A tropical princess appeared at home. On the one side, I really want to admire its blossoms, on the other hand, you can’t see the flowers on the windowsill because of the curtain.
Like any plant, an orchid requires good lighting in order for photosynthesis to take place in its leaves. Otherwise, it simply will not grow, since there will be nowhere to get building material from. And even more so to bloom. Therefore, below we will analyze in detail which side to place orchids for the most spectacular flowering.
Where to put an orchid in an apartment: space requirements
Choosing a place for an orchid in an apartment is one of the main conditions for the proper development of the plant.
The exotic flower loves a lot of sunlight, but not its direct rays. Therefore, you need to choose a place where he will be absent-minded. Otherwise, the leaves may get sunburned. The best place is the western or eastern part of the room. If this is not possible, and the windows face north, then you need to take care of artificial lighting for the orchid. It will compensate for the lack of sun.
The plant reacts very sensitively to changes in the surrounding microclimate. Therefore, it is very important to maintain a constant temperature and humidity around it. Generally, the suitable temperature for orchids is 25-30ºС in summer, 20-25ºС in winter. Humidity should usually be 60-90%. If the air in the room is too dry, then the flower should be placed in a tray with expanded clay or other drainage material and water should be poured into it.
The absence of drafts is another condition that must be taken into account when choosing a place for a flower. When ventilating the room, it is necessary to prevent the flow of air from the street entering it.
For your information! Different types of orchids require different conditions. Therefore, an individual approach is needed in plant care.
Which window should I put the orchid on?
There is no exact answer to this question. Depending on the type of orchid, methods and methods of caring for it are chosen, including the place where it will grow.
North side
This is the worst place for orchids. The flowers begin to elongate excessively, the leaves become pale and thin. All this happens due to lack of light. Under such conditions, the plant may die. In such cases, additional lighting sources are installed. It is best to use a phytolamp. It will provide the orchid with 10-12 hours of daylight. It must be installed no closer than 30 cm from the plant.
For your information! Ordinary incandescent lamps are not suitable for additional lighting.
East side
The most favorable place for good healthy growth of any orchids. The flower receives a completely suitable amount of sunlight without burning its leaves in the summer. In winter there may be a lack of lighting. To understand this, you need to observe the plant. If he shows signs of light deficiency, then you need to turn on the phytolamp.
South side
The most suitable option for placing orchids in winter. Here the flowers will receive the optimal amount of sunlight even without additional sources. In summer, the sun's rays can burn the leaves, so it is necessary to make artificial shade for them.
For your information! In a room on the south side, orchids should be installed no closer than 1 meter from direct sunlight.
West side
Here the opinions of gardeners are divided. Some argue that a west-facing window is good for orchid growth. Others put it after the northern one and note a great lack of sunlight. But in both cases, you cannot do without additional lighting in winter. The phytolamp should work for approximately 3-4 hours a day. The advantage of a western window is that the sunlight is not so scorching in the summer.
Positive examples
If you take some precautions, the orchid will lose its negativity. A delicate and fragrant flower will help you overcome life's difficulties. It will serve as a reliable amulet for any woman, revealing her abilities and limitless creative potential.
It has been noticed that the orchid can improve the health of the female body and prolong youth. This luxurious plant gives a lady a touch of mystery, enhances her charm, charm and attractiveness.
Note! In order for a flower to treat its owner favorably, it requires care and careful care.
With the help of a sophisticated plant, you can cleanse your home of negative energy. The orchid will drive out a guest who is hiding evil intent from the apartment, making him want to immediately leave your home. A secret enemy who encounters a flower protecting its owners will feel malaise, fever, increased heart rate, anxiety, and depression.
Features of placement and care by season
in winter
Daylight hours are very short, which negatively affects the condition of flowers. Additional lighting lamps that are installed no closer than 20-30 cm from the pot will help here. During this period, you need to carefully ventilate the room. The orchid does not like drafts, and cold air can freeze the sensitive leaves of the plant. In winter, indoor air is dry due to the use of heating appliances. The capricious beauty suffers from lack of moisture. Therefore, you need to monitor the condition of the soil in the pot and water it on time. To increase humidity, you can spray the air with water. At the same time, make sure that moisture does not get on the leaves, otherwise they may rot.
For your information! If you don’t have time to periodically spray the air around the flower, you can place containers of water next to it. The water will evaporate and moisten the space around the flower.
The temperature background in a room with orchids during the day should be within 20-25ºС, at night 15-20ºС. The difference should be no more than 5ºС.
in spring
The orchid is emerging from winter sleep and gaining strength for new flowering. During this period, it is necessary to protect the plant from sunburn, as the sun also begins to show its activity. Using blinds or tulle will help create a natural shadow for the flowers.
Caring for orchids during this period involves increasing watering and spraying. You can feed the plants with fertilizer, minerals and organic substances for faster recovery after winter.
In summer
Tropical plants grow, bloom and develop best. The only concern for them is direct sunlight. They can burn the leaves of the plant. Therefore, the most suitable place for them in summer is partial shade.
