Orchids are one plant family that occupy many different environments. Members of the Orchid family can be found in a deciduous woodland as well as in tropical rain forest. This is one plant group adapted to many different habitats. Some Orchids such as Cymbidiums and Odontoglossums (Cool and Intermediate) will be happy to share a greenhouse with other plants others will need special care. Only if you move on to specialise will the detail of their environmental needs have to be considered. One group of Orchid however do need a special environment. These are described in the old literature as "Stove Plants" and include species such as Cattleya. They need it hot and humid as they are Orchids from the tropics. For these the Orchid House needs to be carefully designed to provide tropical conditions. These Orchids require high temperatures (and benefit from day and night variation) plus high humidity. The Orchid House needs to be well insulated of timber construction to keep down heat loss and secondary glazed to insulate the roof and sides. This insulation can also be achieved with twin or triple skin polycarbonate glazing and for some specimens the sides of the orchid House can be boarded to the eaves. In these conditions condensation can be a problem and fillets are fitted to the rafters drain off the condensation rather than have water drips damaging the foliage. High humidity is required and this may need special staging to take trays of wet gravel. In these conditions ventilation is only needed when the temperature rises too high it needs to be efficient and it should be designed for a rapid air flow to be possible. The location of the vents at ground level and at the ridge is the best option. Building ventilation into the Orchid House and making provision for passive systems to increase humidity are preferable to mechanical devices that can fail. Maintaining the environment for these plants is a real challenge but to a grower the plants are well worth the effort.

C. H. Whitehouse Ltd. have been making Orchid Houses since the 1920s and started using Western Red Cedar in the late 1930s. Every endeavour is taken to ensure that the quality of our Greenhouses and Orchid Houses continue to be of a very high standard.
Our wide experience of Orchid growing is reflected in the detail of the design of each Orchid House. Where necessary we will meet with your Orchid supplier to make sure the Orchid House is designed to achieve exactly the right environment. When required we fit anti-drip fillets to the rafters and provide special narrow roof ventilators. Low level sliding ventilators can be included either in timber sides or incorporated into Brick-Based designs. The sides and ends may be double glazed or insulating glazing used. Special staging of narrow slates can be included as well as under staging to take moisture trays. Partitions may be provided as required to divide the Greenhouse into separate sections to provide for different environmental conditions. The Orchid House can be made with secondary glazing or polycarbonate used for glazing.
We can make Orchid Houses to any size based on the criteria for our Sectional Greenhouses and Brick Based Greenhouses. We have also found that our customers have enjoyed success with their orchid collection grown in a Hexalight Greenhouse. The internal layout of the Hexalight and its ventilation system make ideal growing conditions for a range of Orchids.

Shading for Orchid Houses
Chain Lath Blinds can be fitted to the outside of your Orchid House to protect your plants from too much sunlight. These are considered by many to be the ideal method of shading and we are able to construct Chain Lath Blinds to meet individual needs. Orchid growers find that the dappled shade provided by the slats gives ideal growing conditions for their plants.