Orchids Grow in Many Climates

Orchids grow wild all over the world. They can be found in our own woods and valleys, and even up to 10,000 feet elevation in the Rocky Mountains. The largest numbers grow in the tropics and sub-tropics, where they have a mild and fairly even temperature the year around, and the ones we cultivate in home and greenhouse come from these regions.

Yet even in the tropics there is a considerable variety of climate. Some orchids grow in the high Andes, where they are constantly cool and are even covered by frost at night. Many grow in the rain forests at altitudes from 3000 to 6000 feet, where the temperatures stay close to 70° F; others at elevations on down to sea level at progressively warmer temperatures, often exposed to hot sun and drying winds.

Some dwell where the air is only moderately humid; some in very moist places such as on cliffs overhanging rushing streams or on rocky coasts where they are washed by salt spray, or in the Pacific Islands where heavy rainfall is the rule. The variety of natural conditions leads, of course, to a variety of habits, and you can readily see that orchids cannot be expected to conform to any one set of rules in cultivation.

by Rebecca Northern

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