Why don't orchids bloom? This question is asked by many lovers of exotic indoor plants, who must constantly throw 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
Buying a wonderfully blooming orchid of the genus Falenopsis, many hope that after the next flowering it will again form flower buds and will delight you with luxurious flowers. However, when for many months they can’t wait for new flowers, you feel disappointed. There may be several reasons for this, but before taking serious measures, it is worth determining why the orchid does not bloom.
Orchid does not bloom
Excess or lack of light
Most orchids like warmth. During the season, an indoor plant prefers temperatures above 22 ° C. If it is too cold at this time, the green leaf mass grows slowly, smaller leaves form, and the orchid may not bloom at all. During the rest period, plants require maintaining lower ambient temperatures (average 10-18 ° C).
Nobile dendrobium is a species that loves very low temperatures (5-10 ° C) in winter even at home. If you do not move it for at least a few weeks to a cooler room, it may not bloom at all. The popular phalaenopsis blooms well only after relaxing in a warm room. Flowering, however, may be less lush.
Note! Some orchid representatives rest in different periods (and this is not necessarily winter). Typically, a state of rest occurs immediately after falling flowers.
In flower shops, a wide range of cold-loving orchids is offered, which are grown in rooms with a temperature not exceeding 18-19 ° C.
Light for orchid
Lack of flowering may also be due to poor lighting. Orchids love well-lit places, but where there is no direct sunlight. Excess can cause burns to leaves and flowers. Plants feel best on window sills, whose windows face north or east. They can also be grown in more sunny places - near the window.
Important! You need to beware of cold air and drafts that can destroy flowers.
The plant cannot bloom due to too high a temperature. Although during the growing season this does not particularly bother them. But in autumn and winter, orchids need more cold, so that for a long period after that they please with a chic color.
Irrigation
Irregular watering is the main reason because of which the 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 how to water it.
When growing orchids, it is worth knowing that the quality of water is of great importance for these plants. For many indoor flowers, tap water is too hard, which harms them, and also causes the formation of unsightly spots on the leaves. Therefore, you should not water the orchid directly from the tap.
Pests or diseases
If you keep orchids in the right place and competently organize watering, then the indoor flower will bloom constantly. 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 temperature or due to poor lighting. Infected organs are best removed and sprayed with fungicide.
Orchid diseases
If pests aggressively attack an indoor plant, you must act quickly to stop the spread of insects to other flowers. Sick orchid must be separated from other plants.
Pest control should begin with a complete replacement of the substrate. In most cases, insects accumulate inside the pot, in which the predominant moisture contributes to the development and reproduction of pests. Replace the old substrate with a new one.
Variants of how to make bloom
If a tropical paradise is made from the apartment, and the flowers continue to develop, re-release new leaves and roots, but not arrows, it's time to think about more radical tricks, how to force the orchid to bloom at home. You can often hear that you do not need to indulge a moody flower. It is much more effective to cause stress in him, after which the orchid will bloom all year round.
Change in conditions of detention
Creating the right lighting for representatives of orchids is of great importance if their flowering is planned. Too dark and too bright a place for the location of the pot is equally harmful. Unacceptable direct sunlight, which immediately dry the root system, instantly deplete the plant, and then lead to its death.
If the orchid is too weak, it must be urgently moved to another place. In the absence of an acceptable level of light, it is necessary to organize artificial gentle lighting using ordinary daylight or LED lamps. You do not need to put lamps close to the flower, since you can burn the foliage.
How to make a houseplant enter the flowering phase?
Note! It’s better to arrange diffused light. When the orchid regains strength and recovers from the stress caused by improper lighting, it begins to bloom.
Watering stop
Imitation of the rainy season helps to push the flower to violent flowering. Below is a step-by-step action plan on how to do this. To do this, the pot with the roots is immersed in warm water for three consecutive days (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 produce either new shoots, or immediately buds.
Before applying chemical compositions to stimulate flowering, it is worth trying a trick with watering, because it is the safest and most natural for orchids.
