Doritis Orchid

A little bit of how I care for this orchid.

Doritis Orchid seemed to be the hardy species of the Phalaenopsis family.

They seemed to handle the weather well - heavy rain and good dose of sun.

I find that they do well in semi-shade but they don't bloom in full shade.

And they are profuse bloomers - constantly blooming if the condition are right.

They are sensitive to change of climate.

They can burn easily if placed in direct sunlight and rot easily if receive too much open rain but they sometimes have the ability to adapt compared to phalaenopsis species.

I have taken the risk of placing them in the brightest place in my garden as they are too shaded and rarely bloom. And due to the location - its a bit dark and unaccessible and somehow prone for neglect and I had almost lost the species with other invasive species sprout and taken root together with them.

Another thing about this species.

Don't throw it away even if all the leaves had fallen away.
They will regenerate new sprouts of plantlets from the root-ball.

And they somehow form colonies in the root-ball.

It is a good idea to separate them carefully and plant them but if you like me - giving them a good fertiliser and making sure they are not competing among themselves for space - is a good enough deal to keep them in a nice pot.

Sometimes they can become long and leggy

Tall with a strings of roots trailing downwards.
It would be good to take about 3 inches of cutting from above the crown and replant them
(with roots included - about 3 - 5 visible healthy succulent roots sprouts)
And continue to water at the bottom part of the roots
as new sprouts (plant-lets) will appear from the cut root system.

If possible - try to remove the plantlets from the root-ball
(Once they had sprouted with 3-4 leaves)
and place them in a small pot with moist sphagnum moss until the plantlet is stable.
Once its stable - its ready to be placed in semi-shaded area as it will grow bigger as it will start flowering.

If you don't remove the plant-let
They will overwhelm the old root ball and the new plantlet will start competing with each out in the same root-ball - choking each other for space and nutrients.

Do watch out for pest like snails and grasshoppers.

They are a menace - making holes on the leaves and munching on young leaf sprouts.
Sometimes when these attacks takes place -the orchid goes dormant and in shock.
And no new growth takes place - and it will take forever until they start regenerating.
Until then - it will just be a sore-eye of leaves and  dangling roots.

I have been keeping them for years in shade until I decided to take the risk in placing them in the bright shade and then they started flowering.

And so - its a risk.. but its worthed it to see them flowering.

Something that I will never get used to it..
They look amazing.