I was given this orchid as a gift (first picture). I have never had luck with orchids and I’m determined to keep this one alive. It’s been a week. It’s started so beautifully. I used 3 ice cubes after 1 week, as the instructions said, but it’s not looking well (second picture). What am I doing wrong, or do orchids just don’t like me? I’m beginning to take it personally.
Watering with ice cubes aren’t a great way to water orchids. While it works for some growers, long-term it’s not great. Additionally, It’s likely in sphagnum moss, but I’d recommend checking the substrate. Be careful not to overwater! It’s natural for orchid flowers to die off after a while so I wouldn’t worry too much if the rest of the plant looks ok.
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Also orchid roots need air and light, so put them in an orchid specific pot and orchid specific substrate
2개 좋아요 Here is an orchid care guide I put together for my sister awhile ago Orchid care Okay, so orchids can be daunting but basically it’s just different than most houseplants. It’s a baby and a princess that longs for its home habitat. They come from rainforests and jungles with plenty of humidity and light and no cold drafts or hot wind either. Justttt right. It needs good draining soil, no moss or muddy or generic soil. Also, the roots are what keeps your plant alive and those need to be seen to check up on your plant and so that’s why good orchid pots are plastic and have many slots on the bottom and sides. Also, orchid roots actually aid in photosynthesis since most orchids in the wild have exposed roots. For humidity, idk if you want to get a humidifier but the next best thing is a humidity tray. Basically just a ceramic or plastic tray filled with pebbles that is filled with water that evaporates overtime to creates a lovely mini atmosphere for your orchid. You can even paint a pretty one and have it filled with cool rocks you pick at the store if you want to make your own. But if you use the tray then don’t use the plastic saucer that those pots come with. For repotting, make sure that the orchid doesn’t have that much space around its roots, it loves to be root bound and if it’s too big a pot it’ll rot fast. Trim any roots that look squishy or dried up or moldy. For fertilizing it during the growing season (which is now), feed it weekly but a diluted amount. The rest of the time water with just with normal “jungle warm” water. Don’t use any generic fertilizer, any generic stuff has urea that will burn your orchid. When watering make sure to take it outside or to the sink and make sure you throughly soak the soil till it’s draining out of all the slots, can take a few passes but this is critical to bringing oxygen to the roots. Light, it needs to be in an east or south facing window at all times, but not in the way of any heater or ac drafts, so maybe redirect or close ceiling vents around the area. And during the fall and winter it needs slightly cooler temperatures to create a flower spike and reconfigure itself for the next growing season, otherwise it won’t know what to do and will get sick.
3개 좋아요 This is EXTREMELY helpful! Thank you SO much🙏🏻
좋아요 1개 No problem! I’m glad this helps you, here’s to growing and keeping this beautiful orchid!
좋아요 1개 I wanted to thank you, again. I followed your advice and my orchid is doing better already! Thank you SO much! 🙏🏻
좋아요 1개 You’re most welcome! Aw yay!!! That’s awesome to hear, see it wasn’t you, just the care was off a bit, now it’s all happy 😊
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watering with ice cubes might be the reason you never had luck with these
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A clear plastic pot is important so the roots get light and nake sure it's in an orchid mix, so oxygen can circulate. When watering, I tend to stand mine in a bowl of lukewarm water for a few minutes, remove and allow to drain then sit it back on its clear plastic tray. I mist the leaves every few days being careful not to get the flowers wet, orchids love humid conditions. Once flowers have died off, I tend to cut the stem below where the last blooms have died off but about a centimetre above the next nodule, which in time should produce another spike for more flowers to grow. When the air roots are a nice green it is generally happy, when they start looking a little silvery it needs watering. I hope this helps. You have a lovely plant there.
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