Orchid is one of the most wonderful flowers in the world. There are eight hundred genera and about fifty thousand species of these plants. The most famous of them: Phalaenopsis, Vanda, Oncidium, Maxillaria, Phragmipedium, Dendrobium, Cattleya. Such diversity will not leave anyone indifferent: bright colors with different shades, pleasant smell and, of course, the very shape of the inflorescence.
Orchids: care at home
Since these flowers can grow not only in pots, but also climb trees, they can be demanding in their own way regarding the conditions of “sharing” with you. Let's tell you a little more about the methods of growing and what kind of care for indoor orchids should be carried out in this or that case.
First option: growing plants in pots
The container for orchids should be spacious, made of plastic or wood. Bottom: it is better if it has holes. You can make them yourself. Although these flowers are moisture-loving, excess water can cause the plants to die. Also, holes in the bottom of the pot will allow air to better penetrate the substrate, and this is very important. Earth mixtures for indoor plants not suitable for orchids. Care at home should begin with finding a dead pine tree in the forest (park) and collecting large pieces of bark or purchasing ready-made ones in the store. You will also need polystyrene foam. The substrate is prepared from these ingredients. The bark is needed for the nutrition and growth of orchids, and the foam is needed to prevent water from stagnating.
Second option: growing plants on a tree
This method is quite simple, you just need to prepare or purchase several pieces of wood in advance. Rocks that are not resinous should be chosen for these purposes. The timber must be thoroughly moistened, then carefully tie the plant to it. If you first attach a hook (another device) to the workpiece, you can hang it like an orchid pot. Home care will be as follows:
Daily inspection of the plant;
Spray with a spray bottle at least once a day, preferably two or three times (depending on how much time the timber has dried).
Quarantine
The Vanda orchid also accepts such methods of maintenance. Care at home after purchase, first of all, begins with the plant being quarantined. What does it mean? The flower in the store was carefully watered and fed, so it was “tired” of excessive attention to itself. After you bring the plant home, it needs to be placed on a separate window, and better table, stand in semi-darkness for a couple of weeks, do not feed or water. Let the flower adapt to the new living conditions.
Replanting a plant
The process begins with preparing everything necessary materials, and only then the flower is removed from the pot. The old substrate is shaken off. To prevent pests from transferring to a new container, place the orchid in a vase with water ( room temperature) for a while (maybe an hour or more). Then you need to prepare a pot (it should be larger than the previous one) and place the substrate in it (foam and bark 1:2). Don't forget about drainage. After this, the root system of the flower is examined. Rotten and dried roots are removed with tools (knife or pruning shears) pre-treated with alcohol. Now the plant is planted in new pot. The first time after transplantation, do not water the orchids and leave them alone. Home care begins after five days. Then the flower can be watered and placed on the window where you plan to grow it.
Plants are like people. Some of them help each other and some of them
cannot be near each other. In order not to lose your
indoor plants, you need to know which of them cannot get along with each other
with a friend, and which ones are quite compatible.
The compatibility of indoor plants is determined primarily by
what conditions are necessary for them. In one room they can do fine
Only plants that require the same level of humidity will grow
air, light and temperature. However, such plants are usually
require the same watering.
Light-loving geranium and shy fern will not take root on the same window.
And not because “the characters didn’t match.” Just on the south side
where the geranium will bloom in all its glory, the fern will “burn out” and wither,
and in the north, where, on the contrary, the fern will be comfortable, the geranium will fade.
Plants that grow quickly should not be placed next to plants that grow slowly.
individuals, since the former will always suppress the growth of the latter, and soon
they will completely cover them with their leaves.
It is advisable not to place two next to each other flowering plants. They can interpollinate
after which the shape and color of their flowers will change. Although there is a possibility that
as a result of this transformation, more interesting flowers will be obtained.
Many plants begin to wither when near geraniums. Geranium follows
grow in a separate window, again, subject to growing geraniums
different colors, gradually the color of its inflorescences will become similar to each other over
due to the same cross-pollination.
Seemingly very similar in many features, lilies of the valley and violets, or
Viola, they cannot be in the same room. After two or three days death
violets are almost inevitable.
A plant such as decorative home hibiscus, on the contrary, not only
compatible with absolutely all other indoor plants, but also gives
vitality to weak specimens.
Indoor rose is compatible with almost all other indoor roses
plants. The main condition is that they do not shade her and she herself does not
prevented light from reaching other plants.
Cypress and juniper have a beneficial effect on tulips and even make
their color is more intense. On them, as well as on nasturtium, it has the most
beneficial effects of thuja. Roses and lilies support each other.
