Orchids native to rainforests often grow on our windowsills. There are also orchids that grow in our gardens all year round.

Orchid
Orchids inspire in many shapes and colors

Everyone is familiar with the ever-popular blooming splendor of orchids, and many people even have one or more specimens of the exotic plant in their own home. The vast majority of commercially available plants are based on a handful of species, but the variety of orchids worldwide is significantly greater. The orchid family (Orchidaceae) form the second largest family within the flowering plants and are also native to temperate climates with many species. We introduce you to the colorful variety of orchid species.

Orchids: general characteristics and profile

Orchids are considered to be a particularly diverse plant family, which includes an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 species and is only surpassed by the daisy family (Asteraceae) in their number of species. A special feature of orchids is their distribution on all continents (except Antarctica, of course), most of them in Asia. The majority of all orchid species are found in the tropics, where they grow predominantly epiphytic (as epiphytes) and get their food from tree deposits and the air. In fact, there are species native to Germany that can definitely keep up optically with the tropical specimens.

Real vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) also belongs to the orchid family

Orchids have become particularly popular as ornamental plants due to their great variety of colors and distinctive, zygomorphic flowers (asymmetrical upper and lower lip) and are now being cultivated on a huge scale for the mass market in Thailand, Taiwan and the Netherlands.

We recommend the following products for magnificent orchids:

  • Floragard orchid soil: peat-free special soil for the special requirements of your indoor orchids. Pine bark and coconut chips ensure a light and airy structure. Premium fertilizers such as guano ensure strong and vital plants.
  • Cuxin liquid fertilizer for orchids: The special fertilizer for orchidscontains many organic nutrients for lush flowering. Iron chelate ensures deep green leaves.
  • Cuxin Foliar Care Spray: Care spray for orchids based on an ionic wetting agent. The trace elements it contains balance the moisture balance of orchids in a dry environment and thus ensure fresh green leaves and a high flowering rate.
Cuxin liquid fertilizer for orchids, 400 ml€5.95Details →
The “Frauenschuh” is indeed somewhat reminiscent of a shoe
  • Epidendroideae: Largest subfamily of orchids; about 650 genera with around 18,000 species; predominantly tropical and epiphytic; Basis for the commercially available orchids

Genera: Dendrobium, Phalaenopsis, Vanda and many others

  • Orchidoideae: Subfamily subfamily; some of them also spread in Germany

Genera: Platanthera (forest hyacinths), Dactylorhiza (orchids), Ophyris (orchids) and many more

  • Vanilliodeae: Tropical lineage of orchids with 15 genera and about 200 species

Genus: For example vanilla (vanilla), including real vanilla (Vanilla planifolia) as a spice plant

You can also find some types of orchids here, such as the forest hyacinth (Platanthera bifolia)

Are you a true orchid lover? Then take a look at our specialist articles on the cultivation of orchids, orchid care, the pruning of orchids and orchid repotting as well as orchid diseases and watering the orchids of orchids.

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Houseplants