Orchids 22 June at 10:53AM in Greenfingered MoneySaving 13 replies 1.2K views

poppy811

I have been given a lovely orchid. The leaves are gradually turning yellow and have to be removed.  Any ideas for best treatment please

twopenny

Are you watering it too much?
Only once a week at most. I do once a fortnight. Drench with boiled water and drain throughly.
Away from direct sunlight.
They also like to be in a clear pot as the roots photosynthise.

poppy811

Thank you for your help. Watered once a week and in a clear pot but have moved the plant to a cooler spot ( was in the conservatory)

RAS

East facing or even north at this time of year. 

MSE_Molly

I'm not sure where I learnt this hack, but apparently an ice cube at the roots every few days in the summer, and once a week in winter, will keep it healthy! It's worked for me so far!

poppy811

Thanks so much for all the help

droopsnoot

twopenny said:

Are you watering it too much?
Only once a week at most. I do once a fortnight. Drench with boiled water and drain throughly.
Away from direct sunlight.
They also like to be in a clear pot as the roots photosynthise.

Interesting stuff. I heard someone on the TV suggesting watering once a week and thought "really? I do mine once a day" and until recently they've had a decent crop of flowers on them. And they sit on the window sills to the rear of the house, so pretty much in direct sunlight. They're in the pots they came in, but those are inside pottery jars.

I wonder how much better they'll get when I address these issues, though I'm not sure where I can stick them that's outside of direct sunlight. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

I do have a lot of "tendrils" on them that make them look quite untidy, I cropped them back on one but it's struggled to flower since I did that, just a couple of half-hearted ones. Still, if I'm over-watering, that won't have helped.

sammynunes

You need to water orchids every fortnight by pouring a litre and a half through the pot. Drain well after watering.

Ideally use rainwater or better still deionised water with an added orchid feed (use Rainmix or 1/10th of a normal feed). Don't use boiled water as advised above, but boiling you do nothing but make the water harder and hard water kills orchids.

We've got 90 orchids in the house and they all get this treatment.

CapricornLass

It really depends on what sort of orchid you have.  I have native orchids in my lawn, and they are in sunshine most of the day. and only get watered when it rains here.  The one someone gave me that was from a supermarket seems to be happy in good but indirect light, and I spray the roots every day, and every once in a while, run water through the pot and letting it drain.  My dracula orchid however, sits with its feet in a bowl of rainwater in one of the dark corners of my bathroom as per the grower's instructions, and so far it seems quite happy....

Did your orchid come with a label?  Or does the person who gave it to you know what sort it is?

Floss

droopsnoot said:

I do have a lot of "tendrils" on them that make them look quite untidy, I cropped them back on one but it's struggled to flower since I did that, just a couple of half-hearted ones. Still, if I'm over-watering, that won't have helped.

The 'tendrils' are air roots, it's probably best to leave them rather than cut them.

poppy811

Phaleanopsis Capricorn lass.  Already looking a bit better as I have moved it to a cooler spot