But the same lilies will definitely quarrel with poppies and daffodils. Also
Daffodils are incompatible with tulips, carnations, irises and daisies.
Try not to place warring flowers next to each other. It’s also worth considering
that some plants are adversely affected by fruits that are in
immediate proximity. Also affects all plants negatively
tobacco smoke. Remember this.
Beginning orchid lovers often do not know what to do with an orchid after purchasing it. How to care for an orchid at home. Attempts to use intuition and experience in caring for ordinary house plants most often end sadly. Luckily, your curiosity has led you to this article, in which we will tell you everything a person needs to know when buying their first orchid!
Caring for an orchid at home comes down to creating a favorable habitat that is close to natural. Almost all orchids (including Phalaenopsis) in wildlife grow in the subequatorial tropics, which are characterized by long daylight hours (about 12 hours), a hot and humid climate. Temperature fluctuations in such tropics throughout the year are minimal, and the seasons have different humidity levels. It should also be taken into account that almost all orchids are epiphytes, that is, they grow on other plants (mainly trees), attaching themselves to them with their roots. 
The tropical lifestyle has accustomed orchids to regular and good lighting, but not too bright. Tree foliage protects orchids growing in the wild from direct sun rays. A similar situation with water - orchids are accustomed to high humidity, but with water in liquid state they have almost no contact. Even during the rainy season, water from plants evaporates very quickly, and the orchid does not come into contact with wet soil. The orchid mainly takes the moisture necessary for development from humid air.
How to create tropical conditions in an ordinary city apartment? Easier than it seems!
Where to put the orchid
At first, you should not place the orchid together with other flowers, if you have them. Arrange a short quarantine - up to two weeks. Even if you have carefully examined the orchid and found no pests, it is better to be safe. In addition, while the orchid is blooming, the optimal location is the most visible one. Place it and enjoy! 
Choosing permanent place for orchids, remember their love of light. It is better to place plants on window sills and balconies or near windows. If possible, place orchids near windows facing east or west. There the amount of direct sunlight will be minimal.
If this is not possible, make sure that summer period the light was diffuse. The simplest way do this - hang tulle or horizontal blinds, stick a matte film on the glass. 
With the onset of autumn, the light becomes less, the rays of the sun are no longer so scorching, and shading can be removed until spring.
We should not forget about such a factor as daylight hours. Orchids all year round You need at least 12 hours of light per day. In our country, in the autumn-winter period, the length of daylight hours decreases. In order to provide the orchid with conditions close to tropical ones at home, you need to use artificial lighting - fluorescent lamps. 
Symptoms of lack of light are elongated and pale leaves.
Comfortable temperature for orchids
The temperature of our apartments is quite suitable for creating comfortable conditions for orchids. For tropical species(which, let me remind you, includes Phalaenopsis) in summer the optimal daytime temperature is 25–30 degrees, and in autumn-winter 20–25 degrees. Plants from temperate latitudes are accustomed to harsher conditions, but still the temperature should not fall below 15 degrees. Don’t forget about such a seemingly trifle as the difference between day and night temperatures. It should be about 5 degrees.
Orchids will have a hard time withstanding both unusually high and too low temperatures.
Comfortable humidity for orchids
The air humidity in the room should be 60-90%. Use a humidifier if the humidity in your apartment is lower. More cheap way solve the problem of lack of moisture - tray and expanded clay. Place expanded clay on the bottom of the tray, fill the tray with water, and place a pot with an orchid on top. By evaporating, the water increases the humidity of the air, and the roots will not be constantly in the water. You can also use special orchid pots with a stand inside. The ledge inside raises the orchid pot above the water at the bottom of the planter.
How to water an orchid correctly
The rules for watering at home are closely related to the characteristics of life “in the wild.” Watering orchids at home is easiest done in one of two ways:
Watering orchids better in the morning so that during the day excess moisture evaporated, and the substrate dried out faster. Remember that orchids love moisture, but do not like swamps!
Approximate watering regime: in summer 2 - 3 times a week, in winter 1 time a week, or even once every 10-14 days. It all depends on the speed of drying of the roots and the substrate in which the orchid grows. When it's hot, the bark dries out quickly. In the fall, when the heating has not yet been turned on, and the room is already cold, the orchid roots and bark dry out very slowly.
A Phalaenopsis orchid that has not dried out can be identified by the appearance of its roots. They will be bright green, the soil will be dark and the weight of the pot will be heavier than with a dried plant. If the soil and roots do not dry out for a long time, make holes in the walls of the pot to aerate the roots.
