What Is the Best Fertilizer for Phalaenopsis Orchids? A Detailed Guide to Indoor Care

Phalaenopsis orchids have an elegant, graceful flower shape. In their native environment, they can grow with flamboyant, gorgeous blooms, and the reason is that they want to use their beautiful appearance to attract insects to pollinate them and continue the next generation. But once we buy them back from the flower grower, the phalaenopsis may immediately lose its shape, with the flowers becoming droopy and dejected, and very unappealing. What should beginners do about this? What problems will you encounter when growing phalaenopsis, and how do you solve them?

In fact, growing phalaenopsis is really all about experience, which is the most valuable thing. General textbooks say to water properly, provide sunlight, fertilize, and so on, but how do you grasp the key points? First of all, fertilizer is very particular. For example, before the flower spike appears, you should spray phosphorus fertilizer. When the flower spike appears and has its first flower bud the size of a grain of rice, you should switch the phosphorus fertilizer to a nitrogen-potassium fertilizer. The reason is that nitrogen and potassium help make the flower stalk thick and strong.

Secondly, learning to water phalaenopsis well is very important. Not every flower lover can get the precise water amount right. Here it is suggested that when watering you feel the soil with your hand and decide based on the situation. If it is fairly dry, you can give it a thorough watering.

If the soil is fairly moist, then you might as well put it in a fairly ventilated spot. Improper care can easily cause the roots to rot. At the same time, also note that in drier seasons (such as summer and autumn), you should mist water on its leaves every few days, or mist water around the flowers. Doing this can increase the humidity in the air.

Then there is lighting. You should know that the phalaenopsis itself grows as an epiphyte on tree trunks in the jungle, so its light requirements are not strong. It is best to use soft, diffused light for care, and placing it indoors is very suitable.

Finally, after daily care is all fine, you also need to confirm the soil substrate. Generally, it is recommended to use substrates such as sphagnum moss, fern roots, bark, charcoal, ceramsite, and so on. This is because the phalaenopsis is an epiphytic plant, and its roots are all thick and fleshy, and it itself has the ability to store water, so it is best to use the well-aerated, loose media mentioned above.