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Growing Orchids on the Windowsill

The New Hampshire Orchid Society's annual show and sale is coming up soon, so if you are looking for something to stir up your blood this winter, plan on attending. Presumably you won't get shot, and you might discover a new passion to help you through the winter blahs.

Jean Stefanik, a retired educator and a member of the New Hampshire Orchid Society, put a new light on orchid growing for me. "If you can grow an African violet and make it bloom every year," she told me recently, "you can grow a Phalaenopsis (orchid) and make it bloom. They require the same conditions." For many, that's a piece of cake.

I went to Manchester, New Hampshire recently to talk to Stefanik and to Barbara Henes, publicity director for the upcoming orchid show, to learn about growing orchids without building a greenhouse. Both are avid growers who don't have any fancy equipment.

The setup Henes has for her 24 orchids is simple: She has a plant stand with a 4-foot fluorescent light fixture hanging about two feet above the plants. She has tray with water to add a little humidity, and a grate over it for the pots. That's all you need.

Barbara Henes explained that several things must be considered when growing orchids: their needs for light, fertilizer, temperature, humidity and water. She explained that the Phalaenopsis orchids are the easiest for beginners to grow because their needs are simple. Room temperature is fine (they don't like it too hot), a windowsill will work for light, and they don't need high humidity. A weekly watering that includes a dilute fertilizer once or twice a month will take care of the rest of their needs.

Stefanik is an avid orchid observer. She has traveled around the world to see orchids growing in the wild. She said that knowing the growing conditions of orchids in the wild will help you to decide if you can offer suitable conditions for the varieties you want to grow in your home. Many orchids like daily fluctuations in temperature - as they would in the wild. For those of us with old windows, windowsill placement will match that need.

Many fertilizers are available for orchid growers, and Henes uses several. Each has a different blend of nutrients and micronutrients, this one with extra silicon, that one with extra sulfur and magnesium. Once a month is the rule for many, but Stefanik prefers a dilute dose every time. "Weekly, weakly" is her mantra. And any complete fertilizer will do.

Orchids in the wild often grow on trees, obtaining moisture from rain or dew. Most hate to sit in soggy soil. Henes uses a growing medium that consists of special baked clay "pebbles". She waters once a week, the medium absorbs some moisture, and the rest drains through. Stefanik uses a bark chip potting mix she blends herself, though such mixes are also commercially available. She houses many of her orchids on a lit plant stand that is enclosed with plastic curtains. That keeps the humidity higher than in the rest of the house.

Both orchid growers underlined the fact that one should never allow water to get water into the crown (the base of leaves) where it might get trapped, and cause rot. Water from below, or water carefully from above, only wetting the growing medium.

The New Hampshire Orchid Society's show, "A Winter Wonderland of Orchids", will be held February 18-19 in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua. There is also a Preview Party and Early Bird Sale on Friday February 17 from 7:30 to 10 pm. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for seniors and free for children under 12. The preview party is $15 in advance or $25 at the door and includes desserts, a cash bar and admission the other two days. For more information or advance tickets go to www.nhorchids.org

I've not attended the show in past years, but from what I've heard it offers the chance to buy orchids of all sorts, as well as pots, fertilizers, supplies and books - and everything else you might need to get started.

My friend Jim Smith of Unity is not a gardener. Never will be. But 8 or 10 years ago he went to the Floribunda Flower Show in Norwich and got seduced by a blooming Phalaenopsis orchid - and it has bloomed for him every winter since. He keeps it under a skylight where it stays cool and gets good indirect light. He waters it once a week, and fertilizes it "Every month or two - when I think of it." Now that's my kind of low maintenance houseplant. Think I'll pick one up at the show. I just hope I can avoid catching the orchid bug. I don't need another passion.

Henry Homeyer is the VT/NH associate editor of People, Places and Plants magazine. His website is www.gardening-guy.com. He may be contacted at gardening.guy@valley.net, or P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.