TROPICAL FEVER
IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A BEAUTIFUL HOUSEPLANT, EXOTIC MOTH ORCHIDS ARE POPULAR AND ACTUALLY LOWER MAINTENANCE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK
Rainwater is best but even in my hardwater area I get away with tap water
THERE was a time when every household in the land had its fair share of houseplants – a weeping fig in the sitting room, a rubber plant in the hall and bedroom windowsills awash with cyclamen.
Alas, our collective patience seems to have run out in terms of the relatively minimal care that such items of household decoration need, and a bunch of cut flowers is now the preferred alternative. Of course, there is a happy medium – an easy-to-care-for houseplant that has attractive flowers. And we seem to have found it in phalaenopsis, the moth orchid.
You’ll see these beauties everywhere, from supermarkets to garden centres, with arching sprays of rounded, waxy flowers that may be anything from pure white to magenta, with every shade in between.
Choose a plant that has a few flowers already open and many more in bud, and you can bank on it lasting from now until well into the new year.
The secret is not to overwater it.
Ideally rainwater is its preferred refreshment but, even in my hardwater area, I get away with using tap water. The main thing to remember is the plants need a minimal amount.
You’ll find they are grown in transparent plastic pots, since many of the fleshy roots enjoy daylight. It is quite sufficient to run the pot under the tap once a week and allow all the water to run off before you put the container back into its outer pot.
That’s really all there is to it.
Water more frequently and you will find that the plant suffers and does not last nearly so long. Other than this, all your moth orchid will ask for is a spot in good, indirect light and its leaves will appreciate a quick wipe over when they get dusty.
When the flowers do fade, don’t cut off the stalk but snip it back to the first knobbly joint below the tip. You may find that in a few months it produces another flower spike.
Now if that’s not a plant worth growing I don’t know what is.