EASY DOES IT: A new study found that Phalaenopsis orchids need to be watered every 20 to 25 days. Rocket Farms hopes the results will help persuade consumers and florists that orchids are a practical, easy-to-care-for plant.

Here’s a sales technique you probably haven’t used for orchids: Tell customers the exotic beauties double as low-maintenance houseplants.

That’s the message Rocket Farms is sending its customers, and the Salinas Valley nursery has the science to back up the claim. A new study, sponsored by Rocket Farms and conducted by University of California-Davis researchers, found that “orchids grow best and maintain healthy flowers longest when they are watered only every 20 to 25 days.”

“This study repositions orchids in the world of flowers and demystifies the presumption that orchids are delicate and difficult to keep alive,” said Marc Clark, vice president of Rocket Farms. “Instead, the study shows orchids to be a perfect, worry-free houseplant that are owner-friendly, very low-maintenance flowers, whose blooms can last for months.”

The UC-Davis team used two varieties of Phalaenopsis orchids (white and pink) grown in sphagnum moss. According to the study, “within each variety, 66 fairly uniformly developed, single-spiked plants were selected. All orchids had received identical watering treatments prior to inclusion in the study. Over the course of six months, plants were watered following 11 different watering treatments, consisting of 0. 5. 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50 and 60 day watering frequencies.”

Rocket Farms commissioned the study to help generate home-care instructions for its Phalaenopsis orchids. Though this is the company’s first foray into research, Clark said it might not be the last that Rocket Farms sponsors.

Clark declined to disclose how much the company spent to sponsor the study.

Rocket Farms is promoting the study results to industry and mainstream publications – in the hopes that the message of orchids as no-fuss plants will trickle down to consumers. But retail florists, Clark said, can capitalize on the results as well.

“This new information on proper orchid care will reduce staff time dedicated to orchid care, use less water, enable longer shelf-life and decrease shrink, all leading to increase profits for retail florists,” Clark said. “As the study results are conveyed to consumers, there should be an increase in consumer demand for orchids, again increasing revenues for retail florists.”

“Optimize Watering Schedule for Increased Phalaenopsis Shelf-Live, Crop Quality and Consumer Satisfaction” was conducted by Susanne Klose, Ph.D., and Craig Spielman, Ph.D., at the Department of Plant Sciences of the University of California-Davis. For more information, contact Rocket Farms, www.rocketfarms.com.