Malaysian Orchid

Malaysian Orchid (Medinilla pendula) is grown for what hangs beneath it: long pendulous chains of small pink and white flowers, followed by berries that ripen from pink to red. It reaches about 1.5m tall and a metre across, and the weeping habit means it earns its place where you can see it from below or at eye level. It is not an orchid at all, but a tropical shrub from Southeast Asia.

Why you'll love it

• Flower chains that hang. The flowering stems drape well below the foliage, so a raised pot, a shelf or a low wall shows the plant off properly.
• A long display. Flowers are followed by pink to red berries on the same stems, stretching the show past the flowering itself.
• Built for humidity. Warm humid air that ruins most flowering shrubs is exactly what this plant wants.
• It works indoors. Bright indirect light and steady warmth suit it, so it is a genuine option for a well lit room anywhere in the country.

Where it works best

Indoors and in bright rooms. Strong indirect light, out of hot direct sun, is ideal. Away from tropical and subtropical zones this is the only way to grow it well.

Pots and containers. A 300mm to 400mm pot on a plinth or a wall top lets the flower chains hang free, and lets you move it out of winter cold and drying wind.

Feature planting in warm gardens. In tropical and subtropical gardens it can go into the ground in a sheltered, shaded spot under a canopy, as a soft understorey feature.

Growing Malaysian Orchid in Australia

Position and climate. Filtered light or part shade, never direct midday sun, which scorches the leaves. It is a plant for tropical and subtropical gardens only. Being frost tender, in warm temperate, cool temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens it belongs indoors or under glass.

Soil. An open, organic, free draining mix. A quality indoor potting mix lightened with perlite or fine bark works well. In the ground it wants leaf litter rich soil that never dries out and never sits wet.

Water and feed. This is a thirsty plant. Keep the mix consistently moist through the warm months, easing back in winter, and raise humidity by standing the pot on a tray of damp pebbles. Feed monthly with a half strength liquid fertiliser in the growing season.

Pruning. Little is needed. Tidy spent flower and berry stems once they finish, and shorten any branch that spoils the shape straight after flowering.

What to expect when it arrives

It is currently grown in one size, tube stock, so you are buying a young plant of perhaps 10cm to 20cm rather than a flowering specimen. That is a real trade off worth naming: expect two to three years of good conditions before you see the pendulous flower chains this plant is bought for.

Tube stock travels well because the plants are small and light, but the soft foliage can mark in transit and a little leaf drop is normal. Pot it up promptly into a bright, humid, sheltered spot. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the indoor plant range
• Tropical plants for warm and humid gardens
• How to keep indoor plants alive
• Exotic and rare plants worth hunting down

Common questions

Can I grow it outside the tropics and subtropics?

Only in a pot you can bring inside. It is frost tender and needs warmth and humidity year round, so elsewhere treat it as an indoor plant rather than a garden shrub.

Why is it called an orchid?

Only because the flowers hang in chains, like a cascading orchid. It is grown as an ordinary shrub, not on bark or in orchid mix.

Is it safe around pets?

It is not one of the plants we list as pet friendly, and there is little reliable toxicity data for this genus. Treat it as unsuitable where a cat or dog chews foliage.