Without a shadow of doubt, the pot plant to outdo any other you care to mention has to be the moth orchid, known in horticultural circles as phalaenopsis.
They come from central Asia, where they grow on trees or rocks, but certainly acclimatise to UK households without much bother.
Have a look at the compost in the pot of your moth orchid. It is basically chipped tree bark. About every appropriate windowsill chez nous is lined with them.
The reasons for their popularity can be summed up very simply: their beauty and elegance and their simple, undemanding requirements, despite their exotic origins.
Truth to tell, many people are astonished at how easy they are to look after.
Some say to me: “I’ve never been good with house plants; I can’t believe how easy the orchid has been to look after – so far.”
I want to remove that defensive phrase “so far” by emphasising the fact that they will continue to thrive if you follow a few very simple rules.
You receive a gift of a moth orchid, in flower. It might have a single stem, maybe more, depends how much was spent on it.
The flowers do last for a long time compared with some other indoor plants, but they are subject to ageing like any other living organism and will fall off eventually. Don’t panic.
“What do I do now?”
Have a look farther down the stem until you spot a knobbly bit, which is referred to as a node; cut off the top part of the stem just above that node with a pair of sharp scissors.
With patience and continuing attention, the plant will flower again.
They may be less attractive for a while. Ours are relegated to the spare room – referred to, for obvious reasons, as the sanatorium.
We know about watering and feeding but I will come back to that.
At this time of year, the two vital elements for the continued health of these plants are heat and light.
I’m a bit chary about using the word heat because, contrary to what you might think, these plants don’t need high temperatures.
In old money, they are quite happy at temperatures in the mid 60s (17C) or thereby.
In summer, they will enjoy higher temperatures and, indeed, within reason, the higher temperatures encourage flowering.
That said, about three weeks of these lower temperatures (17C) at this time of year help the plant to initiate flower buds, although you will not be seen until the higher temperatures return in a few months.
The other critical element is light.
It is a fact that they are not too keen on direct sunlight for long periods. Think about it. They live on trees, therefore they are more likely to get a mixture of light and dappled shade.
While they can cope with a north-facing window, they much prefer an east-facing location, and I can vouch for that because, at this moment, we have five in our east-facing porch, all at different stages – some resting, some in bud and some in full flower.
As you can probably guess, given their arboreal habitat, they also enjoy a bit of humidity, sometimes difficult in “furnished” environments.
Stand them in a gravel saucer and keep that moist. If possible, using a little sprayer, mist over the leaves and surrounding exposed roots from time to time.
On that point about humidity, I must share with you a true story concerning the late Sid Robertson.
We were doing a question and answer session somewhere, and Sid landed with a question about indoor plants. The questioner kept interrupting him in a rather aggressive manner.
In exasperation, to draw a line under this discussion, which was going nowhere, Sid said: “Well, madam, these plants in your ‘furnished’ conservatory need humidity and I suggest that you jist hiv tae waater the Wilton every day.”
Let’s come back to the watering and feeding.
For many plants, their requirements are curtailed when the days are short and the temperatures lower.
This is a time when they are allowed to “rest”, but they do need watering (with water at room temperature, please) and, in the case of these orchids, half-strength feed once a month.
One last point: have a think about where they are sitting. In the growing season, it is hard to go wrong, for they are very accommodating. In winter, however, be careful about siting them.
Avoid nearness to radiators, draughts and winter chill from being trapped behind the curtains when they are drawn shut at night.