A 'Cool Room' for Your Blooming Orchid Will Keep the Flowers Fresh

So, you've tenderly cared for an orchid for months and now it is finally rewarding you with a gorgeous bloom.  Should you treat the plant any differently now? The answer is a definite maybe.

Although the species of your orchid will be the final determinant, as a rule it would be advisable for you to remove the plant to a cooler and drier place that that in which it was grown. This will help the flowers to last much longer than in a warm and moist greenhouse or other typical growing room.

Most orchids will not suffer by being place in a drier and cooler location when they are in bloom. Most will positively benefit from it. Nevertheless, you should ensure that the temperature of your orchid's temporary new home should never get below 50 degrees F. at night.

Here's an experiment you can make if you happen to have two orchids of the same variety that blossom at around the same time. Leave one in the warm room or greenhouse, and set the other in a dry, cool location as suggested above. You will almost certainly notice that the plant in your "cool room" will have fresh flowers for a significantly longer time than the one that was left behind.

The flowers of even the best-kept orchids will finally begin to fade at some point, of course. When this occurs you can re-locate the plant back into the warmer growing room. Just be sure to shade it from the sun until it re-adjusts to warmer surroundings. Otherwise it can become scorched.

One of the keys to success in growing orchids is to understand their life cycles and the different stages they go through. Every stage requires a different kind of care, and the blossoming stage has its own unique "rules.".

The most complete guide to modern orchid care, many agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded online. Howard's wonderful guide is a complete education all to itself. And, you will find it appropriate for beginning gardeners as well as more seasoned orchid growers. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on all aspects of orchid cultivation.