity; they are full shade plants.

Other orchids that may do well for you include intergeneric Oncidium hybrids. A 60-75 F range, or constant 65 degrees, will be fine for many of these. There have been a lot of changes of orchid genus names, but the old names are still used by growers. Look for plants with names Colmanara, Onicidiopsis, Vuylstekeara and Wilsonara. Often they are just sold as "Oncidium hybrids."

Also look at plants in genus Zygopetalum. They do well at your temperatures.

[computerdude16]

They have both been repotted with a coarse bark blend so I'm good there. As for the daylight during winter, will my standard 6500k LED bulb be sufficient or should I get a bulb for growing? And thanks for the info on other varieties to look for. I will do some more research. By the way, my first orchid which is in my bathroom, gets lots of humidity from the showers obviously, and the temps are usually between 70F-85F during the summer depending on how hot it is outside. We don't use A/C in that room. During the winter I set the heater to only about 70F. So that one is not facing issues like the one I want to keep in my bedroom. I'm assuming that environment is basically perfect, am I right? (Other than still needing extra light during winter)

[estación seca]

Different lamps emit different amounts of light, so it's hard to advise there. There is a forum here on growing under lights where you can read more. Phals. need lower light intensity than most other orchids, so your light is probably adequate for the winter.

Phals. will be happier in your bathroom temperatures than in the bedroom, but you can grow them in both places. If you want to keep the bedroom cooler in winter I would suggest the other kinds of orchids I mentioned.

[tmoney]

howdy, and welcome to the ob!

of course i agree with what e.s. has said, but i would also suggest trying to get a maxillaria if you can. generally we have found them to be quite forgiving, and some actually like cold temps. not necessarily big showy flowers like "typical" orchids, but gratifying nonetheless.

also, generally it seems that many common orchids do like a seasonal change to one degree or another, so any room that stays absolutely the same all year may not give the best results. but if you've grown other houseplants you know that microclimates can be found or generated, and maybe just moving your plant close to the window in the winter would drop the temps enough to simulate a "winter". not ideal i suppose, but possible.

also, i am a proponent of throwing poo at the wall and seeing what sticks. so while some may say "you probly cant grow and bloom a phal in your bedroom", i would counter that for not much dinero you can buy a noid phal and grow it there and see what happens. keep your good, named orchids for more controlled environs.

either way, bust of luck with avoiding orchid addiction!

[greyblackfish]

Nice analogy, tmoney. I’m a bit of a poo-wall person myself lol.

Welcome, computerdude16. To add onto what everyone else said, I suggest you get an inexpensive thermometer to help you get a better idea of the spots you intend on keeping your orchids. My thermometer is battery powered and even tells me the humidity level. It’s very useful for me. My home is set to around 70 all day but I find the windows where I keep my orchids are 75-85 through the day. It’s probably because our windows are old and not very energy efficient. But I think there will have to be warmer spots around your house. I recommend you give it a try.

Also of course, make sure you can provide enough sunlight. My phal hybrids have gone through some years of various neglect from not enough light to not enough water. Yet they carry on. They don’t like to bloom like that and I don’t recommend it. But it just shows how forgiving the store-bought phal is.

[Leafmite]

Hello and welcome! I fell in love with orchids for the flowers, too, as the blooms especially brighten up a dull winter. I tend to go for the fragrant orchids but I appreciate some that are not fragrant. I have a few in jars but most are chosen for my growing conditions.

There are many orchids that would love the conditions you have to offer. Growing orchids (and other plants) successfully either involves choosing orchids that like one's conditions or adapting the conditions for the orchids.

There are orchids that come from cloud forests that like cooler temperatures all the time (you might need to grow them in jars for the humidity). There are also orchids that like cooler winter temperatures and warmer summer temperatures.

Here is a fun website to look through: Andy's Orchids'

Andy's has a nice variety of orchids and lists the conditions they like. You can even do a search or call him and ask for recommendations!

Another fun site to browse is Hausermann's Orchids, in Chicago. Orchids By Hausermann: Storefront which has a great variety at good prices. They do not list the growing conditions for each type of orchid so I usually have to look them up to see if I can grow them without too much fuss.

You can also find help at local Orchid Societies. You can attend the meetings without being a member and learn more about orchids and meet others that enjoy them. They are non-profit organizations that exist to teach others about orchids and bring together those who appreciate them.

[Ray]

Welcome aboard.

I think you’d have a hard time blooming phalaenopsis in your environment.

As has been said, they like it hot, and most won’t reliably spike unless they get a 10-15F reduction in the average growing temperature for 10-14 days.