How to care for orchids after blooming

When orchids bloom it is a beautiful sight and if you are lucky enough to have a large number of these beautiful flowers, you can enjoy them for quite a long time, but what about when the flowering is over? You want to enjoy the beautiful sight in the next year too! Should you let flowers fall off or remove them manually? Should you remove the stem after flowering, or should you keep it? How to best care for an orchid and to make sure that it blooms again?

Blooming

There are many species of orchids. Some bloom continuously, others bloom for few months, fade and go dormant. The vast majority of people usually have the variety that blooms for few months. The Latin name is Phalaenopsis. So, when flowers start to fall off, it does not mean that your orchid does not have enough nutrients or that you did something wrong . It is a natural life cycle that affects every orchid.

Cut the stem or leave it?

So, the question is what you should do when the orchid has dropped the last flower. Well, Phalaenopsis is an orchid that has the ability to grow flowers on the same stem several times so, do not cut the stem. That is if it is still green and looks healthy.

Photo: Pixabay

Stem cutting

However, if about half of the stem is dry then you need to cut it off. Do not worry. The plant will flower again. It just needs to generate a new stem and that may take some time. You can tell whether an orchid is healthy or not by checking leaves and roots. If they look okay, the plant is healthy and will bloom again.

How to cut a stem

If your orchid is done blooming and the stem begins to dry up, it is a sign that you need to cut it off, but you need to wait until it is completely dry and hollow inside. If you do that, the damage will be very small. Do not rush to cut. Sometimes you cut near the leaf rosette and sometimes above the eye which marks the start of the dry stem. Wait and keep checking where the browning stops.

Rest time

When orchids are done blooming, wait and give them time to gain strength so, they can bloom again. You should stop fertilizing and watering during the rest period. Drought helps the plant to dry out properly. There might be a time when orchid will ask for water even during the rest period. The “I need water” sign is white roots. If that is the case, sprinkle roots with few drops of water. If you can, take the plant to a cooler place after flowering. The temperature in the cooler room should be from 17 to 18 °C.
If you cannot do not worry. Is not that important. As soon as you see a new shoot where flowers will form, you know that the rest period is over and you should start taking care of the plant as usual.

Source: https://porady.interia.pl/rosliny-kwiaty-i-ziola/news-pielegnacja-storczyka-po-przekwitnieciu,nId,5595913

Preview photo: Pixabay