Secret Orchid Care Tips from a Master Orchid Grower

We head back to the @SanDiegoBotanicGarden to check out their INSANE orchid collection. Long time Epic Gardening friend John Clements drops some deep orchid care wisdom on you in today's tour.

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[midei]

John Clements is such a nice man and has a wealth of knowledge. Please make more videos with him, Kevin. You are very lucky to have that beautiful botanical garden in San Diego.

[ChristopherDraws]

John didn't really give a complete answer when Kevin asked about the difference between sepals and petals (perhaps presuming it was already known) :
Sepals are modified leaf structures that encase the flower bud (protecting the petals) as it forms - in many plants the sepals are green, leaf-life and become hidden by the bloom when the flower opens (e.g a daisy, rose or lily). The sepals on some plants serve a protective function after the flower has opened, e.g. thorns to prevent animals eating the flower. Orchids evolved to make the sepals serve as pseudo-petals to attract pollinators.

[polinapechenkina]

They put together such a beautiful exhibition! More orchid content, please, if you do get into them. There are so many you can easily grow outdoors in your climate.

[emmashepard]

I have 4 moth orchids at home, and one vanilla orchid.😀 the last one is that suprises every guest we have, they all amazed by how i was able to get my hands on one.(well long story short, i have a co-worker who is from brazil, and she brought me a wine, that i rooted out 2 years ago😅)

[daphneyap]

John Clements is such a wonderful person. He discusses plants with gusto and you’ll never get bored with hearing what he says about it. Hope to see more of you featuring him and San Diego Botanical Garden, because it is for people around the world who wanted to have a tour but impossible to. 😊

[MsWDWFAN]

My grandmother grew beautiful orchids. That woman could grow anything! She definitely had a green thumb! 👍💚💜

[chattyotter]

I am loosing my mind at how many orchids there are in that beautiful greenhouse😍 a pair of phalaenopsis orchids were my first houseplants and now I have 12 phals. They are my absolute fave plant ever as each one has a unique personality and the flowers can be so similar yet different at the same time.
I would highly recommend watching Miss Orchid Girl here on YouTube for all the orchid info you could ask for.
Can’t wait to see which orchids you pick out!!!💚

[sonyalindee]

Yes this is the stuff that makes me happy🥰I love growing orchids. I live in Florida and they love fresh rain water 🌧️ I’ve always had big windows and it seems they prefer the shady west windows. My plants 🪴 are all my babies but orchids are my favorite😸

[rd]

I am an accidental and successful cymbidium orchid grower in southern California, much to my dismay. I have five, 5 gallon pots of cymbidiums that grow hundreds of flowers on each plant, each year. The length of sun exposure is key, watering is key, fertilizing on schedule is key. I would urge you to experiment with orchids. They are much easier to grow than you might think!

[capblap]

I think it's cool that you and I have shared the same path in gardening. I started off gardening mostly growing veggies like you do, but then I got a rescue orchid from a friend, and I am now hooked on orchids!! Great video :)

[michelledelkel]

I love orchids and always want to learn more about them. I keep them alive and in bloom for a long time but struggle with rebloom. I've been meaning to try my hand at them again. Really enjoy Johns info, great vid!

[matthysloedolff]

I really enjoyed this video and wish I could smell all the flowers somehow through the screen.
Please get John to do another orchid session at some point. He explains orchids so well and his excitement for them is contagious.
This excitement might be an orchid grower thing as I know a retired chemistry lecturer from the university I work at who gets equally excited about orchids. He's part of several orchid societies and always willing to help others grow orchids.

[chuck]

Orchids are my favorite kind of plant and they are so diverse! I have around 50 phaleonopsis, 3 jewel orchids, 1 dendrobium, 2 oncidiums, and 8 species summer blooming phaleonopsis! I just love them! My favorites are ones with strong sweet scents. I have one that smells like a sweet cherry candy!

[tommywidjaja]

I've been growing aroid for years and only just got into orchids. I believe everyone should do too to take their hobby year round. Now i am looking forward to winter just like I do summer

[Chet_Thornbushel]

What an awesome guy! I love how knowledgeable, yet approachable he is about his passion.

Kevin I think you should start your epic orchid journey with growing some vanilla!

[eklectiktoni]

This was very enjoyable and I never knew so much about orchids! When he was talking about the terrestrial orchids, it reminded me of an awesome experience I had. Once I was working in the garden and I found a really cool plant. It had tiny flowers spiraling down a maybe 2 inch spike. I looked it up on the internet and found out it's an orchid native to the US called ladies' tresses. I was afraid I'd kill it it I dug it up so it's still in a random spot in my backyard. 😄

[missthang]

Thanks for this excellent look at orchids! I love them but have always felt they were so exotic that they were way outside my abilities as a gardener. I've always contented myself with marvelling at the show of Lady's Slippers that bloom in the wild areas of our rural property. John did a great job on this and he even pronounced "coir" the way I do in my part of the world Epic video as always!

[terrivance]

Kevin,
This has got to be one of my fav videos of all you've made--thank you!!! 😊

[stayathomecichlidmom]

Omg orchids are my favorite. I haven't bought one in 15yrs because once the bloom fell off, I could not get them to survive. As people know they are not cheap.
I went as far as bringing them to an orchid specialist, this specialist would take peoples orchids and kerp them until they came back. My husband looked at me like I was crazy when I told him the boarding charge. 😂
Long story short, In the next few months, I will be giving it another shot.
Glad I found this video.

[lawrenberghanson]

LOL. John was such an entrepreneurial kid. Loved orchids!!! I bought my first one for my birthday earlier this year. Next year I plan on attending the NYBG Orchid show. They are so beautiful and awesome.