Your favorite orchid has faded - what should you do next?

"Listen, and where is your dendrobium, which was given to you for your birthday?" I asked a friend, coming to her house again. "There he is in the corner," she answered. Seeing in the corner of the window-sill the pathetic stumps of what used to be a chic blooming plant, I was horrified. "Why did you cut it off?" "Well, he has faded, that's why I was advised to cut it off so that it would blossom sooner," she told me with her answer. It would be better if she asked me - if the orchid has faded, what to do next with her?

So, what to do with the faded plant? It all depends on what kind of orchid you have. This article will tell you about the most common, which often due to circumstances fall into the hands of newcomers - phalaenopsis and dendrobium (including hybrids). The most beautiful, bewitching and stunning imagination has an orchid flower. Care of it, of course, wants to ensure that it blooms again and again.

Fallen phalaenopsis - what to do?

The first thing to do after all the flowers have dried up is to cut the flower stem. If phalaenopsis does not belong to miniature forms - the flower spike should be cut 1,5 - 2 cm above the live last kidney, counting from the upper edge. The live kidney should look green, not wrinkled and snug against the branch. Such pruning stimulates phalaenopsis to continue flowering.

From this kidney can begin its growth a new flower spike or even a baby. If the orchid has faded, and this is a miniature phalaenopsis, then the flower stalk should be cut as low as possible - under the root. In miniature forms, peduncles are short, usually there are few kidneys and they are usually already withered, so full trimming is recommended. After pruning, the care for Phalaenopsis remains unchanged - the same watering a few days after the soil dries completely and fertilizer is applied to the orchids once a month.

Care for dendrobium and its hybrids after flowering

Buying gorgeously blooming dendrobium, we often encounter a problem - the orchid has faded. What to do next? Usually, the flowering of these orchids stops in the fall. If you have a dendrobium nobili, you need to arrange a period of rest with a complete cessation of watering and a cool content of 1-1.5 months. In winter, it's easy to arrange, putting a pot of orchids close to the window glass. The same rule applies to dendrobium-phalaenopsis. The temperature of the content during this period should not be higher than + 9-12ºС for them, for dendrobium nobil - + 5-7ºС, and for Dendrobium King - up to + 2ºС. Cold wintering is the main answer to the question: "Orchid has faded, what should I do next?"

If you do not arrange a cool wintering for dendrobium, the new bulb will grow, it will be larger than the previous one, but will not be blossoming this season, despite any efforts. Do not cut old bulbs - their plant gradually uses for its development. In dendrobium-phalaenopsis, the flower stalk after flowering needs to be cut off. When a new one starts to grow - we transfer the orchid to a warmer place, we start to water it (the regularity of watering depends on the humidity level, in any case it should be produced 2-3 days after the soil has completely dried). Every two irrigations we feed the plant with fertilizer for orchids.

We hope, after reading this article, you will not find yourself in a deadlock situation, and the question: "The orchid has faded - what to do next?" Do not cause confusion in you.