"Orchids as just as easy as any plant, you just have to know them" - Falacy or not?

[sand_tiger86]

I read this all over the internet. While it's true, orchids do require special needs and are not impossible by any means, they are by far the most demanding houseplants I've encountered. Keeping one alive is easy enough...but actually flowering one and getting optimum growth out of it is the difficult part. So many of us have plants which, regardless of how perfect we treat them, will never do a thing for us other than grow roots. Orchids being finicky hot messes of plants who spew acid at anyone who touches them is a bad stereotype - but they're not exactly easy, especially not compared to most typical houseplants, either.

[Kmac]

I tell friends that orchids are very easy, as long as you do just what they want!

Seriously, I think the key is picking orchids that fit the growing conditions that you realistically & happily can provide. If you do that, they are pretty easy. And, they are very forgiving of a few days neglect, being dropped and repotted, etc. So, in that sense they are easy. That said, I do have a few that stubbornly won't bloom. Two in particular have been notified that if they don't bloom this year, their shelf sapce will be given to someone who will appreciate it!

[sand_tiger86]

Hey, another Texas grower! I'm in Waco, myself. Not too far. How much trouble do you have acclimating your plants outdoors for the summer? It gets so hot there that it's almost impossible for me without going through the burning stage first.

[Kmac]

Most years I do pretty well, with the occasional sunburn here and there. My patio probably doesn't get quite enough light on the whole, but some spots can suddenly get too much.

This year, I put my catts & dends on the patio (lightly shaded by a large tree) as soon as night temps hit 55*...so they got partial filtered light. Then, last week I rigged up a "shadehouse" with 60% shadecloth in an area that otherwise gets full sun, and I moved most of them into it. I hope it will give them more consistent light than they've gotten in the past. So far so good...

[sand_tiger86]

Ah, to own a home. I rent, and my apartment balcony is western facing with no shade. I may as well be dumping them into a pit of fire.

[panam]

I think I would have to classify them as "special needs" plants, but I also realize that I'm in a non-orchid-friendly environment. Thinking about this thread, I would have to admit that I could have chosen to get interested in ferns or poppies or any number of other types of plants that would still require education and attention, but there's just something about orchids....

[sand_tiger86]

I find all other plants incredibly boring and unrewarding, now. Once you get started on orchids everything else seems so...beneath it all. They're intriguing plants for a reason.

[Kmac]

That does make it harder...but I bet you could find a way to rig shadecloth...

[cakedaddy]

I had the same problem. I rent as well and although my deck faces north, it has no roof. I managed to design and build a shade structure that covers the entire space. Being a renter, my challenge was that it had to be easily removable and strong enough to support the orchids that hang. After a few tries, we managed a design that can be dismantled in under ten minutes by one person and a screwdriver. It also supports a misting system. I may still have the sketches around somewhere.
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[leafmite]

All other plants boring? In Ohio, it is a novelty and challege to grow Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Pimenta officinalis, Piper nigrum, coffee, and Theobroma cacao as well as jasmines, plumaria, camellia sinensis, and citrus...as houseplants. I find these tropicals beautiful and intriguing, with facinating histories. : )
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