If you go to the top of the discussions page and put Ghost orchid in the search box you will find all the past posts on that subject.

Go to the AOS Emporium and find books on native orchids of North America or specifically Florida. Oak Hill Orchids sells ghost orchids, you can call them (Herman Pigors) and ask how he grows them. As you know, ghost orchids grow without leaves, photosynthesizing light into food through their roots. The actual name of the plant is Polyrrhiza (Polyradicion) lindenii.

thank you but i live in MO so that might be hard. is any one able to explain how to take care of them?

we grow them in masses of spanish moss
keep them moist during their growing season and leave them slightly dry during the winter rest/dry season down here
they do NOT seem to like openly moving air, though if growng in an aquarium/terrarium, they will need some upper air circulation and HIGH humidity.

Hi, Dark Moon,

In MN, my ghost is thriving - but showing no signs of blooming - mounted on a bare stick that's suspended in a clear, round glass vase, about 10"x3." In the bottom are water and small stones, but the stick doesn't touch the water. This set-up results in minimal air movement, which seems to be critical to success.

The vase has been outside all summer, E/SE exposure, w/ the light cut 50%. There are 4 small ghosts mounted on the stick. When the vase was in the 3rd row from the front, each plant had a green-tipped root that was actively growing. Since I moved it up to the 2nd row, w/ almost nothing to block the light, each plant has put out another root.

I spray it once a day, unless it's been raining a lot, and also spray the inside of the vase heavily.

In April, Greg from Oak Hill had a blooming ghost(!) at a show and said my set-up sounded good, but the proof was in the new and growing roots. He said if roots are growing, it will bloom at some point. Wouldn't that be amazing?? Greg said they have all theirs in a corner of a greenhouse where there's no air movement, and they bloom every year. Sigh.

In the winter, the vase has been in the 3rd row back from the E/SE window, under 2 T8s. This winter, it'll be closer to the window. It gets the same care in winter.

Yes, search the Forum for Ghost.

Also, there are other leafless orchids that bloom more easily but aren't as spectacular. Maybe some of the easiest to find are the Chiloschistas, which have tiny flowers, some fragrant. I'm consoling myself w/ one of these to cut down on frustration/anticipation w/ the ghost.

Hope this is helpful.

Whitecat8

WOW!!! thanks, that is this is the kind of info i really need. it is really hard to find any sort of orchids except for phals and catleyas so i think i will need to buy one from ebay... does anyone have any advice on ebay ghosts?

My suggestion would be to check out Oak Hill Gardens, Orchids Limited, etc. for ghosts. Buying orchids on eBay can be a lot more of a gamble than buying from a reputable grower.

Also, I've had no trouble finding every orchid I've wanted without buying on eBay, although my tastes aren't exotic. Some favorite online sources are

Al's Orchid Greenhouse
Andy's Orchids
Baldan Orchids
Big Leaf Orchids - Phals only
Botanica Ltd.
Cal-Orchid
Carmela Orchids
Carter and Holmes Orchids
Exotic Orchids of Maui - have had free shipping a couple of times a year in the past
H&R Nurseries
Hoosier Orchids
J&L Orchids
Kawamoto Orchids
Komoda Orchids
Krull-Smith Orchids
Mount Prospect Orchids
Oak Hill Gardens
Odom's Orchids
Orchid Inn
Orchids Limited
Owens Orchids
Petite Plaisance - for variety, check out this one
Pine Ridge Orchids
Porter's Orchids
Seagrove Orchids
Sunset Valley Orchids

Again, if you come up w/ a grower, you can search this Forum for people's experiences w/ them. The ones listed above generally get good/rave reviews.

If you search on the Web for Ghost Orchid, you should get established commercial growers, although you may have to look through a few pages to catch most of them.

Also, consider searching this Forum for "ghost" to see how others are growing theirs. The frustrating thing about orchids - well, life, too - is that "your results may differ."

Isn't it exciting?????

Whitecat8

thank you :)

My Ghost Orchid is kept in a 17x30Â polycarbonate exterior greenhouse (along with my cattleya and vanda orchids) with a 63% shade cloth. Although I have a 63% shade cloth, my greenhouse is very bright. I imagine that the Ghost Orchid growing in the Fakahatchee Strand State Game Preserve gets "plenty" of light and high temperatures in atmosphere heavy with moisture, but my mounts here in SW Georgia do dry out between watering. In fact, with my environment during the Summer, with the air flow I have, and the high temperatures, the mounts dry out within an hour or two. The greenhouse has a concrete floor that I water down on the very hot days to increase the humidity and lower the temperature.

I have a 30 inch thermostatically controlled fan on the west end of the greenhouse, and there are two fans on the floor at the west end of the greenhouse that run 24/7, so the air circulation is very good. I try not to let the lowest winter night-time temperature get below 55degF, but it has dropped to 50 on occasion. I mist spray the entire greenhouse in the Summer when the Summer day-time temperature inside reaches 108degF. I would like to keep the Summer daytime temperatures lower here, but again it would just be too much work for me to do more than I am now doing. In South Florida I know that the temperatures get pretty high, but as long as there is a high humidity, they seem to do pretty good. I know that if they stay wet, the roots will rot.

Years ago, when I first got the Ghost Orchids, I mounted them on a larger mount, but I didn't remove them from the mount they came on. I just attached that mount to the larger one that I had.

When I first got the plants I also bought 'Plant Success' Fantastic Fungi micorrhizae tablets from CharleyÂs Greenhouse to spray and dip the plant in occasionally (product #7170 - 75 tablets for $19.95). Also, when I first got the plants I kept them hanging beneath a plastic bell. The plastic vented plant protector (product #1747 - Solar Bell - 3 per pak, 13" diam. x 10" high for $19.95) is from CharleyÂs Greenhouse too. When the plants started to really grow, I removed them from under the plastic bell. The clear plastic bell didnÂt provide any shade but was used to keep any drafts off the young tender plantlets and to hold the humidity around them. The three mature plants hang in the center of the greenhouse on the east end facing south and are out of the direct flow of air which would dry them out too quickly here where I live.

I do fertilize it with Better-Gro fertilizer, and I also use Superthrive. I mist spray the entire mount with fertilizer - Superthrive - water, sometimes several times a day during the Summer months. (I use 1/2 tsp fertilizer and 2 or 3 drops of the Superthrive per gallon of water.) I fertilized the Ghost Orchid pretty often from last September to March, but I slacked off when it actually started blooming. During that period from September to March, I was also using Superthrive in the fertilizing solution.

I use "Orthene" as a systemic pesticide. It works good for me, and I have used it on the Ghost Orchid to get rid of wooly scale, but it has a bad odor.

I have had good luck with the Ghost Orchid; this is the second year it has bloomed. Hope this information will be helpful.