Orchids 🔎With usually 10 or more plants per pot, theses plants are loved by humans and snails alike (but for different reasons). Snail bait is useful, but beware of poisoning your pets.
Plants grow from tubers, which are usually between 5 and 15mm in diameter.
The upright flowers, smaller than those of Pterostylis curta and Pterostylis nutans, are green with a red-brown to dark brown tip.
Plant in the ground or leave in the pot. In either case, an east- or north-facing position with dappled sunlight is ideal. The overhead branches will also help protect the plants from frost damage. A thin (1cm at most) layer of coarse mulch will help keep the roots and tubers cool over summer, and feed the plants when they are actively growing.
As these orchids die down to escape the summer heat, decrease watering in early November when the leaves should be yellowing. Give a light watering (just enough to stop the soil from becoming bone dry) every couple of weeks until early March, then give a thorough watering to soak the soil. Unless there is extreme heat, repeat this weekly through March, and leaves should appear during April.
With good growing conditions, the number of tubers (and plants) will double or even triple. If kept in pots, repot if there are more than about 15 plants in a pot. Put no more than 10 tubers in a 15cm pot, about 3cm below the soil surface, using a good quality native plant potting mix. (Other potting mixes have too much phosphorus, which is bad for most Australian native plants.)
Every May, spread half a teaspoon of native plant fertiliser on each pot or similar sized area of ground.
If plants are in the ground, tubers do not need to be lifted unless you want to put some in a different part of your garden.
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