Do they grow well in office enviroments?

[cyaros]

This is my first orchid it is a phalaenopsis. I want to keep in at my desk at work. It won't get natural light but it is about 1 foot away from florescent light. Is this a good environment for them?

[0rch1dman]

A coworker of mine has hers under the fluorescent light on her desk and it is very healthy. She says she keeps the light on ALL day and sometimes on the weekend when shes gone. I hope this helps.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

It will probably be alright while in bloom, but it will most likely need some light changes and possibly temp changes to re-bloom for you. Most plants (maybe all??) need both light and dark conditions for healthy growth. Some phals need a ten degree drop in temps to get them to spike again too. I would keep it on the desk while in bloom and then bring it home to a window location while growing. JMHO.

Cheers,
BD

[GiovannaD]

Not even people live well in an office enviroment, much more a phal that's sometimes as capricious as an opera diva.

[Becky15349]

I just wanted to jump in here - I work in an office, and even people here with large windows in their personal offices have not had much success with orchid growing. I think a reason for this is that they tend to overwater them, and there is no air movement in these offices, so the plants start to rot and just generally decline. I'm always taking sad-looking orchids from my co-workers after they realized that they 'chids didn't want to be in the office any more than they did, LOL...

If she wants to get a plant for her office, I highly recommend bamboo or pothos, as neither require air movement and LOVE flourescent lights!! I have some amazing pothos on my desk, and its like a jungle, people love it. I included some pics of my jungle:

[doodlekitty]

HEY....nice pic of McDreamy you have in the background.........



oh and the plants are nice too!!

[GiovannaD]

BTW, "pothos" in greek means lust.

[hcubed]

Hm, I so far haven't had any trouble with 2 phals in my office. They were there when I joined given as gifts to the office and it didn't take long before they were in my care. One is a bit sickly, but it was severely overwatered when I found it. It bloomed though and now I should repot it. The second one is gigantic (I posted a pic of it awhile back somewhere here) and is now spiking. Exciting to see what color it will be!

But my office does have a lot of windows and often an open window so I doubt it is much different than growing at home. I am lucky there I guess. Sure going to be hot in the summer though!