You will frequently hear this about growing orchids, "It's easy for you to say but hard for me to do". Well, growing orchids does not have be hard. You need to know that the main ingredient used for all plants is the same for orchids - light, water and fertilizer. Some TLC will also help. You don't need to go far for help.

1. Ask around. Yes, most people growing orchids love to answer questions. Like most people giving advice is fun and makes one fell useful. You can learn a great deal about growing orchids from the local orchid society.

There are many orchid societies throughout the world and once again they are a treasure of information. At many of their meetings the members will bring in some orchid plants that they are willing to sell. Usually they are at a very cheap price.

2. Growing orchid plants follow no set rules. There are no check off lists to follow nor are there any secret ingredients to use. The fertilizer, for example, is a well balanced one of 20-20-20 which is available in any store that deals with plants.

Also, don't be surprised if you ask the same question to several orchid growers and get different answers.

3. Make it fun. Make the trip you are taking with your orchids fun. Consider it a learning experience. Continue to talk with a lot of people, don't be afraid to ask questions. Everyone of us have gone through the same thing and thought that our questions were extremely basic and one I should know the answer to.

If you have a failure and lose an orchid plant just laugh about it. After all, been there and done that. We're all on a journey and it is a learning one.

Learn from your mistakes.

If you're not sure why it went wrong then ask a friendly orchid grower near you.

4. Books. Yes there are a large number of books out there and they cover a lot about growing orchids. They are great to have as references so that you can try to understand what you did right as well as what you did wrong.

As I mentioned in the outset this was an article on growing orchids and one that I felt was important for you to read. Read more about about water, light and fertilizer is covered in other sections of this Web site. See below.