Bamboo Orchid Plant – A Comprehensive Guide to Growing

Here is everything you need to know about the enchanting and elegant Bamboo Orchid Plant (official scientific name – Arundina graminifolia): This Bamboo Orchid Plant (Arundina graminifolia) emerged from the soil for the first time in its short life a few weeks ago 🙂The Bamboo Orchid Plant, also known as elephant’s leg in certain parts of its tropical and subtropical origins in Southeast Asia, is not just an exotic sight to behold, but also an easy to grow, low-maintenance, and hardy orchid that can grow in many different environments.
At the end of this guide, you should have formed a clear picture of the background and the characteristics of this orchid, as well as how to care for it, how to propagate it, and what problems you might encounter while caring for your Bamboo Orchid Plant.

 

Understanding the Bamboo Orchid Plant

It grows on the ground like a terrestrial orchid, unlike many others that grow on trees or rocks. This beautiful plant is also known as the Bamboo Orchid due to the strong resemblance its stems appear to have with bamboo. It can reach up to 6 feet tall under certain conditions – a must have for your garden or greenhouse.

The most distinctive feature of the Bamboo Orchid are its flowers: they come in shades of pink, purple, or white, and all have a distinctive yellow or orange throat. Each flower is delicate and fragrant, and around 2 to 3 inches in diameter. The plant typically blooms in late spring to early autumn, producing a flower show that lasts several months.

The Natural Habitat of Bamboo Orchid Plant

The Bamboo Orchid is native to tropical and subtropical areas. It is a grassland orchid, commonly found in open grassy areas, along roadsides, and in forest clearings. The Bamboo Orchid thrives in warm humid environments with a good amount of sunlight, but some protection from the midday sun. Well-watered with well-drained soil, this orchid is a good candidate for an azalea-like or hydrangea garden.

Bamboo Orchid Varieties

Although Arundina graminifolia is the species name most commonly referred to as the Bamboo Orchid, there are nevertheless a number of varieties or hybrids that have been developed, some in cultivation for a long time. These varieties can be distinguished from each other by colour and size of flower, as well as habit.

Growing Conditions for Bamboo Orchid Plant

To manage to grow a Bamboo Orchid Plant, you will have to know what kind of light, temperature, humidity and soil it requires.The Bamboo Orchid Plant is known for being an easy plant to grow, but it still needs the right conditions to grow at its best and bloom beautifully.

Light Requirements

Bamboo Orchids need bright indirect light. In their natural habitat, they are often found in open spaces, in areas with filtered sunlight peeking in from taller plants or trees. When growing Bamboo Orchids indoors, they should be placed near a bright window. Placing them on a table near a bright window and turning the table occasionally is a great technique to help the Plant lean in a pleasing direction. You don’t want direct sunlight, especially not in the hottest part of the day. This will cause the leaves to get scorched. In fact, if you decide to keep the plant outdoors, be sure to protect it from this harsh light and offer some shade in the middle of the day, when the sun’s light is at its strongest.

Temperature and Humidity

Since the Bamboo Orchid is a tropical plant, it likes to live in temperatures ranging between 65°F and 85°F (18°C and 29°C). It can tolerate somewhat cooler temperatures at night, but avoid temperatures lower than 50°F (10°C) for more than a few hours.

Moisture is also important for the Bamboo Orchid, as it thrives in humidity between 60 to 80%. It is recommended to live this orchid in humid environments such as bathrooms or steam rooms. When bringing it indoors, it is also essential to use a pebble tray and water to raise the humidity in the Leptotes plant’s surroundings or even use a humidifier. If nobody wants to walk around in a quite misty area, the Bamboo Orchid can also be regularly sprayed with a water bottle.

Soil and Watering

The Bamboo Orchid prefers well-drained, rich soil as a growing medium. Orchid bark mixed with a bit of perlite and some loamy soil can work well, though the soil must retain some moisture but not become overly wet (we never want to allow our orchids to sit in waterlogged soil, as this will lead to root rot).

The soil should always be kept moist but not soggy, with more regular watering required in spring to fall and a reduced frequency in the winter months. The surface layer of soil needs to dry out a little between waterings to prevent root rot.

Caring for Bamboo Orchid Plant

The Best Way to Take care of the Bamboo Orchid Plant is maintenance. It required to do pruning, fertilized and to repot every year after blooming the flower. Dispite of easy way to maintain this plant, Is the ke yto flowering for another year .

Pruning and Maintenance

Should you prune the Bamboo Orchid? Answer: Yes. Prune the Bamboo Orchid in late winter before the new spikes emerge, particularly removing any extra stubs that are growing from the top of the clump. After the flowering season, cut back old, spent flower spikes to their base to encourage the plant to form new shoots. At any point in the year, clip off any yellowing or dead leaves to help the plant look its best and hinder the spread of diseases.

Pinch it back if it gets too tall and leggy – this also encourages a bushy habit when done gently so not to cut into stems full of flowers or leaves.

Fertilizing

Bamboo Orchid will respond with vigorous growth and prolific flowering if given a general-purpose or balanced orchid fertilizer every two weeks during the growing season. In winter, fertiliser application can be reduced to every four to six weeks, or stopped altogether.

The additional salts leached into the soil by excess fertiliser can turn into a damaging accumulation of salt that will compromise the roots and health of the plant. A good way to mitigate this potential problem is to flush the area with clean water every few months.

Repotting

A Bamboo Orchid Plant must be repotted every two to three years or when it becomes pot-bound – the roots spread out in the pot and need more space to grow into. The best time of year to repot is in the spring, when the growing season is beginning, and before the orchid begins to grow. Choose a slightly larger pot than the one it is currently in, and refresh the soil mix so they plant is not only in bigger, but revitalised soil with new, fresh nutrients.

At repotting you might need to snip away any roots that are damaged, or that have died back. The amount you need to trim off might be quite a lot if your plant has been left in the soil for too long. Position the plant in the new pot, with just enough soil to cover the roots, leaving the base of the stems just above the soil surface. This should prevent rot and allow the roots to flourish.

Propagation of Bamboo Orchid Plant

This way, they were taking a separate machine for each tree same as above but this time was capturing the spring run off from the glaciers which had a very short run off than the mountain creek style water source.
Itis depending on the method that you decide to follow after having got the tree , and usually, new gardeners ask should I divide my bamboo or use a stem cutting . the quick and short answer to both questions is that both are just fine.
As long as you think about the following instructions , then you will most likely have a tree that will thrive :
If you do go with the stem cutting route ,then regularly insert a sharp , sanitized blade into the area of concern, right between the trunk and a stem.

 

The other most common way of propagating Bamboo Orchids is by division. Depending on it maturity, your plant should be divided up into smaller sections with it own individual root structure (minimum about ¼ the size of a fully matured plant). It should be placed into its own pot at the time you are repotting the bigger specimen (spring).

Divide the plant by removing it from its pot, and teasing apart the roots. Each of your new plants should have a healthy stem, with a good piece of the root system attached. Pot each one up in a fresh pot of soil.