"Don't smoother your orchid plants. Orchid air will stimulate beautiful growth.
This orchid air tip is of great importance. However, many people overlook this simple fact. Indoors, plant and human requirements for ventilation are essentially similar. Don't you need air to breathe? Yes. So, orchid air is a requirement . A house that is healthy for humans is equally healthy for orchid plants. If you possess a modern air conditioning unit that continuously circulates moist warm or cool air, depending on the season, the problem of ventilation is solved. However, most of us have houses which are often dry-heated to an unhealthy extent by steam radiators. It requires a nicety of judgment to determine how much winter-chilled air a room can have without being uncomfortable. Let this be your guide: as long as a room has a clean, fresh odor it is suitably ventilated for orchids. There are few things worse for orchids than a musty, stale room. ***Orchid air tips you should take seriously. Gardener's Supply Company - Save 10% on orders of $75 or more! The ventilation of cold frames, Wardian cases, and greenhouses is nearly automatic. Ordinarily they are heated, and air changes occur between interstices of the wood parts and through mechanical openings. Lacking a heat source, the tops of cold frames and greenhouses may be slightly opened on bright, warm days; closed later to conserve warmth after the inside air has been renewed. Air changes, even on hot days, should be slow in order to maintain reasonable constancy in temperature and humidity. Never ever pack orchids together; let them stand several inches apart in order to take full advantage of the orchid air. Another orchid air tip if you live in seasoned states is be mindful of the winter. Orchids should never be placed in cold drafts. In your home open an orchid window, if you must, from the top—not from the bottom, unless the incoming air can be warmed before it touches the plants. It is better to open a window in which there are no plants. Chilled air can freeze orchid leaves. They turn black at the edges, rot in the center. Hot air, especially if dry, causes leaves to wither and turn yellow. Orchids still are called air plants by the uninitiated who, accepting the fact that orchids weren't parasites and not bothering to check their root habits, suspected they had some miraculous mechanism for absorbing food from the air. Actually, all horticultural plants may be called air plants; for carbon dioxide, which they extract from the air, is the primary building block around which they construct their complex organic foods. Orchids can utilize carbon dioxide more efficiently than many plants. One of the reasons they thrive in trees is the abundant fresh air available there. Terrestrial orchids, too, are never found in thick undergrowth, but in open areas where air circulates freely. In their native habitat many orchids are likely to be found where the air is cool, buoyant, and somewhat moist — but rarely saturated except for short intervals. Such air frequently is balmy and relaxing but with a quality that invigorates. This is the condition you must reproduce under artificial culture. It cannot be duplicated, but it can be simulated on a small scale closely enough to coax orchids into a state of well-being.
In outdoor gardening there is little to worry about if the air moves easily around the plants and is kept moist on warm days by evaporation from soil or other suitable material that is occasionally wet down. Usually, orchids grown outdoors for summer culture are set above the ground on inverted pots in order to insure the best air circulation and the most efficient use of air moisture. If drainage is excellent, potted terrestrials may be sunk into the ground. I repeat - Orchid air is of great importance.
Newborn Orchid Air
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