Need advice on suitable office orchid

[Autumn Child]

What kind of orchid is suitable for office space?

My office will be quite cold on winter night (around 10C) and has no airflow other than minimal air-conditioning. Light can be provided by artificial lights or windows if I am lucky. What kind of orchis can survive this condition?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The lack of airflow would be the biggest concern for growing in your office.

There aren't any orchids I'm aware of that like low air circulation or stagnant air.

The cool temperatures is the easy part.

Then there's the light exposure.

[Claire25]

A plastic orchid.

Seriously, I think the combination of low light, low temps, and low air flow is going to make growing any orchid there an exercise in frustration.

[Autumn Child]

light can be solved by artificial lighting that double as my desk lamp. I could buy a fan to increase airflow but it will look ridiculous in an air conditioned office.

[Claire25]

Well, air flow is important, yes, but it's the quality of that moving air that is most important. I would imagine that the air in your office, due to the airconditioning, is quite dry. You might even have trouble keeping the buds on a blooming Phal from blasting due to such dryness. You could always bring in some blooming orchids from home on a temporary basis, enjoying them for their blooms til they fall off, and then take them home again. But unless you are willing to go to some pretty extraordinary lengths to keep the orchids in your office healthy (supplemental lighting & humidity for sure, and possibly additional heat) I would say that keeping them there long-term is a no-go...

[Rachelle-lapensee]

I agree. An office space is not the best place for any type of orchid (that I am aware of). They are delicate. I'm not trying to dissuade you from having Orchids but there are many different types of flowers that would be more hardy and would make a beautiful addition to any office environment.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Or...

Set up a mini orchidarium or wardian case in your office.

Then we can talk orchids.

[kavanaru]

Phalaenopsis Hybriden grow pretty well in Office-Spaces. The low in the temps at night (I assume only during winter, right?) would help to induce blooming in some of them, however 10°C is pretty low, and you should be carefull to avoid having them too wet duringthis time. Adding a lamp for additional light would be advisable, in case you do not have a window where the plant could be placed to receive more light.

Air-flow can be solved with a small fan, but in my experience is not a must for an Office-Phalaenopsis in most cases (you need to check how your plant would deal without it!)

You will only need to keep in mind that tehse conditions are not optimal, and depending on light available, you will have it hard to get the plant to rebloom again. However you can bring it home when not in bloom and give itbetter conditions. Once it re-bloom, mve it back to the office. A good trick, is to have 3 or 4 different hybrids, which bloom at different times of the year, and have only the blooming one in the office: this way you have flowers the whole year.

Dendrobium Hybrids (Phalaenopsis type) also grow pretty well in offices, but need more light in order to bloom. Most people at my wrok who have these Dendrobium in tehir offices, do not succeed re-blooming them!

All what I have commented above is based on my experience at work, with conditions similar to yours (including night temps!). A lot of people at my work keep Phalaenopsis in their offices (includingmyself) and they grow and bloom without much troubbles. Of course you will most probably never get a spike with 30 flowers, but you will have some flowers...

now that I remember, Phal equestris works also pretty well under this conditions. Two colleagues have Phal, equestris in their offices.

VERY IMPORTANT: the plants should NOT sit on top or above a heating system.