Why the orchid does not bloom: the main reasons and methods of dealing with them
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Why don't orchids bloom? This question is asked by many lovers of exotic indoor plants, who must constantly throw out flowers at home. Therefore, before making any decision, you need to find out the main reasons for the lack of flowers in orchids.
The main reasons why the orchid does not bloom at home
When buying a wonderfully blooming orchid of the genus Falenopsis, many hope that after the next flowering, it will again form flower buds and delight with luxurious flowers. However, when many months cannot wait for new flowers, disappointment is felt. There may be several reasons for this, but before taking serious measures, it is worth determining why the orchid is not blooming.
Orchid does not bloom
Excess or lack of light
Most orchids like warmth. During the season, the houseplant prefers temperatures above 22 ° C. If it is too cold at this time, the green leaf mass grows slowly, smaller leaves are formed, and the orchid may not bloom at all. During the resting period, plants require maintaining lower ambient temperatures (on average 10-18 ° C).
Dendrobium Nobile is a species that loves very low temperatures (5-10 ° C) in winter, even at home. If you don't move it to a cooler room for at least a few weeks, it may not bloom at all. The popular phalaenopsis blooms well only after resting in a warm room. Flowering, however, may be less lush.
The flower shops offer a wide range of cold-loving orchids, which are grown in rooms with temperatures not exceeding 18-19 ° C.
Orchid light
The lack of flowering can also be attributed to poor lighting. Orchids love well-lit places, but where there is no direct sunlight. Excess can cause burns to leaves and flowers. Plants thrive best on windowsills that face north or east. They can also be grown in sunnier locations - near a window.
The plant cannot bloom due to too high temperature. Although during the growing season, this does not particularly bother them. But in autumn and winter, orchids need more cold in order to delight with a gorgeous color for a long period after that.
Violation of the watering regime
Irregular watering is the main reason why an indoor flower does not produce flowers, but a large number of leaves appear. Few people, buying this houseplant in a flower shop, worry about how and with what to water it.
When growing orchids, it is worth knowing that water quality is of great importance for these plants. For many indoor flowers, tap water is too hard to harm them and also causes unsightly stains on the leaves. Therefore, you should not water the orchid with water directly from the tap.
Pests or diseases
If you keep the orchids in the right place and organize the watering correctly, then the indoor flower will constantly bloom.It should be remembered that the orchid cannot bloom due to fungal and bacterial diseases, which manifest themselves in the form of rotting leaves and roots. Most often, such painful symptoms occur due to excessive watering, too low or too high ambient temperatures, or poor lighting. It is best to remove infected organs and spray the plants with a fungicide.
Orchid diseases
If pests attack a houseplant aggressively, you need to act quickly to stop the spread of insects to other flowers. A diseased orchid must be separated from other plants.
Pest control must begin with a complete replacement of the substrate. In most cases, insects accumulate inside the pot, in which the prevailing moisture contributes to the development and reproduction of pests. The old substrate should be replaced with a new one.
Options for how to make bloom
If a tropical paradise is made out of an apartment, and the flowers continue to develop, re-release new leaves and roots, but not arrows, it's time to think about more radical methods of how to force an orchid to bloom at home. You can often hear that you do not need to indulge a capricious flower. It is much more effective to cause stress in him, after which the orchid will bloom all year round.
Changes to conditions of detention
Creating the right lighting for your orchid species is essential if you plan on blooming. A place that is too dark or too light for a pot is equally harmful. Exposure to direct sunlight, which immediately dries up the root system, instantly depletes the plant, and then leads to its death, is unacceptable.
If the orchid is too weak, it needs to be urgently moved to another place. In the absence of an acceptable level of light, artificial gentle lighting should be organized using ordinary daytime or LED lamps. You do not need to put lamps close to the flower, as you can burn the foliage.
How to get a houseplant to enter the flowering phase?
Stop watering
Simulating the rainy season helps push the flower into blooming bloom. Below is a step-by-step plan of action on how to do it. To do this, the pot with roots is immersed in warm water for three days in a row (the water temperature should be 35 ° C) and left for 2 weeks without watering. The flower perceives such a change in the irrigation system as the end of the rainy season and begins to release either new shoots or immediately buds.
It's worth trying the watering trick before using blooming chemicals because it's the safest and most natural for orchids.
Watering the orchid
If the plant is watered strictly, after the substrate is completely dry, as evidenced by the lightening of the roots almost to whiteness, soon the orchid will shoot an arrow and bloom. If necessary, during watering, you can also feed a small dose of potassium phosphate fertilizer, which also stimulates flowering.
