Ground Orchids 101: How to Grow a Garden Full of Flowers

🌸 Ground Orchids 101: How to Grow a Garden Full of Flowers

Ground orchids are some of the easiest and most rewarding flowers for a tropical garden.
Spathoglottis grows in regular garden soil or potting mix, takes sun or shade, doesn't mind Florida's brutal summer heat, and can bloom nearly year-round. Not many flowering plants, even tropical ones, can check all those boxes.
And look at these colors! Purple, pink, yellow, orange, white, lavender... Plant several together and turn an ordinary bed into an orchid garden.
Here is what we've learned about keeping them happy.

· 🌤 Sun or shade?

Both work.
Bright filtered light or partial shade is excellent, especially in Florida. Morning sun is great. More light generally means more flowers, but strong afternoon sun can scorch plants accustomed to shade.
And ground orchids don't mind our summer heat. Even when many tropical plants struggle through our hottest months, they usually keep growing and flowering.

Lots of leaves but few flowers? Try more light.
Bleached or burned leaves? Give them more shade.

· 🌿 Yes, plant them in soil

Unlike epiphytic orchids that grow on trees, Spathoglottis is a terrestrial orchid. Its roots grow in the ground.
Regular garden soil or loose potting mix works. The important part is drainage. Ground orchids like moisture, but don't want to sit in water.
Don't plant too deep. Keep the crown and pseudobulbs at or slightly above soil level.

· 💦 How much water?

Water regularly while establishing and during hot, dry weather, then let the upper soil begin to dry before watering again.
During Florida's rainy season, Mother Nature may handle most of this for you.
The biggest mistake is keeping the roots and crown constantly soggy.

· 🌸 Feed them for more flowers

Ground orchids respond well to feeding during active growth. A controlled-release fertilizer Green Magic makes this easy. Sunshine Orchidasm liquid plant food is safe to use year around with every watering.
You're feeding today's flowers and the new growth and pseudobulbs that produce tomorrow's flower spikes.

· ✂️ What about old flowers?

When a flower spike is finished, cut it near the base. Remove old brown leaves as needed.
That's about all the pruning required.

· 🌱 Turn one plant into many

A ground orchid gradually develops into a clump as new pseudobulbs form.
Once the clump gets large, dig it up and divide it, making sure each section has healthy roots and pseudobulbs.
Replant them around the garden. That's how a few ground orchids can eventually become a whole flowering border.

· Protect them from freezes

Ground orchids are tropical. Occasional light frost usually doesn't do much damage, but hard freezes can damage them, so gardeners in colder areas can grow them in containers and move them to protection when necessary. In warm climates, they make excellent perennial garden plants.

· 🌈 Our favorite way to grow Ground Orchids

Don't plant just one.
Mix several colors along a walkway, under palms, around a patio or in a garden bed. Let the clumps grow, divide them, and spread them around.

Regular soil. Sun or shade. Pots or garden beds. Flowers almost all year.
For the amount of color they give us compared with the work they require, ground orchids are hard to beat.

· 📌 Ground Orchid 101: Save This!

Light: Sun to partial shade; best flowering with plenty of bright light
Soil: Regular garden soil or potting mix; good drainage is essential
Water: Keep evenly moist, never constantly soggy
Fertilizer: Slow-release fertilizer during active growth
Temperature: Protect from hard freeze
Height: Usually 1–2 ft; flower spikes can rise higher
Bloom season: Nearly year-round in warm climates
Propagation: Divide established clumps and replant the pseudobulbs

🛒 Shop Ground Orchids

📚 Learn more:

· Spathoglottis plicata in Plant Encyclopedia
· The prettiest flower for shade
· Ground orchids: all-summer colors
· Why do we love Ground Orchids

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