Do You Provide Annual Orchid Care?

To ensure the health and growth of your orchid, it is essential to consistently fertilize them. Over-fertilizing can lead to dry leaf tips and burned root tips, while unfertilized orchids are smaller, with fewer flowers, and less vigorous growth. It is recommended to fertilize your orchid every other week with a balanced fertilizer during the growing season, usually from spring to late summer. In winter, you can reduce the amount.

Orchids need to be fed during their active growth phase, which typically happens after they produce new leaves and roots. However, it is not necessary to fertilize your orchid all year round. Orchids can survive on water, air, and sunshine alone, but they need to be fed during their active growth seasons and slightly starved during their dormant periods. Some orchids, like dendrobium, should be fed lightly year-round.

Some orchid fertilizer brands suggest feeding your plant once a week or once a month. As a general rule, fertilize orchids every 2 weeks during peak growth (spring and summer) and once a month during dormancy (fall and winter). The most effective time to feed is when the plant is actively growing, making leaves and roots, not necessarily flowers.

Fertilize your orchids during periods of active growth, such as during the warmer summer months and rainy season. In autumn, some orchids like Maxillaria tenuifolia should be regularly fertilized throughout the year. On the other hand, Coelogyne, a type of orchid that is constantly growing, should be fed lightly year-round.

Can an orchid survive without fertilizer?

Orchids are often brought into homes due to their lack of natural environment, which provides minimal nutrition. To ensure proper growth, it is recommended to fertilize them once every other week or at least once a month after their blooms have dropped. This should be done with a weak solution of a balanced plant fertilizer, diluting to ¼ strength. It is also important to avoid overwatering the orchids during the fertilization process.

To fertilize orchids, choose a fertilizer with equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, such as 20-20-20 on the label. This will help the plant generate new growth and maintain its health.

How often should you feed an orchid?

Orchids should be fed every two weeks during the growing season, typically from spring to autumn. Overfeeding can cause harm to the plant, as it can burn roots and damage the plant. To avoid this, follow the manufacturer’s recommended feeding instructions and dilute the fertiliser to half-strength. Understanding the type of orchid and its growth cycle is crucial in determining the feeding schedule.

Use a balanced fertiliser, dilute it to half-strength, and avoid overfeeding. With proper care, your orchid will flourish and produce beautiful blooms for years. A personalized feeding plan can ensure your lawn never goes hungry, delivered directly to your letterbox.

Should you feed orchids year round?

Cultivated orchids typically grow in tropical or subtropical climates with a wet and dry season. During the wet season, orchids produce new growth, necessitating fertilization. During the dry season, they do not grow new roots or leaves, requiring no fertilization. Recognizing active growth and dormancy is crucial for proper orchid care. Some orchids, like Maxillaria tenuifolia, require regular fertilization throughout the year, while Coelogyne orchids go dormant during winter and require no fertilizer until spring.

Orchids respond to fertilization needs and dormancy, with new growth indicating hunger and no growth indicating rest. Observant orchid caretakers can read these signs and know when to feed or not. Fertilizing orchids is essential for overall health, but it must be done correctly.

Do orchids go dormant in winter?

In winter, orchids require less frequent watering and fertilization, which can be beneficial for their growth. It is essential to understand the seasonal needs of the orchids in your collection, especially if you can find the ancestry of your hybrid. Some orchids enter a period of partial or full dormancy, which could be adversely affected if they do not receive one. As temperatures drop and daylight is reduced, their growth slows down or even stops, depending on the species or hybrid. The quantities of water and fertilizer required for spring and summer growth are no longer needed, which could negatively affect the plant.

Cool and wet conditions can accelerate the breakdown of organic growing media, leading to root rots and plant rots. To prevent these issues, reduce the frequency or volume of water until new growth or buds are seen in spring. For water-based dormancy, like Catasetums, some growers stop watering in greenhouses, but indoors, keep watering with lesser volume or frequency. If the plant shrivels, add more water to keep it wrinkled until spring, but not so much that it fully plumps back up.

It is generally best to stop fertilizing in winter unless the orchid is winter-blooming, as a surplus of fertilizer can accumulate in the growing media, inhibiting growth. For fertilizer-based dormancy, like some Maxillaria and some Cattleya, simply stop fertilizing.

How do I know if my orchid needs fertilizer?

Orchids require fertilization during vegetative growth for proper development and blooming. To meet their increasing requirement for new tissue growth, a fertiliser rich in basic building blocks (macronutrients) such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and trace micronutrients like zinc, manganese, cobalt, boron, copper, iron, and molybdenum should be applied. Nitrogen promotes leaf and shoot growth, phosphorus promotes healthy root growth, bud spikes, and blooms, and potassium builds plant strength and resistance to pest attack.

