The 28th Annual Morongo Basin Orchid Festival was held this weekend, and it’s quite likely that you have a new orchid in your home. So many people attend the beloved event at Gubler’s Orchids in Landers, but we don’t always know how to take care of our orchids so that they’re still alive when the next orchid festival comes around.
Chris Gubler of Gubler’s Orchids was on the Z1077 Up Close show when host Gary Daigneault asked him about orchid care. Here is a cutting from their conversation.
“So I want to go back to Orchids a little bit. As you know, my wife kills her limit every year. What are the number one thing that people do wrong when they get an orchid home?
They overwater it. Orchids are older plants, usually a first time flowering orchids four years, maybe five years old. So people want to take better care of it.
Well, their idea of taking better care of it is to water it more. And then…
It’s like overfeeding your dog.
Yeah, exactly. Instead of… Like the dog gets fatter, the roots start to die, and then the plant begins to wither, so you think it needs more water, and that’s usually the end of that.
How much water do I give my orchids, Chris Gubler?
Well, you know, it’s a loaded question, but it varies by the time of the year. Water is a critical component because it’s what makes the sugar in the plants. It’s a key component.
“So during the summer, about every seven days, seven to ten days, if it’s in the sphagnum moss. And during the wintertime, you probably go 10 to 12 days.
So do you soak it and then leave it alone for 10 to 12 days?
Yeah. Yeah. A lot of our plants now are grown in clear pots.
So if the roots are turning white, that’s an indication that it needs water. Yeah.
Last time Chris came to, I think it was my house, and I had an orchid out there. And he looked at it and said, that’s an orchid, not a cactus. Because the roots are turning color.
That’s right. That’s right.
And we took care of that. What’s the other thing people do wrong besides overwatering?
Well, that’s the number one thing. The second thing is they don’t give it enough light. And light is really important for the health of the plant, to make it sugars and to make it strong.”
