Purple & White Moth Orchid - Phalaenopsis 'Polka Dots'
Sprouts of BristolScientific Name
Phalaenopsis (bright-eyed plant)
Common Name
Moth Orchid, Moon Orchid, Mariposa Orchid
Origin
Native to Southeastern Asia and parts of Australia
Description
Moth Orchids come in many colours and sizes, from the miniature to the massive and from bright purples and pinks to delicate whites and peaches. Look after your orchid and you'll be rewarded with stunning blooms and bold foliage! Orchids like to feel the air in their roots, and like to have some light on them too, which is why they often come in transparent pots which let the light in. In their natural habitat, they grow on trees, so their roots are not used to burying themselves in soil. This is why orchid soil has added bark, and why you might get roots sticking out of the soil (aerial roots)!
Light
In Spring and summer, give your orchid plenty of bright, indirect light (direct sun can burn it, causing the leaves to go red, and dry out the flowers); in autumn and winter, it will benefit from a splash of morning or evening sun to help it through its dormancy in the colder months. A north- or east-facing windowsill would have a good level of light.
Water
As orchids like their roots to be free, you can use the root colour to check whether they need watering! Silver roots are thirsty roots, while green shows that they are happy and don't need water. They will prefer tepid water as cold water can shock them and damage the flowers; they also dislike tapwater so boiled water or rainwater will be better for them. Bottom watering or misting the roots directly are good ways to water orchids as that will make sure no water is sat in the orchid's leaves. Do not leave your orchid in soggy soil, though! If you're bottom watering, remove the leftover water once the plant has drunk its fill, and mist any airborne roots so they don't dry out.
Humidity
Moth Orchids like high humidity, so will benefit from the introduction of a pebble tray or from misting (as long as they aren't left with water in the folds of their leaves). Make sure you don't keep them too close to a radiator or in a draught!
Soil
Use an orchid soil or add plenty of bark to your soil for best results with your Moth Orchid. If you want to be more adventurous, they can grow straight on bark or in moss, or a combination, as this will also resemble their natural habitat. More potbound orchids will produce more flowers; when you do repot, don't squish all the aerial roots in as they will prefer being free, and use a transparent orchid pot the next size up to keep them happy.
Food
Use a fertiliser designed for orchids for best results; they need plenty of phosphorus and nitrogen for flowering! Feeding into the roots is fine but can lead to a build-up of nutrients on the roots so it can be more effective to feed your Moth Orchid through its leaves, spraying the feed onto the top of the leaves where their stomata, the 'mouths' they breathe through, can absorb the nutrients. Feed every couple of weeks in the growing season and every month in autumn and winter.
Temperature
Ideal daytime temperature is 16-30°C; make sure it does not get colder than 15°C in winter. A 5°C drop in temperature overnight will benefit your orchid, and especially in autumn, will help encourage it to flower again the following year.
Pet-safe
Yes, but too much nibbling won't be good for pets, small humans or the plant!
Sprouts Top Tips
Keep an eye on the colour of your Orchid's roots to spot potential issues as well as when to water; yellow roots mean it's in too bright a spot and starting to get sunburnt, while brown roots are a sign of root rot, meaning they have been overwatered far too much.
When deadheading, never cut off the flowering shoot if it's still green as you would be cutting off buds! When trimming the flower spike after blooming and once it is no longer green, trim about an inch (2.5cm) above the second notch from the base.
Did you know?
Moth orchids are the easiest type of orchid to re-bloom, so they are the perfect orchid if you haven't grown one before or want to gift one but aren't sure of your friend's level of expertise!
Important Information
If you have any questions, please check out the below or get in touch via our contact formWe're devoted to sending our customers quality plants with the best service around. Every plant is backed by our 7-day guarantee, so they arrive in good health.
Our team takes extra steps when prepping plants for transportation, but they're still sensitive to changes, so there may be minor cosmetic issues. We always aim to photograph and disclose any flaws before shipping, but a living creature travelling across the country in a box can take a hot minute to adjust to its new life.
If you have any issues within 7 days of receiving your order, holler at our customer support team on our contact form with your order details and some pics of the issue. After the guarantee has expired, though, we can't refund as we can't guarantee care and environmental factors. If you repot the plant during the 7 days, the guarantee is void.
We have been sending plants up and down the country for many year now and we like to think we have our way down to an art.
We protect the plant from falling out of the soil with tissue paper and tape if needed, then we wrap the plant in corrugated cardboard, and sometimes we protect the leaves with extra tissue paper if required. This is then placed into a box and if there is any empty space, we fill this with void fill to stop the plants moving around inside the box. Sometimes we will write a note on your packing slip to water the plant on arrival, so please look out for this. This is due a freshly watered plant going in a box will not only be soggy, but as the plant is in darkness this can sometimes make the plant unhappy when just freshly watered.
If your plant arrives to you unhappy, please send us a photo of the plant and packaging if relevant straight away, so we can advise you.
Online orders are packed and dispatched within a few days. Usually depending on volumes, we aim to get your order dispatched within 1 working day. We have collections from Royal Mail 6 days a week so deliveries tend to be speedy.
Our standard parcel delivery service is £4.99 for Royal Mail Tracked48, you can upgrade to Tracked24 for £2.50.
We do offer a Tracked48 Large Letter option for £2.99, and Tracked24 for £1 extra, but this only applies to products less than 2.5cm thick.
*Deliveries 7 days a week only included Tracked24 parcels.
Link to your shipping policy
We get a lot of boxes, packaging and whatnot at Sprouts from all our various supplier's deliveries. We re-use this packaging material where possible, plus we take in donations from local businesses and customers to our shop to avoid excess packaging going to landfill. Sometimes your delivery might look a little different, or come in a branded box from another company, but rest assured the items inside are carefully packed with love and attention inside. We use paper tape and all our branded materials included are fully recyclable. Sometimes we use polystyrene, bubble wrap or plastic wrap in the packaging, all these items are not new and where possible, please use them again.
We have partnered with Zedify to offer low-carbon deliveries in Central Bristol for £6.99.
Zedify collect and deliver orders from us Monday - Friday and will usually deliver your order the same day its collected. If you place your order before 11am, we will aim to get it collected the same day but this isnt always possible. When you have received your dispatch email, Zedify should be delivering your order the same day, anytime before 6pm.
We cannot give an idea of time, but if you would prefer delivery on a certain date (Monday - Friday) please get in touch or leave a note at check out with your preferred delivery date and we will do our best to accommodate your request.
Zedify deliver to the following postcodes BS1, BS2, BS3, BS4, BS5, BS6, BS7, BS8 (1, 2, 3A - 3N, 4), BS9 (1,3,4).
Select click and collect at checkout to collect your order from our Bristol shop.
You will get an email when your order is ready to collect, where possible please come and collect your order the same day as we have limited space. If you are going to collect your order at a later date, please let us know in the message box at check out so we know when to expect you. Some items such as gift sets, kits and pre-order items may not be ready to collect the same day, again please let us know what day you would like to collect and we will let you know if there's any issues.
We do not offer free returns, but if you are unhappy with your delivery, please get in touch. If your parcel or order has been damaged, please take photos and send these over to our team so we can look into this for you.
If you have ordered an item and you would like to exchange it, we should be able to do this for you. There may be an extra charge for delivery, but get in touch to discuss. For plants there is a 7 day return policy and 30 days for everything else, apart from sale items which are none returnable.
You can return or exchange in our Bristol shop for free.
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