It is necessary to control soil moisture in the room. Orchids begin to suffer due to lack of water and may dry out and die.
in autumn
The orchid begins to prepare for winter and enters the sleep stage. Daylight hours are shortening and the time has come for additional phytolamps. They begin to water the flower less often, but maintain a sufficient humidity regime, as the heating devices begin to work again. It is advisable to feed orchids in the autumn so that they have enough nutrients to withstand all the hardships of winter.
What does Feng Shui say?
Recently it has become fashionable to live according to Feng Shui:
- arrange furniture;
- wear jewelry;
- eat and so on.
Recently, Feng Shui has become a fashionable art.
Attention! Few people know that, first of all, Feng Shui is the art of decorating graves. Or rather, to harmoniously combine the dead and the living.
Excavations of graves dating back 6,000 years confirm the existence of Feng Shui.
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures are prone to symbolism, so such a teaching is quite logical and acceptable for these peoples. True, the scientific community considers Feng Shui a pseudoscience.
Decorating graves with flowers and plants is quite natural and common not only among Asian peoples. In those distant years, when people believed in the spirits of their ancestors, wanting to appease them, they decorated the places of their last resting place. But is it worth bringing such teaching into the home?
However, Feng Shui experts consider the tropical beauty to be a flower that brings home comfort and prosperity . They bring complete harmony to relationships, promise career growth, the main thing is to choose the right color and place it where it is needed . This is from the same sources.
According to others, orchids can only be kept in the office, since they only bring home discord and trouble. And if the work involves constant travel or being outdoors. What then? Give up your favorite flower?
There is a wonderful saying: “ Everything is good in moderation ”, so we must adhere to this principle. If you like tropical beauties, then you should definitely have them at home so that your energy mood is positive and there is no feeling of dissatisfaction.
Another thing is that these flowers are not conquered by everyone . It happens that a person can successfully grow any plants, but he can’t do anything with orchids. They either don't bloom or simply die.
There are completely opposite cases. When ordinary flowers do not grow and disappear, but orchids bloom and smell fragrant, instilling in the owner confidence in their abilities. What is the secret, what is the secret - no one can say.
No one will deny that there are both positive and negative sides to growing orchids.
It is very disappointing when a long-awaited orchid arrives in an indecent state, suffers for several days or weeks, and dies. Most often, the owner himself is to blame for this outcome, not providing the flower with optimal conditions or not preparing the plant for a new place of residence. Negative - definitely.
And now this moment: the orchid, which had been capricious for a long time, has bloomed! How many positive emotions, how much happiness and pride the owner of such beauty experiences. He not only rejoices himself, but also shares his happiness with friends and loved ones, sharing his energy with them. He publishes photos on the Internet, receiving likes, and gets even more inspired.
Recommendations for care depending on the direction of the world and the season: table
To clearly see how, at what time period and depending on the location to care for an orchid, the following table is presented
Orchid location | Autumn winter | Spring Summer |
North side | Additional light sources are required for 10-12 hours a day, temperature and humidity control | If necessary, use additional lighting 1 - 2 hours a day, control the humidity level |
South side | The best place for orchids, temperature and humidity control | It is necessary to shade the plants and control the humidity level |
West side | Requires additional lighting for a couple of hours a day | Suitable option for arranging orchids, safe from sunlight |
East side | Additional lighting is required for several hours a day. A suitable place for flowers to hibernate. | The best option for healthy growth and development of orchids without shading. |
In which room should I put the orchid?
The room where the orchid stands is not always suitable for its growth.
Living room
An orchid will decorate any room. In the living room it looks especially sophisticated and elegant. If possible, the plant should be given a permanent location. It doesn't have to be a window sill. It can be placed on a table, shelf or nightstand.
in the living room
Bedroom
Many people love to have an exotic beauty orchid on their bedside table. Here you need to take into account that some types of this plant are quite fragrant, especially when exposed to sunlight.
For your information! People suffering from allergies should not place flowers with a noticeable aroma near the bed. It is better to move them to the windowsill.
Kitchen
This is a room with an aggressive environment. Steam, high temperatures, and hot oil can have a negative effect on flowers. But if you still want to decorate this room with an orchid, then it should be located away from the stove and heating appliances. Usually it is placed on window sills, hung in flower pots on the walls, or allocated space on the dining table.
You can put an orchid on the refrigerator if all the necessary conditions for its growth are met: sufficient light, optimal levels of temperature and humidity.
Bathroom
It can affect the flower in different ways. Increased humidity can have both a beneficial effect and lead to rotting of the root system if waterlogging of the substrate is not noticed in time.
It is recommended to place an orchid in the bathroom if the room has a window with natural daylight. Otherwise, you need an additional source of lighting in the form of a phytolamp, which will provide the flower with light in a dark room.
Children's
Children are very active and restless. Therefore, to prevent injury to the flower, it is placed in a place inaccessible to children or where it cannot be damaged. Usually these are window sills, high chests of drawers or hanging flowerpots.
Balcony or loggia
Suitable for placing orchids if it is a warm, glassed room. But here you also need to monitor the amount of sunlight, temperature and humidity. If necessary, do shading for flowers.