Treatment with drugs
Before an orchid blooms, you need to carefully examine it. And not only the aerial leaf part, but also the root system. If all parts of the plant are completely healthy and well developed enough, flowering can be started. If there is any doubt that the plant is not in very good condition, you should not risk it.
A solution of succinic acid (2 g per 2 L of water), which is used to fertilize an orchid, can cause violent flowering. After 2-3 treatments with this substance, the plant releases the inflorescence. It is also allowed to wipe the leaves with a nutrient solution.
Fertilizing a flower
Epin treatment also gives good results.You can feed the plant with a solution (3 drops per glass of water), the orchid is sprayed daily with a spray bottle until a new arrow comes out. Also, once a week, flower growers are advised to water the plant with this solution.
What to do to make an orchid bloom? For active flowering, the flower is fertilized with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, which give an impetus to the formation of a flower arrow and buds. It is not worth using them during the growing season or restoring an orchid after root damage, because you can quickly spoil the phalaenopsis.
After flowering, the shoots of the inflorescence should be cut off. Typically, an incision is made over the third kidney. This is necessary for the abundant flowering of the orchid in most species. However, it happens that such pruning can damage the structure of the entire plant: it will stop its growth and, accordingly, exclude flowering.
When determining why an orchid does not bloom, you should pay attention to how often the plant is fed. Orchids can bloom both in the absence of fertilizer and in excess of it. In the first case, the plant lacks nutrients for flowering, in the second case, development may go towards excessive growth of leaves and roots.
Flower inspection
So how to fertilize and how to make orchids bloom? First of all, it is necessary to use specialized fertilizers, which are sold in a wide range in flower shops. Most often, concentrates are sold, which must be diluted with water and used according to the instructions. Plants are given small doses - once every 2-3 weeks during the entire growing period. During the rest phase, feeding is not carried out. Feeding can be more intense when flower buds appear on the orchid.
Thinking why phalaenopsis do not bloom, it is important to examine the substrate. Orchids should be grown from a potting mix of peat, leafy soil, fern roots, and moss. All voids must be filled with bark and ensure reliable drainage.
The orchid may not bloom due to a weakened immune system. Diseases or pests are common causes. In addition, dry indoor air is harmful to them. During the growing season, this affects the weaker growth and health of the specimens, and during flowering, it leads to drying out of the buds.
The need for transplanting after flowering
After a long period of flowering, the orchid enters a dormant state. During this time, her nutritional and temperature needs change.
Flower shoots in this group of orchids grow only from annual pseudobulbs. Therefore, when all the flowers fall, and the shoot of the inflorescence dries up, it should be removed. Old pseudobulbs are no longer active, but they are a kind of storage of water and food for new shoots. For this reason, their removal is not necessary or even disadvantageous. After 2-4 years, pseudobulbs die and lose their attractive appearance. They should then be carefully separated from the plant and discarded.
Orchid transplant
In orchids that do not form pseudobulbs or rhizomes (for example, Vanda, Doritis), after flowering and wilting of the stem, the shoot of the inflorescence should be cut as close as possible to the tallest leaf. A dried flower shoot left on the plant stops the development of young shoots.In addition, the plant, wanting to regenerate the dying organ, will gradually weaken.
Phalaenopsis is an exception among orchids. Representatives of this type have the ability to throw out several flowering branches on one shoot. After the flowering and wilting of the phalaenopsis orchid flowers, pruning can be done in two ways:
- After all the inflorescences have bloomed on the shoot, you just need to cut the shoot as close to the tallest leaf as possible. Then, limit watering and move the orchid to a cooler spot to regenerate before the next bloom.
- Observe the shoot for 7-10 days. If it turns yellow and fades, it should be removed quickly and carefully. However, if it remains firm and green, you can cut it into three pieces. Under favorable conditions, a young shoot with new beautiful inflorescences can develop at the cut site.
After flowering, all indoor flowers need rest for regeneration. Skipping this stage in the life of orchids is a big mistake, which stops the development of young flower shoots. Under natural conditions, this period falls on autumn and winter. The resting period of orchids ends when the plants begin to sprout young shoots and roots. At this point, they begin to look after the scheme: increase the frequency of watering and move the orchid to a room with a higher temperature.
If the plant has not pleased with luxurious flowers for a long time, then this indicates that something is wrong with it. Often, representatives of orchids do not release flowers for natural reasons, in this case it is impossible to interfere with natural processes.
