Recommendations on how to make a Phalaenopsis orchid blossom at home
Phalaenopsis orchid is a delicate and capricious plant; sometimes it is very difficult to achieve its repeated flowering.
The beginning flower grower should know at the stage of acquiring the flower how to care for it in order to achieve magnificent flowering. In the article we will tell you what to do if the plant does not bloom, and also what care at home should be provided in order to stimulate flowering?
General information
Phalaenopsis usually blooms between the ages of 1.5 and 3 years.
Before you get upset that the orchid is not blooming, you should find out if she is old enough for this. It is not difficult to do this - an adult plant has 5-8 shoots. It is in this state that phalaenopsis is ready for flowering.It so happens that flowering appears ahead of schedule. This is not always good, because a flower too young and still weak may not have the strength to fully recover. Further consequences are unpredictable - the plant may be sick for a long time, or it may die at all.
Usually, orchid blooms at least 1 time per year (often 2 times), and the flowering period lasts from 2 months to six months (more about the flowering time of phalaenopsis can be found here).
Growing mistakes
In an adult and apparently healthy orchid, the absence of flowering can be explained only by improper care.
Since caring for phalaenopsis is a complex and complex task, the error can be hidden at any stage.
The main mistakes leading to the lack of flowering:
- wrong temperature conditions;
- insufficient lighting;
- direct sunlight;
- excessive watering;
- watering too cold water;
- brute force with fertilizers;
- transplant errors.
How to stimulate a plant so that it starts a peduncle?
Rarely, but still it happens that even with well-organized care, phalaenopsis does not bloom. The reason is simple - the plant is too good. It spends all its efforts on the growth of a powerful green mass.For for the orchid to shoot an arrow, it needs to create a little stress. Usually very soon after such stimulation, phalaenopsis blooms. But if this does not happen, you need to look for another reason.
The reasons for the lack of flowering and how to eliminate them
Disease
- To exclude the disease, the plant must first be carefully examined. The reasons for concern will be:
- Watery spots on the leaves. They, as a rule, indicate an orchid disease with brown bacterial rot.
- Softened roots. Most often, this is a sign of root rot.
- Dark plaque, covered with a cannon - directly points to gray rot.
- Black-bluish "foci" on the leaves - most likely they speak of the presence of black rot.
- Yellow, loose leaves. There may be several options, one of them is Fusarium rot.
- Spots on the ground of the orchid. This symptom in an orchid can also speak immediately about several different diseases, fungal or bacterial in nature.
- White plaque on the leaves. The most probable diagnosis in the case of white plaque on the leaves of phalaenopsis is powdery mildew.
- As soon as one of the listed symptoms is found, the first thing to do is isolate the plant from other flowers and try to mechanically remove the affected areas. This will not solve the problem completely, but will significantly reduce the focus of the disease.
- Next, you need to determine the most likely type of disease. Based on the symptoms, making a "diagnosis" of the orchid is quite simple.
- And, finally, the final step to eliminating the disease will be the purchase and use of the drug that will relieve phalaenopsis from the disease.
Pests
Pests can also cause a lack of flowering. Parasitizing on a plant, they weaken both the root system and the terrestrial part of the flower. In this state, the orchid physically does not have enough strength to fire an arrow.
The most common parasites on the phalaenopsis are:
- mealybug;
- spider mite;
- thrips.
To get rid of pests in a flower pot, you need to act in a complex way - first manually collect those insects that are visible to the naked eye, then use chemical preparations to get rid of undetected pests and their larvae.
The procedure for flooding the soil will help to collect the maximum number of parasites:
- A flower pot is placed in a container, such as a conventional basin.
- Water of room temperature is poured into this container so that its level is about a centimeter below the edge of the pot.
- Then you just need to wait 5-10 minutes.
After this time, all pests that are in the ground will begin to crawl out onto the surface of the substrate. They need to be collected and removed.
To eliminate the larvae and the remaining pests, you can use the popular Fitoverm insecticide. They treat the soil in a pot and the ground part of the plant.Improper care
It is improper care that is the most common reason for the lack of flowering phalaenopsis.
The main mistakes made by inexperienced gardeners are:
- the wrong location of the plant;
- insufficient lighting;
- violated temperature conditions;
- improper watering;
- excessive fertilizer of the flower.
It is not difficult to fix all these errors, the main thing is to follow the following rules:
- Flower arrangement. Do not place the orchid where direct sunlight will fall on it. This will slow down the development of the plant and flowering will have to wait a very long time.
- Lighting. In summer, natural light will suffice. But in the winter, phalaenopsis must be additionally highlighted. For this, ordinary fluorescent lamps are suitable.
- Temperature. Orchid is a thermophilic flower. Therefore, the temperature in the room where it rises should not be lower than 25 ° C.
- Watering. Do not moisten phalaenopsis too often. Each subsequent watering should be carried out only when the soil from the previous watering is already dry.
- Fertilizer. It is worth purchasing primarily those fertilizers that contain phosphorus and potassium. This will favorably affect the formation of flower buds. Such beneficial substances are applied to the soil no more than once every 5-6 weeks.
How to wake a kidney?
If an adult, healthy and well-groomed plant still does not want to bloom, then you need to force it to do this, for this it is recommended to switch to more radical stimulation.There are several ways to wake a flower bud. All of them are somehow connected with the need to arrange a little stress on the phalaenopsis.
The first method can be used at any time of the year, the second - it is more convenient to produce all the same in the summer. Both of these methods imitate natural conditions, therefore they are absolutely safe for the plant.
Artificial drought
The task is to arrange the interval between waterings so that the soil remains dry for 4-7 days. The degree of dryness of the substrate is determined simply by touch. And do not be afraid, droughts also occur in nature. A normal watering schedule can only be returned when a peduncle appears.
Temperature differences
Stress to the plant can also be arranged by a small temperature difference. To do this, for the whole night, the flower is placed at a temperature 4-6 ° C lower than usual (in summer, transferring phalaenopsis to the balcony is perfect).
During the day, the flower pot must be returned to the usual microclimate for the flower. This is a great way that will certainly return the orchid to bloom.
Care
Caring for flowering phalaenopsis is primarily to ensure adequate lighting. The flower will feel great if the daylight hours are at least 12 hours. It is very undesirable to move the flower pot during flowering.
Orchid is extremely sensitive to the position in relation to the light, so even the slightest movement is perceived as stress. Watering during flowering phalaenopsis should be plentiful. Water in this case needs warm, not lower than 35 ° C.
It is worth periodically feeding a blooming orchid, because at this time it loses much more power than usual. Fertilizer in this period is recommended to be carried out no more than once a week.Conclusion
Proper care and an optimally selected microclimate are the main conditions for the formation of a peduncle in phalaenopsis. And if he still does not want to bloom, then simple, but correctly done, stimulation will very quickly eliminate this problem, and for many months the orchid will delight the household with plentiful bloom.