Subtleties of content
First, let's figure out whether it is possible to rotate orchids on the window, since among beginners there is an opinion that this cannot be done - it will stop growing and blooming. Orchids not only can, but also need to be rotated and swapped.
The lighting from the window is from the side. An orchid standing motionless will reach towards the light, that is, grow towards the glass, therefore, the trunk will be curved. Cattleyas, Dendrobiums, after awakening, the growth point should be placed so that the new growth is located on the side opposite to the light source :
- the bush will grow more compact;
- the young shoot will not get burned by the spring sun.
Advice! Rotate the orchid after each watering - the sun will evenly illuminate the tropical beauty from different sides.
If a window or window is often opened in winter, then there is no need to keep flowers on such a windowsill at all - they will freeze.
Modern plastic windows have a ventilation system that allows you not to open the windows in cold weather. A slight drop in temperature combined with fresh air will bring more benefit to the orchid than harm.
You should not grow orchids and gardenia, oleander, jasmine, pelargonium, and hoya . These plants emit ethylene gas , which does not affect orchid flowers for the better - they fade faster.
Air humidity is an important factor in the growth of orchids. In our apartments it leaves much to be desired. To increase humidity and reduce the influence of batteries on the development of orchids, it is necessary to cover them with wet towels.
When the orchid has bloomed all its flowers, you can put it in any other place to admire such beauty without constantly running to the windowsill. Just remember that in a dark, stuffy corner, the flowering time of the tropical beauty will be shortened.
An orchid removed from a south-facing window will receive:
- 1 meter – 500 lux;
- 2 meters – 240 lux;
- 3 meters – 160 lux.
Possible problems with improper placement of the orchid
If an orchid doesn’t like something, it immediately lets you know. It may turn yellow, stop blooming, become covered with various sores, or die completely. Only immediate measures will help save the flower. But there are also cases when you can irretrievably lose your pet.
Excessive light, leaf burns and pigmentation
A lot of light is not always good for orchids. Everything should be in moderation. If the leaves change color or spots of a different color appear on them, then the flower needs to be shaded. Perhaps direct sunlight burned the plant.
Lack of light - elongated leaves, lack of flowering
Orchids need light in order for the process of photosynthesis in the leaves to proceed successfully. Without it, the plant will simply die. Excessive shade can lead to a lack of flowering, it will drop its buds and remain dormant for a long time. The plant will be exhausted, thin, elongated.
Lack of air
Lack of air can affect the general condition of the plant. It will be wrinkled and limp. If its root system is poorly ventilated, it may rot or mold. Therefore, the room should be well ventilated, but drafts should not reach the flower.
Consequences of drafts
Orchids do not tolerate drafts and hypothermia. Therefore, when choosing a location, you need to take this condition into account. The first sign of frostbite in a plant may be rotting of the root system and mucus on the leaves.
Where can't you put a flower?
It is advisable to avoid places near heating appliances. Also contraindicated for this plant are window sills, where the window is often opened, and hallways directly next to the front door (due to drafts). All places where there is no good access to light are not suitable for an orchid , because even its roots participate in photosynthesis.
IMPORTANT : Cold air flowing down the window and accumulating on the windowsill will also negatively affect the plant. If the orchid is in such a place, then it should be protected from hypothermia and rotting by insulating the window.
What problems can result from choosing the wrong location?
If the location is chosen incorrectly, the plant will give the appropriate signals - dry out, become covered in mucus, drop buds, etc. In some cases, it will not be possible to save it. For example, a few minutes of hypothermia will be enough for an orchid to die . But basically, the flower can be saved by taking appropriate measures in a timely manner.
When keeping an orchid at home, the plant requires competent and timely care. On our website you will find advice from our experts on how to properly prune, replant, water and also how to properly feed this exotic plant.
Recommendations for placing different types of orchids in an apartment
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis will feel great on a west or east facing window. He does not like direct sunlight, so he needs shading on the south window. The optimal duration of daylight for phalaenopsis is about 12 hours. Therefore, if necessary, you need to supplement the lighting with a phytolamp. The temperature background must be maintained within 20-26ºС in summer and 16-18ºС in winter. Significant temperature changes should not be allowed.
Dendrobium
Dendrobiums are lovers of bright, diffused light. Therefore, south-eastern and western windows with slight shading in hot sunny weather are the best place for flowers. The temperature background during plant growth should be within 25ºС during the day, 20ºС at night. After the orchid has grown, the night temperature is reduced to 15ºC.
Cattleya
Cattleyas are the most capricious and demanding flowers of the orchid family. The ideal location for them is east and west windows with no drafts. The temperature ranges between 21-25°C during the day and 17-18°C at night.
Cumbria
Cumbrian star orchids love western windows. When at rest, it is better to move it to the east side.
Wanda
Vandas are lovers of abundant lighting. Therefore, the south and southwest are just for them.
Paphiopedilum
Paphiopedilums are one of the few types of orchids that can be placed on the northern side, where they will feel good.