Commonly referred to as orchids if only the moths fluttering round the porch at night exhibited the magnificent shades and contours of the petals of Phalaenopsis orchids. These beauties grow from southeast Asia to northern Australia on trees and rocks in subtropical areas. In the wild, moth orchids replicate despite their primadonna looks like crops.
So Many Orchids, So Little Time
With their dramatic although fragile beauty, orchids have the reputation of being rarified plants which can be cultivated from tropical jungles or hothouses. In reality, some 30,000 species of orchid have been found, and one-eighth of the plants in the world are orchids. The moth orchid is one of the easiest species to cultivate and can grow outside in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12.
Not Just a Pretty Face
Moth orchids are cherished because of their sprays of flowers in an impressive range of colors from white to purple. Several have markers that are delicate, and a few blooms grow to 6 inches wide. The orchid stalks arch gracefully and can grow a lawn tall. The plants create leaves that are thick like a succulent, growing from the root. The genus name Phalaenopsis comes the words for appearance, opsis, also for moth, phalalina.
The Sex Life of Orchids
Growers cultivate orchids by taking. In the wild, much replicate like ordinary garden varieties. They rely to move pollen to the female reproductive organs so that seeds could be generated. Bees, butterflies, moths and flies do the job. They come in contact with the waxy pollen sacs of the orchid, called pollinia as they approach. The pollinia attach to this pollinator’s body and are transferred to other blossoms.
Living on Air
Looking to get a moth orchid is simpler than many gardeners imagine. Irrigation proves the problem, and overwatering than any other trigger kills orchids. Rather, although the plants live in trees or on rocks in the wild, but are epiphytic, not carrying their nutrition from dirt or in the the tree in the air. Therefore, the orchids watered when the medium is quite dry, and have to be cultivated like fir bark at a really light medium with drainage. Best in indirect sunlight grows daily temperatures over 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night and between 72 and 80 degrees during the day.