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Caring For Orchids Part Two: Air Movement and Quality

© Linda Fortner

     Welcome to the Orchid Garden. I hope you did not miss last months article about "Watering," the first in a new series of articles about "Caring For your Orchids." If you did, just click on "More Articles" and you may read not only the Watering article, but all previous articles in the Orchid Garden.

     Have your beautiful orchid blooms suddenly wilted and turned brown for no apparent reason? If so, there may be something in the air! Does the air feel stagnant or dry? Let's find out what we can do to help prevent these problems.

Air Movement
     Just like you, orchids do not like stagnant air. Just imagine how you feel when it is hot and there is not even a breeze blowing. In their natural habitat, many orchids grow high in trees or way up on mountains where the breezes are always blowing. Wind cools the leaves when it is hot, and helps dry excess moisture that may have accumulated on the plant. Wind also helps distribute warm and cold air preventing harmful hot or cold air pockets. Fresh air is as important as watering. Hey and it is Free! In stagnant and damp areas, flowers can develop brown spots which is a blight called Botrytis. It spreads very fast and will infect all blooms in the area. Just another reason to keep the air moving around your orchids.

     Ventilation is a big help in keeping the temperatures comfortable and more even but be careful of drafts, because they too can be harmful. A draft of cold air can cause the flower buds to drop (fall off). Use a small fan directed away from your orchids to circulate the air in the room (ceiling fans work GREAT). Swamp-cooler type air conditioners are excellent in hot dry climates like the American West, because they provide air movement, reduce high temperatures, and also help put humidity in the air. Refrigeration type units tend to dry the air much like your furnace. Do not place your orchids directly in the air flow from a refrigeration type cooler because the air can be quite cold.

If you are growing your orchids outside, the need for air movement is usually not needed as nature takes care of it for you. But you do need to watch the air quality.

Air Quality      Your orchids, like people, need plenty of clean fresh air. It seems most people world wide are concerned about the air pollution that is occurring around the world. Not only is the pollution a health hazard to people, but to all plants as well-- especially orchids. In your home, accumulated air pollutants from pilot lights, smoking, cooking, aerosol sprays, plastic and other synthetic materials, people, pets, and other sources can all be harmful to you and your plants. To reduce the amount of pollution in your home, open a window to let fresh air in (of course, you don't want to open your widows if it is extremely smoggy outside because you may be letting more pollutants into your home than you are trying to remove). Electrostatic air cleaners will remove dust, dirt, and some other pollutants from the air, but are useless in removing unwanted gases such as Ethylene.