Is It Possible to Grow Orchids in Water?

I often put struggling houseplants in water as a form of life support. Despite the many dangers of overwatering, many plants, ranging from peace lilies to succulents, can thrive in water-only set-ups. That made me wonder whether orchids can survive in water too, given that most orchids live on trees and that water isn’t their native environment. 

Putting an orchid in water is a tried-and-true trick to figuring out which of the roots are actually dead and which are just dry. Pro tip: before snipping any presumably dead roots from your orchid, let it sit in water for an hour. Any roots that are still dry and flaky are definitely dead, but some that looked dead before probably won’t look dead anymore. So I decided to move a phalaenopsis orchid that’s been struggling for a while now to water. It had a pesky case of scale for months, but even before that seemed a bit limp and the leaves felt leathery no matter what I did. 

My orchid after sitting in water for an hour. You can easily now distinguish between the healthy and unhealthy roots.

Overwatering soil-based plants saturates the growing medium and keeps the roots wet. That pushes oxygen out of the soil, which essentially means the roots (as well as helpful bacteria in the soil) can’t breathe. Somewhat paradoxically, when submerged in water, plants’ roots essentially breathe, or respire, using the oxygen in the water. However, a hydroponic set-up won’t work for all plants, or for all orchids.

According to research, terrestrial orchids (including jewel orchids) don’t adapt as easily to water as epiphytic orchids do. Research also suggests that it takes time to convert orchids to hydroponic set-ups. One can gradually acclimatize an orchid by using an on-again, off-again method: soaking it in water for a couple days, then removing it and letting it dry out for a couple days, and repeating the process for a few weeks. 

This is the orchid’s trunk, from which the aerial roots grow. Keep this part out of the water. 

Since my orchid was already unhappy, and I didn’t feel like messing with the wet/dry alternations, I took the plunge. I found a big glass jar—clear is better for root growth—that fit the plant and all its roots easily, and I filled it halfway up with rainwater. (I’m not sure the rainwater is necessary, as my tap water has proven fine for my orchids, but I figure it’s best to avoid chemicals in this experiment). Research varies on how often one should change the water, but I plan to refresh mine about once a month. 

I submerged about 85% of the roots. A couple of longer roots are sticking out of the jar, just as they do out of standard orchid pots, and the rest are in water. It’s important to keep the orchid’s trunk above the water, as keeping it wet will lead to rot.

My orchid in its new set-up.

Growing orchids in water requires the periodic addition of fertilizer, since the plant isn’t getting as many nutrients as it would from bark or soil. There are many fertilizer recommendations for hydroponic orchids, and I haven’t tried any myself yet given how recently I transitioned mine to water. But the biggest piece of advice seems to be to fertilize wet roots only by spraying or adding a tiny bit of fertilizer to the water. 

I’ll report back on how this orchid handles the transition, but I’m feeling good about it—the leaves are already looking and feeling fuller. Maybe I’ll even have blooms to share soon!