It’s so relaxing and enjoyable to shower among plants and the many colors of orchids. These beautiful flowers just help set the mood for the day, and they add interest to your decor.
Here’s a quick and easy way to add orchids to your shower. Give it a try!
The links in this post may contain affiliate links. I’ll receive a small commission (at no expense to you) if you make a purchase after clicking on my link.
What You Will Need:
- 4-6 Mini Orchids (Phalaenopsis Orchids, aka Moss Orchids)
You can often find these at local home improvement stores, such as HomeDepot, or at local garden centers and plant shops. - Adhesive Shower Caddy Shelf
- Long Fiber Sphagnum Moss (soaked and rehydrated)
- Fiberglass, Tile or Glass Shower Wall
What You Do:
- Determine where you’re going to hang your shower caddy shelf. The surface should be a non-porous surface, such as ceramic tile or glass. Place the adhesive hanger onto the holder to determine the best position, then attach the adhesive hangers to your wall – do not install the shelf yet.
I recommend hanging the shelf in an area of the shower that is out of the way of hot water spray. A door or sidewall away from the showerhead works best.
- Keep the mini orchids in their original plastic orchid pots, and place them on the shelf in whatever arrangement you prefer.
The plastic pots that orchids come in usually have orchid bark that is helpful to the orchids. This bark allows the roots to dry out between watering, which is critical for the health of the orchids. See below for more information about this.
- Fill in the gaps between orchid pots with presoaked sphagnum moss. Tuck the moss all around the orchid pots to hold them in place.
- Once you’re happy with the orchid arrangement, hang the shower caddy shelf on the installed hangers and enjoy!
- Water your mini orchids once a week with about 1-2 ounces of water. Be careful NOT to overwater!
- Keep the sphagnum moss moist at all times – this will help hold humidity near the orchids without saturating their roots.
Additional Tips and Notes:
- Use Plastic Mesh or Screen Material – Depending on the style and design of your shower caddy shelf, you might need to add a plastic mesh or screen material to the shelf in order to contain the sphagnum moss. Just line the shelf with this material before following the directions above.
- Add Bromeliads – Bromeliads also love humidity and water, and their flowers also look fabulous in the shower. You can tuck one or two of them into the sphagnum moss to fill in any openings. Bromeliads, like orchids, are epiphytes, so they don’t need soil to grow.
- Add Air Plants – Like bromeliads, air plants (also epiphytes) work very well in the shower environment, and they look nice tucked in among the orchids.
- Avoid Overwatering – For orchids to thrive, it’s best not to have their roots sitting in constant water. It is far better to underwater moss orchids than to overwater. By keeping the orchids in an orchid bark mixture, the water will drain well between waterings, allowing air to reach the roots. I like to put sphagnum moss around the orchid pots (outside of the pots) to slightly increase the humidity level around the plants. Just 1 or 2 ounces of water once a week is all the mini orchids need for water.
- Avoid Direct Sunlight – Moss Orchids grow best in bright light conditions, but you’ll want to avoid direct sunlight.
- Repot in Orchid Bark if Needed – Most mini orchids that I have found are potted in orchid bark. If you find orchids that are potted in sphagnum moss, I highly recommend you repot them (using the same orchid pot) in a medium orchid bark mix. As mentioned above, the bark allows air to reach the roots of the plants, which helps the plants thrive. When moss orchids are planted in sphagnum moss, the moss can hold too much water, and will cause the roots to rot.
I hope you give this DIY project a try. And if you do, let me know. I’d love to hear about your plants.
Do you have any tips or suggestions to add? Please share in a comment below!
