Light - sun-loving orchids are Arachnis, Renanthera, Arandas, and terete and semi-terete Vandas.Partial shade orchids need lower light intensity for healthy growth. Example:Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, Cattleyas, and strap leaf Vandas.Orchid plants which receive enough light have short plump stems with yellowish-green leather leaves. Those receiving too much sunlight are yellowish, stunted and even scorched. Those under too much shade become green, soft and succulent with thin spindly stems.

Water - generally, orchids prefer an atmosphere where relative humidity ranges from 50% to 85%. A constantly saturated atmosphere (100% relative humidity) is just as harmful as constantly dry environment. High humidity and relatively low night temperature are conducive to the development of many diseases and pathogens especially soft rot. Growers often water the plants early in the morning so that before nightfall, the leaves are already dry. During sunny days, it may be necessary to increase humidity of the atmosphere by misting or wetting orchid house floor to enhance vaporization.

 The need and frequency of watering depend on interacting factors, such as size of containers, potting media, temperature, light intensity and air movement. Orchids in large containers dry out more slowly than those in smaller pots. Plants in baskets, twigs and slabs require more water than those in pots. During drier months, more frequent watering is required. Plants suffering from lack of water become flaccid and stems and pseudobulbs become shrivelled.  

    How to grow orchids

  Orchids – a family of plants numbering some 30,000 botanic species.  Epiphytes (found in tree tops, with roots clinging to the bark to absorb nutrients and water)epiphytes,are orchids commonly found in tropical regions – in evergreen forests – that are characterized by air roots. TerrestrialS ,(have their roots in soil.) a different species, are found in temperate areas. Rooted in the ground, they have root bulbs or reed bulbs, and are nourished mainly by organic decay or other organic matter.Epiphytes and lithophytes have thick and fleshy aerial roots that are covered with a spongy, silvery crust called velamen. This protective substance attracts and retains humidity, fixes the roots to rocks or soil, provides insulation against ultraviolet radiation and contains chlorophyll to assist in photosynthesis.Saprophytes - get their nutrition from dead or decaying matter through symbiotic relationships with fungi. Saprophytes are virtually impossible to cultivate. Some of the world's largest orchids are of this type, such as the genus Galeola, whose stems can reach 18m (60ft) in a matter of days.

  The orchid appears in two different forms: SPECIES, a natural botanic form, and HYBRID,(more than 75,000 hybrids or cultivars). a programmed combination of two or more orchids or as the result of natural pollination by insects, butterflies, birds, bees, and the like especially striking is the symmetrical form characteristic of the orchid: one dorsal sepal flanked by two lateral sepals. Sepals protect the orchid before petals emerge. Orchid flower sepals are usually the same colors as the petals. The third petal is usually highly coloured and/or intricately patterned so it will attract the plant's natural pollinator to the reproductive portion of the bloom. In continuation of the upper sepal are the stigma and the corolla, which are in fact the orchid's sexual organ. The orchid is cmanages to mislead the insect by drawing him in, so that its head or stomach area aught up in the pollen-bearing stigma, and pollen is passed to the female orchid's sexual organ. Following pollination, the flower dies and the petals remain rooted in its ovaries.