Watering orchids
If you water the plant strictly, after the substrate is completely dry, as evidenced by the clarification of the roots almost to whiteness, the orchid will soon release an arrow and bloom. If necessary, during irrigation, you can also feed a small dose of potassium phosphate fertilizer, which also stimulates flowering.
Drug treatment
Before the orchid blooms, you need to carefully examine it. And not only the aboveground leaf part, but also the root system. If all parts of the plant are completely healthy and well developed, you can begin to stimulate flowering. In case of any doubt that the plant is not in very good condition, one should not take risks.
A solution of succinic acid (2 g per 2 liters of water), which is used to fertilize the orchid, can cause violent flowering. After 2-3 treatments with this substance, the plant releases the inflorescence. The nutrient solution is also allowed to wipe the leaves.
Flower fertilizer
Epin treatment also gives a good result. You can feed the plant using a solution (3 drops per glass of water), the orchid is sprayed daily with a spray gun 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 the 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 damage to the root, because you can quickly spoil the phalaenopsis.
After flowering, shoots of inflorescences should be pruned. As a rule, an incision is made over the third kidney. This is necessary for the abundant flowering of orchids in most species. However, it happens that such pruning can damage the structure of the whole plant: it will stop its growth and, accordingly, exclude flowering.
For your information! An orchid that does not respond well to the incorrect pruning of shoots is phalaenopsis. In this case, it is better to wait until the shoot of the inflorescence begins to completely dry out.
Determining why the orchid does not bloom, it is worth paying attention to how often the plant is fed. Orchids can bloom both in the absence of fertilizer, and with its excess. In the first case, the plant does not have enough nutrients for flowering, in the second case, the development can 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 they sell concentrates, which are necessarily diluted with water and used according to the instructions. Small doses are given to plants - once every 2-3 weeks during the entire growth period. In the resting phase, top dressing is not carried out. Feeding may be more intense when flower buds appear on the orchid.
Thinking why phalaenopsis does not bloom, it is important to examine the substrate. Orchids should be grown from a soil mixture, which should consist of peat, leaf soil, fern roots and moss. All voids need to be filled with bark and ensure reliable drainage.
Note! Orchids rarely transplant - only when the roots fill the holes in the container. A houseplant that has replaced too many pots may not bloom in the coming months.
Orchid may not bloom due to weakened immunity. Common causes are diseases or pests. In addition, dry indoor air is harmful to them. During the growth period, this affects the weaker growth and health of the specimens, and during flowering leads to drying out of the buds.
Need for transplant after flowering
After a long flowering period, the orchid goes into a dormant state. During this time, her nutritional and temperature needs change.
Note! Orchids that produce pseudobulbs or rhizomes (including Oncidium, Cattleya, Cymbidium, Dendrobium, Zygopetalum, Paphiopedilum) do not bloom a second time from the same pseudobulb.
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, it should be removed. Old pseudobulbs are no longer active, but they are a kind of repository 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. Then they should 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 highest leaf. The dried flower shoot left on the plant stops the development of young shoots. In addition, the plant, desiring to regenerate the dying organ, will gradually weaken.
An exception among orchids is phalaenopsis. Representatives of this type have the ability to throw several flowering branches on one shoot. After flowering and wilting flowers of the Phalaenopsis orchid, 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 as possible to the highest leaf. Then limit the watering and move the orchid to a cooler place for regeneration until the next flowering.
- Watch the escape for 7-10 days. If it turns yellow and fades, it should be quickly and accurately removed. However, if it remains solid and green, you can cut it into three parts. Under favorable conditions, a young shoot with new beautiful inflorescences can develop at the cut site.
Note! Attention should also be paid to plant transplants. Without this, sooner or later, the orchid will not be able to grow healthy, bloom in the future, and its growth will be stopped.
After flowering, all indoor flowers need rest for regeneration. Skipping this stage in the life of orchids is a big mistake, because of which the development of young flower shoots stops. Under natural conditions, this period occurs in autumn and winter. The rest period of orchids ends when the plants begin to shoot young shoots and roots. At this point, they begin to take care of 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 suggests that something is wrong with it. Often, representatives of orchids do not produce flowers for natural reasons, in this case it is impossible to interfere with natural processes.
