Arachnis: Care and Growth Walkthrough for Spider Orchids

Arachnis, the spider orchid plant, has gained prominence with the increasing demands for ornamentals when beautifying interiors and exteriors. However, the beauty comes at a price of the effort put in to satisfy the requirements that this orchid demands.

Are the requirements that this Arachnis Flos-Aeris and other species demand too tasking, or are they easy to complete? Let’s find out as we journey into the cultivation and care details of this plant to help you groom yours.

What Is Arachnis and It’s Characteristics?

Arachnis is a plant that counts as a member of the orchid family, with its leaves having a spider-like appearance. The plant has its natural habitat in Southeast Asia. It’s common for the beauty it brings to interiors and exteriors, making it an ornamental that is highly sought after globally.

Arachnis Care and Specific Needs

– Water Requirements

The plant needs enough water to grow well, and you need to match this demand but not apply it in excess. You should create a regular schedule for watering and mark out a moderate quantity to avoid overwatering the plant.

Moreover, what you can also do is to be keen to ensure that you allow it to dry out a little before repeating the watering process to prevent root damage. You can be sure that satisfying the water requirements to create optimal growth conditions for the plant will help it develop.

– Light Requirements

Lighting is essential for orchids to grow properly; the best condition makes them experience improved growth from the start. These are the orchids that also follow that direction and thrive well in a bright, but you must make sure that it is indirectly placed in a lit space either with sunlight or artificial sources. You can use fluorescent or similar lighting to create the same condition and get similar results to using indirect sunlight.

– Soil Requirements

The orchid is an epiphytic arachnis meaning it doesn’t grow in soil but on other plants in its natural habitat. However, you can create the same condition by using loose soil, preferably a perlite, charcoal, and sphagnum moss mixture. It’s essential that you include orchid bark into the mix to guarantee proper growth and because it drains well.

– Temperature Requirements

Arachnis are plants that find comfort in warm, moderate temperatures when growing, with an ideal range between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. It doesn’t handle cold and extreme temperatures well, so ensure you prevent the plant from experiencing sudden temperature changes.

You can do this by watching out for climate changes and working to balance the drop in temperature early. And this way, if you feel like the weather got colder as winter is approaching, you should move it to a place where the weather is quite warmer.

– Humidity Requirements

The plant has its natural habitat to be humid, and its essential to maintain this high humidity during cultivation. You need to maintain the humidity levels at values between 50 and 70 percent to create the optimal growing condition for the plant.

It might vary slightly depending on species, but Arachnis Clarkei and others demand this condition to grow. The different varieties would require different humidity rates, but not entirely fluctuate.

– Fertilizing Requirements

It’s essential that you schedule a regular fertilizing roadmap when growing Arachnis to feed it nutrients efficiently. Balance out the fertilizer at a 20-20-20 level of NPK and ensure it is mixed and prepared at half-strength.

Match your fertilizing schedule to an interval of two weeks when it’s actively growing and reduce the frequency when it’s dormant. This is because when the dormant season comes, the plant will not be able to thrive with the given, so try to reduce it, so it would begin to bloom in spring.

– Pruning

The pruning process is essential to improve the plant’s appearance and maintain its beauty by removing unnecessary parts. However, it’s not a process that should be done too often to avoid reducing the plant more than its optimal growth. Make sure that you prune occasionally when you notice dead or yellowing leaves on the plant to conserve the energy it expends, and it wouldn’t be stuck in different roots.

Ways of Propagation of The Orchid

– Division

The division method makes use of the parts you get from a mature and healthy Arachnis plant with developing bulbs. You should begin by removing the mature plant from its pot and carefully observing the growing bulbs with good roots and new shoots.

Then, go ahead and separate the sections from the plant using sterile equipment and dust them with fungicides to keep them protected from infection. Prepare a compatible orchid bark mixed with sphagnum moss, charcoal, and perlite in different pots and place the sections into them.

Supply it with indirect light, water, and humidity, then maintain the optimal growth conditions and observe its growth over time. This way, it will begin to grow and emerge out in a healthy manner.

– Seed

The seed method tends to consume more time and is technical since there are more steps to go through. However, it gives you the benefit of creating variants with its wide range of hybridization options. The first thing to do when using the seed method is to extract the ripe seed from the pods of a mature plant.

Sterilize by dipping in bleach and rinsing them with water before placing them in a growing medium. Space out the seeds in the container filled with the medium and cover them to maintain humidity after supplying indirect light. Observe the plant for germination, as it might take months, after which you will transplant it into individual pots and continue the maintenance.

Problems Faced by Arachnis

– Pest and Diseases

Growing these vibrant orchids, you might likely experience an infestation of pests like scale insects, mealy bugs, and spider mites. Some enthusiasts have also noticed sightings of Arachnis moths around the plant which might or might not cause damage. The infestation can also cause the plant to be infected by fungi or bacteria, reducing the optimal health and growth rate.

You should prioritize getting fungicides, pesticides, and insecticides to help you ward off the infestation and combat infection. It’s not surprising to encounter problems with cultivation after struggling to find an Arachnis orchid for sale due to the demand, because they may come infested from the nursery already.

– Extreme Temperatures

These orchids don’t like extreme temperatures, both on the high or low side, since it stresses the plant and can damage them. Excessively high temperatures make them dry off, while the opposite makes them hibernate and have their growth stunted.

It’s essential to maintain the temperature condition and balance it to the demands of the plant to retain optimal growth. Also, watch out for sudden temperature drops and spikes that might occur, especially due to changes in the climate condition. This is when you can move it around for warmer temperatures or place it near a heating light if you wish.

– Insufficient or Direct Light

Lack of lighting is detrimental to the plant as it has demands to make it maintain its optimal growth rate. When the lighting is insufficient, you will notice the leaves have a yellow coloration and no bloomed leaves on the plant.

Direct lighting does more damage as it makes the leaves dry or burns depending on the intensity and duration of exposure. Prioritize supplying them with indirectly lit, bright light by placing it next to a window or using Led lights.

– Excess and Little Water

Applying water in too little or excess quantities cause different types of damage to the plant, especially during the growing period. Applying too little water quantities makes the plant dry, and leaves often turn yellow before falling off. Overwatering causes the roots to rot, making them mush and giving off a foul odor if not attended to early. Ensure you apply water in moderation and allow the soil to dry off slightly before repeating the process.

Conclusion

Arachnis spider orchid plants are not the same as Arachnis Wow, are beautiful and might count among your favorite orchids, and if so, then grow them while keeping the following in mind:

• They are very sensitive to water, which is why you cannot over water them.
• Its humidity demands are high, and as a result, you must provide the best condition.
• Seed propagation is best for creating variants, and after germinating, you must cultivate the right way
• Moth Arachnis isn’t commonly compared to spider mites and scale insects.

So anticipate the beautiful flower that will bloom from it and map out all the places you would like to beautify with this plant. Also, remember that a healthy plant is one free from infections so ensure you observe the plant closely.