During the colder months, gardeners must take extra steps to ensure their orchids flourish and withstand the cold.
Keeping decorative plants healthy during this time of year largely depends on maintaining the right balance of environmental factors.
An orchid specialist has revealed a common mistake he observes in the care routines of orchid growers, occurring in 99 per cent of cases.
TikTok content creator Tanner the Planter explained that there many be a simple explanation if your orchids aren’t flowering.
A lack of lighting stunts the growth of Orchids
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The expert explained that the blooms functions like a combination or solar panels and batteries as they collect and store energy to produce blooms.
The leaves act as solar panels, literally converting sunlight into energy for the plant, while the roots serve as the battery, storing this vital energy.
“If your orchids aren’t flowering I almost guarantee this is the reason why,” the plant enthusiast told viewers.
“It takes an incredible amount of energy to produce all of these flowers.
“In all of my consultations, 99 per cent of the time your plant is just not getting bright enough light.”
To avoid this, flowering orchids should be positioned near a well-lit windowsill, according to experts at the American Orchid Society.
However, cold nights pose a risk to the delicate plants when they’re near windows.
Experts therefore recommend either moving orchids away from windows during cold spells or using bubble wrap as insulation between the window pane and plants.
Orchids thrive in humid conditions
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Another element of orchid care that requires careful attention is fertilisation, as finding the right feeding technique is crucial for the plant’s health.
Taking to the Facebook group Orchid Tips and Tricks, an orchid enthusiast claims he found success using two types of fertilisers.
Johannes Van Aswegen watched his orchid produced 50 blooms after he began using a low nitrogen water soluble fertiliser called Flowering Orchids Plant Food and Growing Orchid Plant Food, from Starke Ayres.
The orchid enthusiast wrote: “I feed them these every 3rd watering, once a week in summer and in winter I only water them every three weeks.”
