PHALAENOPSIS Care card

The Phalaenopsis (fal-ah-NOP-sis), nicknamed the moth orchid, is one tough orchid! Millions of these plants are sold every year. If properly cared for, these plants will bloom year after year – sometimes more than once a year.

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TEMPERATURE

Warm, 70-80º F/26.7º C, with about a month of intermediate temperatures 55°-60º F/ 13°-15.6º C in the winter to trigger blooming.

LIGHT

Phalaenopsis are considered a low light orchid (1000-1800 fc). Place your Phal in a bright east-facing window, or a shaded south or west window. If you live in a climate with a lot of cloud cover, a south-facing window may work best.

HUMIDITY

Your Phalaenopsis will get along just fine with humidity levels between 40-50%. Use a humidifier if necessary and a fan set to low to provide air movement. Home growers: remember 50% is the maximum recommendation. Easily track humidity levels with a humidistat.

WATER

Keep potting medium slightly damp. Silvery roots that are down in the potting media, not aerial roots, tell you it’s time to water, while green roots mean the roots and are still absorbing moisture.

FERTILIZATION

Phals are moderate feeders. Apply balanced fertilizer 3 out of four weeks. On the fourth week, flood potting media to rinse fertilizer salts. If the orchid is potted in bark use a high nitrogen fertilizer (9-3-6).

POTTING & MEDIA

While bark can work wonderfully in greenhouses, indoors sphagnum moss distributes water more evenly. Pot loosely in sphagnum moss, and repot yearly as sphagnum moss absorbs fertilizer salts. The best time to pot is after the flowers have faded.

TIPS

Mature Phals grow many aerial roots and may possess an ungainly stem. You can cut off the top of the orchid as long as you have several aerial roots and pot the top section. Leave the lower section as-is in the original pot. If this lower section has healthy roots, new leaves will grow. With a bit of luck, you’ll get two orchids for one.

beautiful + easy to bloom

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