Category — Spathoglottis Orchids

Overview:

Spathoglottis orchids, also known as ground orchids or terrestrial orchids can be grown outdoors in warmer climates or indoors as house plants. The blooms are long lasting and fragrant too. There are about 40 species. The leaves are palm-like and the flower spikes produce successive flowering over a good period of time. Cut off the flower stems when they have finished blooming.

Lighting:

Spathoglottis orchids will grow well in partial shade to full sun. If you are growing them indoors, do experiment with different locations to see how they do.

Water Requirements:

Keep your Spathoglottis orchids evenly moist. They can tolerate being allowed to dry out occasionally. Do avoid overwatering as that can cause fungal problems.

Planting Medium:

Your Spathoglottis orchids will do well in a well-drained medium. You could use a fibrous peat-based soil mix that incorporates perlite or airlite. They have a good vigorous root system and like either normal or extra deep pots.

Feeding:

Since Spathoglottis orchids are fast growing they will need nutrition. So don't neglect regular feeding. 150ppm of nitrogen works very well but be cautious in using fertilizer with trace elements as manganese and iron can build up in the soil and cause phytotoxicity.

Temperatures:

Spathoglottis orchids are native to warm tropical environments so they like daytime temperatures above 75 degrees and they don't like to get too cold at night so it is best to keep them above 60 degrees. This will encourage good growth and flowering. They do not tolerate freezing temperatures so cannot be grown outdoors except in nice warm climates. They go dormant if temperatures stay below 40 degrees.

Pests and Diseases:

They do have serious problems with pests outdoors but do watch out for spider mites indoors or in greenhouses. They will get botritis flower mold and anthracnose. They can get crown rot if overwatered so watch out for that.

Adding to your collection:

If you'd like to start or add to your collection of Spathoglottis orchids, please head over to my Spathoglottis Orchid Shop page.