Water for irrigation should be “soft”, that is, not contain alkaline elements. Orchids are plants that cannot tolerate mineral salts in the soil. If you use tap water, you need to boil it or let it sit for a couple of days. It’s even better to use settled rainwater– this is the most “eco-friendly” option if you live outside the city.
The water temperature should be slightly warmer than room temperature. Do not water the orchid with cold or hot water, this can cause disease in the plant and its death.
In addition to watering and humidifying the air, orchids can be sprayed with water from a spray bottle, simulating a natural phenomenon- dew. It is also better to choose morning hours for spraying, for the same reason as for watering.
How and with what to fertilize and feed an orchid
You can think about how and what to fertilize an orchid after the plant has flowered. During flowering, fertilizer can cause flowers to drop. You can fertilize an orchid by leaf and by watering. When watering with fertilizers, you must first moisten the orchid roots. Do not pour fertilizer on dry roots as this will burn them.
Today there are many different fertilizers for orchids in stores. They come in both a general range of effects and specialized ones: for flowering, rooting, etc. You can choose them yourself, guided by the annotations on the packaging. Don't forget to check the expiration date of your fertilizers. Follow storage requirements. When using fertilizers, do not exceed the dosage.
Orchid transplantation
The process is painful. The plant should be replanted only in case of urgent need. For example, the soil of a purchased plant is of low quality and the orchid roots do not dry out in it; the roots look rotten (in a healthy state they have a green or grayish color). You need to be very careful when replanting an orchid, because the orchid has fragile roots that are easily damaged. Do not disturb an orchid with healthy-looking roots and good substrate, this can only harm the plant. An orchid can grow in its native substrate for 2-3 years, or even more.
Try to provide comfortable conditions for your beautiful orchid, and she will thank you with bright and abundant blooms!
Compatibility of indoor plants.
As for the compatibility of different types of indoor plants, there are no standard rules - it is advisable just not to place them next to each other different types flowerpots, because they can become dusty, which will lead to the appearance of fanciful flowers. Although, perhaps, someone might even like it.
Although there are several known cases of the influence of one plant on another.
For example, not all plants tolerate geranium. You can place plants nearby that are similar in care and require the same humidity and lighting.
The violets are dyingIf you find yourself in the same room with lilies of the valley, you should remember this.
Hibiscushas a life-giving effect on weak plants.
Indoor roseCompatible with almost all other indoor and freshly cut plants. The main condition is that it is not shaded and that it itself does not interfere with the access of light to other plants.
It’s also worth considering that some plants are adversely affected by fruits ,which are in close proximity.
Also affects all plants negatively tobacco smoke. Remember this .
Plant energy
Plants with the strongest energy- common bamboo, chlorophytum crested, ivy, butterfly orchid, lemon (orange), dracaena, nephrolepis, potted rose.
Plants with heavy energy- echmea, cacti, poinsettia, neoregelia, three-striped sansevieria, yucca.
Plants with soft, timid energy— Usambara violet, minicyclamen, adiantum, camellia, Wood's ceropegia, jasminoid gardenia, common myrtle.
Flowers can also be used to increase humidity.air. Flowers that need a lot of moisture usually return it through their leaves. These are violets, cyclamens, ferns.
Classification of indoor plants
First of all, in order for indoor plants to grow well, three main growth conditions must be observed - light, watering and fertilizing. It is necessary to consider what kind of light the windows provide and select plants accordingly.
Indoor plants can be divided into three groups: light-loving, shade-tolerant and plants with moderate lighting.
To the first group(light-loving) include cacti, eucalyptus, coleus.
To the second group(shade-tolerant) - ferns, coniferous aspidistras, boxwood, ivy, indoor grapes (cissus).
To the third group(moderate light plants) can be classified as most indoor plants. For example, citrus fruits, begonias, hydrangeas, primroses, tradescantia and others.
Each plant is predisposed to certain conditions. For example, some indoor plants prefer to be constantly in the sun, while others prefer shade. Good growth and the development of the plant and its preservation medicinal properties depend primarily on painstaking regular care. An amateur florist must take care of his plants in order to later benefit from them not only aesthetically, but also practically - in order to medicinal plants kept their healing properties, and from them it was possible to prepare medicines from many diseases.
Eg, pelargonium- a light-loving crop and therefore requires a sunny location. The pot with the plant should be placed on the windows facing sunny side. In winter, it is better to keep the plant in cold bright windows at air temperature plus 3-10 degrees. For the same reason, the plant must be isolated from the influence of hot air from central heating radiators.
