Overwatered Christmas orchid Symptoms of overwatering include limp and wrinkled leaves, yellowing or decay, and general failure to thrive. When Christmas orchid owners see their plant’s leaves looking limp and shriveled, they can sometimes assume that is a sign that it isn’t getting enough water so they keep adding more. This just compounds the problem, so it’s important to look beyond the leaves to identify what’s happening with the roots. Healthy Christmas orchid roots are silvery green, green, or white and feel firm to the touch. When Christmas orchid has been overwatered, the roots will look mushy, limp, and brown or black in color. Rescue an overwatered Christmas orchid by cutting off any rotted roots with a sterile knife or garden shears and repotting them into a new growing medium. It is always better to avoid overwatering because it is possible you won’t be able to save your plant if root rot sets in, so be conservative with water to avoid this issue. Underwatered Christmas orchid Unfortunately, the initial symptoms of underwatering and overwatering are almost identical in Christmas orchid. Check the growing medium with your finger or a moisture meter to get a sense of how much water is being retained. You may need to increase the frequency of watering to get back on track with watering. Once again, the best way to understand the situation is to take a look at the roots. Underwatered roots look crisp, brown, and brittle. Healthy roots are pliable and green, so the difference should be obvious. Luckily it’s easy to revive a thirsty Christmas orchid, as long as the plant still has some healthy roots left. Trim off any dried up or dead root pieces, as they won’t be able to come back to life. Then repot the plant and water thoroughly. Within a week or two, shriveled and limp leaves should start to firm up and look healthy. If the leaves are too damaged to be revived once you water them thoroughly, they can be removed to make room for new growth.

Regardless of which type of medium you use, your Christmas orchid should be watered when the mix is mostly but not completely dry. This can vary depending on the environmental conditions, but generally it will be about once or twice a week in summer and as infrequently as once every 2 weeks in winter.

Christmas orchid is a epithet plant, which means that they do not grow in soil as most plants do. In order to grow a happy and healthy Christmas orchid, you’ll need to choose your growing medium carefully. Regardless of what your Christmas orchid grows in, the container needs to have plenty of drainage holes. Christmas orchid pots are specifically designed to hold a chunky potting mix with lots of ventilation compared to other plant pots. They also tend to be tall and narrow, allowing air to circulate around the center of the roots, not just the edges. One popular potting medium for Christmas orchid and other Christmas orchid is bark. It is generally sourced from fir trees and drains very well. Since Christmas orchid grows on bark in the wild, it makes sense that they would do well with a similar substrate when grown indoors. The disadvantage of using bark is that the plant needs watering more often since bark dries out quickly. The other common planting medium for orchids in sphagnum moss. Most commercially grown Christmas orchid specimens will be sold in moss, because it is lightweight, cheap, and it allows nurseries to water less often. Unfortunately, sphagnum moss is not very forgiving for those who aren't experts in orchids. Because it is extremely absorbent, moss runs the risk of holding too much water next to the roots, resulting in root rot. If your Christmas orchid is planted in sphagnum and you plan to keep it that way, be very judicious in your watering. Less is more when it comes to watering in general, and it is quite difficult to reverse root rot once it has set in. Watering your Christmas orchid from below is recommended, as this allows you to avoid splashing water on the leaves, stem, and flowers. To water from below, set the pot into a container of water and allow the roots to soak up moisture for 10-15 minutes. Normally, you can stop this process when the surface of sphagnum is wet. Drain thoroughly before returning your Christmas orchid to its normal location, as these plants hate to sit in water.

Although this plant doesn’t particularly like a lot of light, it does need some throughout the day to photosynthesize and therefore grow properly. Full shade plants like Christmas orchid don’t need a full eight hours of sunlight per day, but they do need access to at least six hours of indirect sunlight every day in order to grow at a healthy rate.

Christmas orchid is a shade-loving plant that requires lots of shade. During the hottest parts of the day, this plant needs to be protected from direct sunlight; however, it can tolerate partial sun during other parts of the day. Morning sun is ideal for Christmas orchid, but it can tolerate small amounts of afternoon sun if it’s not too hot in one spot for the entire afternoon and evening.

There are a few tricks to planting Christmas orchid that can prevent you from having to take extra measures to protect it from direct sun. You can try strategic shade planting using buildings or trees to plan where to plant, or even layer using taller plants that can tolerate bright, direct light all day. Otherwise, you can try using shade cloth to build a sunshade over your Christmas orchid facing toward the sun during the hottest parts of the day.

Unfortunately, too little sunlight is still possible, even though this plant loves the shade. You might notice leaves straining to grow towards better-lit areas, leaves that grow progressively smaller, and even generally-stunted growth. In these cases, you can try moving Christmas orchid if it’s in a pot, or move other foliage out of the way so that some of the sunlight can reach into your Christmas orchid.

Christmas orchid can be damaged fairly easily from sunlight overexposure. When its leaves are exposed to bright, direct sunlight for multiple hours per day in the same spots, you may begin to notice some yellowing and/or brown discoloration at the leaf tips. The leaves in heavily burned spots may also start to curl under or in. These are signs that your Christmas orchid is being cooked in the sun, and needs a little bit more shade to be happy.

In some climates, sunlight for plants coming out of dormancy may be a bit much. When your Christmas orchid is in its early stages for the year, it shouldn’t be exposed to much sunlight. The new, tender leaves are far more susceptible to sunburn than mature ones, so be sure to shade your plants properly if they aren’t already protected from direct rays of sunlight. It’s important to keep the first foliage intact, as this will be the primary source of energy the plant as it puts on new growth for the year!