Orchid Post Flowering Treatment

[Creemteez]

The orchid I was given at Christmas has finished flowering some time now and has been sitting on my kitchen window-sill doin' nothin'. I'd very much like to prompt it into flowering again.
At the moment it is still in the pot it came in (very small, clear plastic, showing very little signs of any growing medium) and I've been giving it a very scant watering when the pot feels light. It only has three leaves but they are a good colour and firm.
I do not know the species as there was no label, but it was a single stem of smallish white flowers with a rosy centre.
Suggestions?

[Capsid]

Water the plant with half strength tomato fertiliser once a week with a thorough soaking to get all the roots wet, this will promote flowering and keep the plant in good health. It can dry out between watering. A new flower stem should appear on the old stem after a month or so don't remove it unless it has died back. Or you may get a brand new stem forming. The leaves will continue to grow too. You shouldn't need to pot it up for a year or two.

[eirish]

It'll bloom again when it's ready to, so long as you keep it growing and healthy. Orchids can bloom for a very long time but they need a rest to build up their strength again.

What do the leaves look like? If they're broad flat fleshy ones and the roots are fat (pencil sort of thickness) and silvery green, it's probably a phalaenopsis, or moth orchid. They're by far the most common sort sold as houseplants.

[mothhawk]

I do as you have been doing creemteez, water when the pot feels light and just a scant amount. If the roots look plump it doesn't need water, if they look shrivelled, then give it a drink. i slosh a bit of baby-bio in the water as I do for all the houseplants. The medium in the pot is just for anchorage, not to feed the plant and it will grow roots out into the air happily.

I have nine now, all received as gifts, and they all start to throw up a new flower stalk a couple of months after the last flower drops off. I used to leave the old stems, but if you do, then the new flower stem will grow out of this, often near the end, which means the stem gets longer and longer, so now a week or two after flowering i remove it.

I also break off the tip of the new flower stem when it is about ten inches long - (I did it the first time by accident), it usually encourages the stem to branch, so instead of one long stem that you have to keep pegging up to prevent it leaning to one side it will throw stems off to both sides - looks prettier and you get more flowers.

[wizzbang]

Is it a good idea to put them in the greenhouse or will it get too hot for them?

Lynne x

[WendyC]

If you can get the last Beechgrove on iPlayer, there was a feature on orchids. Broadcast 18th or 21st April.

[eirish]

Is it a good idea to put them in the greenhouse or will it get too hot for them?

Lynne x

Depends on the variety - phalaenopsis like it warm. They do need to stay well watered and humid though.

[Creemteez]

Thanks for the advice, peeps. I think it is a Phala-do-dah. I googled Orchid care and the picture looked like mine - it has broad flat leaves. Will bring back a little bottle of Tomato Food from the lottie later and give it a treat.

[eirish]

Phals need bright light but not too much direct sun - think African violet sort of light. They're susceptible to crown rot so try to keep water out of the growing point. I've never had much luck with them but I'm a serial underwaterer.

Oh, and you might want to depot it and have a look at the roots. The last couple I've bought have been really badly potted, jammed into tightly packed moss or fine compost and practically shrinkwrapped, which meant the roots had already rotted by the time they stopped flowering. Fat firm roots with green tips are good, stringy little shrivelly roots are bad.

Last thing: they tend to grow air roots, means they're happy but very disappointing if you thought you were getting a flower spike! Roots have round bullet tips, flower spikes have tips that look like little mittens. The usual pattern for phals is to grow a leaf, then grow a flower spike from underneath it.

And watch out, they're addictive, orchids.

[Creemteez]

Yay!!! New leaf pushing up from the centre! It lives! IT LIVES!!!!!! MMMWWWAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!