Orchid fertilisers can be grouped into Chemical and Organic fertilisers. Chemical fertilisers are manufactured in an industrial process and are available in a chemically pure form, such as NPK 20:20:20 and solutions of Calcium Nitrate and Magnesium Sulphate (Cal-Mag) in a chelated form.

Should I feed orchids in winter?

To ensure the health of your orchids during winter, it’s essential to properly fertilize them. Use a low-nitrogen fertilizer and a high-potassium one, with the label numbers like 10-5-20. Reduce watering and fertilizing frequency during cooler autumn seasons. For orchids that bloom during winter and into spring, give them a few doses of blossom booster in October and November. This change in fertilizer should start by mid-November and continue through the end of January. This will sacrifice plant growth in December and January for plant protection, but it will help maintain overall plant health.

Can you overfeed orchids?

Orchids naturally adapt to low soil and bark nutritional levels, but growers often fertilize them for showy flowers. To avoid over-fertilization, use water-soluble orchid food at half strength and sparingly, no more than once per month. Similarly, cultivating a successful orchid in a glasshouse or greenhouse is similar to sitting real estate. It is possible to cultivate multiple distinct orchid species in one structure, as long as one respects nature’s laws. To replicate the plant’s natural habitat, adjust light, temperature, and humidity, and dispel the myth that orchids are difficult plants.

How to tell if an orchid needs fertilizer?

Orchids require fertilization during vegetative growth for proper development and blooming. To meet their increasing requirement for new tissue growth, a fertiliser rich in basic building blocks (macronutrients) such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and trace micronutrients like zinc, manganese, cobalt, boron, copper, iron, and molybdenum should be applied. Nitrogen promotes leaf and shoot growth, phosphorus promotes healthy root growth, bud spikes, and blooms, and potassium builds plant strength and resistance to pest attack.

Orchid fertilisers can be grouped into Chemical and Organic fertilisers. Chemical fertilisers are manufactured in an industrial process and are available in a chemically pure form, such as NPK 20:20:20 and solutions of Calcium Nitrate and Magnesium Sulphate (Cal-Mag) in a chelated form.

Do orchids hate cold?

Orchids typically thrive in temperatures between 50° and 80° F (10° to 27° C), but occasional periods above 100° F or even in the 30s (0 C) can be harmless as long as no frost forms on the leaves. Cold injury, chill injury, and freeze injury are all types of damage caused by temperatures above and below freezing. Symptoms usually appear days after exposure to low temperatures, with the rate of development depending on the severity of the exposure and the conditions in the growing environment.

The post-exposure environment affects the degree of injury and symptom development, with the importance of post-stress handling varying with the severity of cold stress. Overall, proper post-stress handling can significantly influence the damage to plants exposed to extreme temperatures.

Should orchids be watered daily?

Watering your orchid every 7 to 11 days, especially when the mix is dry, is essential to prevent damage and prevent overwatering, which can lead to crown rot, root rot, and other infestations. Watering in the morning is recommended as nighttime watering can leave water sitting for a period. Additionally, consider the temperature of your house, as high thermostats may cause the orchid to grow in summer. Visit our shop to see beautiful phalaenopsis orchids grown in the south coast of England, and sign up for our newsletter to access our orchids at discounted prices when we have grown a few too many.

When should you not feed orchids?

In a nursery, fertilizers are added to water spray onto leaves and pots to absorb nutrients from the roots and foliar feed. It is not recommended to add fertilizer with every watering, as it can cause a buildup of salts in the pot and inside the plant. Instead, every second or third watering is enough, with at least one plain watering in between to flush the roots and prevent buildup.

The most effective time to feed an orchid is when the plant is actively growing, making leaves and roots, not necessarily flowers. Some orchids bloom when the plant is having a rest from growing. To ensure optimal growth, use a high nitrogen “Grow” formula of orchid food, while a high potash “Bloom” formula orchid food should be switched once leaves have grown or new pseudobulbs have matured. Do not wait until flowers appear before giving the “Bloom” food, as it may encourage too much nitrogen and not flowers.

For healthy orchids, like Phalaenopsis, adding “Bloom” feed to their water once every couple of weeks can encourage flowering. Fertilizer is preferred when added to water and misted on the leaves, and concentrated Orchid Focus feeds and ready-to-use Orchid Myst are available. Drip feeders are not recommended as they may not reach the plant, especially when potted in open bark compost.