Emily pritt
My orchid lost all of its blossoms and is looking sad what should I do
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My orchid lost all of its blossoms and is looking sad what should I do | The Orchid Oasis 🇺🇸 | Planta-community
17 kommentarer
MeasomerPiYour plant looks fine to me. I cannot tell from the photo the condition of the roots but the leaves appear to be firm and smooth. That’s a good sign. Phalaenopsis blooms are long lived but they will drop eventually. Typically it will stay in bloom for 3 months. It will bloom again in a year if it gets enough light. I would cut the inflorescence back to the base of the plant. There is a way you can force a second bloom of the existing spike, but I prefer to let my plants rest up for next year. If your media is old, now would be good time to repot your plant. Generally, you’ll need to repot every 2-3 years or when the media is broken down. And the media of a newly purchased plant it at the end of its useful life. When you get ready to repot, I would first give it a good soak as things are easier when hydrated. Take the orchid out of the pot and gently remove the media from the roots. Try get it all, but it’s fine if you have to leave some so you don’t damage the roots. And don’t worry if you damage some roots. It isn’t great but it happens. Just try to minimize as much as possible. Examine the roots for health and pests. Trim off any dead or dying roots. Dead roots are papery or mushy, black or brown. Healthy roots are firm and green when wet, silvery when dry. Deeper into the media you may encounter pale yellow roots. It just means they haven’t been exposed to light. They are fine as long as they are firm. I would leave any wrinkled roots as long as they are firm. Use an orchid pot with additional ventilation. They are typically clear so you can monitor root development, and have ventilation holes on the sides of the pot. If you don’t have one, you can add holes to a growers pot or any other plastic pot you have on hand. Size the pot so that the roots just fit in the pot. They like a tight fit. To minimize transplant shock, use a similar mix to what it currently is in. If your plant is in sphagnum, repot using a mix of 50% sphagnum 50% bark. That will allow moisture to hang around long enough for the roots to take in what they want without cutting off air circulation. If you are heavy handed with the water, reduce the amount of sphagnum in your mix. My preference is straight bark. The key is a loose airy mix that will allow the roots to dry between waterings. Regardless of what mix you use, gently work it around the roots. I use an old chopstick for the job. The goal is to firmly seat the plant in the pot without packing the media. You want an airy mix that allows the roots to grab the water they want and then dry out. Orchids like their water but the LOVE for their roots to dry out. When I water, I soak the pot for 10-15 minutes. Wait until the media dries out (look for silver roots) before watering again. For my setup, that works out to roughly once a week. Each time I water, I use fertilizer at 1/4 strength. Once a month flush with pure water to reduce salt buildup (this is especially important if you are using synthetic fertilizer). Put your plant in in bright but indirect light. Direct sun will burn a phal pretty quickly. Too low and you won’t get blooms. I have mine an a west window that is shaded by landscaping. They get absolutely no direct sun. If the edges of the leaves turn reddish you know you are at the max limit of sun for your plant. The best tip for orchids is learn. Read up on their care if you are so inclined. There are several channels on YouTube with information on orchid care, like Miss Orchid Girl, Here.. but Not, and Hello Plant Lovers. Podcasts like Plant Daddy and On the Ledge are useful. The American Orchid Society is another handy resource. I especially like their monthly to do lists. If you really want to dive into the rabbit hole, you can look for orchid societies in your area; nothing can replace interacting directly with growers that have been doing it for years.
10 gillningar- Emily pritt
Thankyou so much this is vey helpful, since I have multiply orchids 😀
2 gillningar
- Sydney
Mine did the same thing…not sure what type it is but it lost its bloom but I’m worried bc its stem is completely brown but I cut the step as far down as I could bc that’s what I was told. Leaves look amazing though and I even had two new ones grow. Did I do smt wrong?
1 gilla- Emily pritt
Is the inflorescence the long green stem held up by the clips?
1 gilla - MeasomerPi
Yes. Sometimes you will hear it referred to as a flower spike too.
1 gilla - Emily pritt
Ok so I’ll cut it back and it will grow back rite?
0 gillningar - MeasomerPi
Yes. At some point, if the plant is getting enough light, water and feed, it will produce an inflorescence from another point higher up.
1 gilla - Emily pritt
Ok thankyou for all of your help
1 gilla
- Sisley626
I have one similar to this and it’s looking like yours. I’m wondering if I should put it by a window sill in my bedroom. It currently on my dining table, almost 10 feet away from the nearest window. I feel like it’s not getting enough light.
1 gilla- MeasomerPi
Phals can take lower light than most orchids, but I agree that it is probably too dark. It might survive but it won’t bloom. Phals cannot take direct sun so be thoughtful of that when you relocate it. They like bright indirect light. If you see the leaves start to redden, you will know it’s getting the max light it can tolerate.
2 gillningar - Emily pritt
Yeh I’m going to move my orchid to more sun as well
2 gillningar - Sisley626
Thanks for this. I’ll try the window. Part of the window has a screen so maybe that will filter the light a bit. It’s west facing though.
1 gilla - MeasomerPi
If the window gets direct light, consider positioning the plant so that it doesn’t get direct sun for significant periods of time.
2 gillningar - Sisley626
I’ll see how it does. Maybe I’ll put it a bit further back from the window on the nightstand.
2 gillningar
- Emily pritt
I cut it back and it looks like this now is this good
1 gilla
- MeasomerPi
That looks great.
1 gilla - Sisley626
Post updates!
1 gilla
