A-Z house plants: orchids

Bring elegance and flowers into your home with a low-maintenance miniature orchid

Orchids

These classic blooms are the epitome of luxury in the plant world. With striking and long-lasting flowers floating above structural leaves, it’s easy to see why they are so often used to add sophistication to homes and hotels. Moth orchids, also known as

Phalaenopsis, are the easiest orchids to keep flowering and care for, with mini moth orchids offering a more modern take on this classic plant. The diminutive, charming mini orchids are more versatile for styling and easier to fit into small spaces, such as on shelves, tables or even inside a terrarium. With a little bit of care you’ll have a plant or a gift that will bloom again and again for years to come.

Originally from Southeast Asia, moth orchids are more tolerant of a wide range of conditions in the home, making them the perfect gift or first orchid for your collection. In order to get them to rebloom, how you treat them during and after flowering is crucial. Once most, but not all, of the flowers have gone over, cut the flowering spike back to just above a bud, leaving three or four buds on the stem – this will encourage a new side shoot to form. Once all the flowers have finished, place the orchid into a cooler spot for four to six weeks, as this will also encourage new flower spikes to grow. You’ll only need to repot a moth orchid about a year after you buy it. There’s no need to increase the size of the pot as orchid roots like to stay tightly packed, instead you just need to replace the growing medium. Repot using an orchid mix, removing any dead material and packing the compost into the spaces all around the roots.

Position On a windowsill free from drafts or somewhere with a lot of bright light, best kept in a temperature between 18-24°C.

Care Most orchids die from being overwatered. Only water every couple of weeks and let the water drain well before putting back in a cover pot.

Details Use an orchid feed, formulated for ‘bloom’ rather than ‘grow’, all year round for more flowers and feed every few weeks.