Do This After Buying Orchids to Ensure Longevity, and your plant will thank you. These simple tips can work wonders!
We’ve gathered tips and tricks that you can follow to extend the life of your orchid while keeping it healthy and thriving! Do this after buying an orchid, and you’ll be surprised. Let’s take a look!
Do This After Buying Orchids
Before you scroll down to read more, the most important thing you should do after buying it is to look for any signs of diseases or pests, such as aphids, mites, or scales, on the leaves. If you notice anything, cut the diseased part and wipe the leaves with rubbing alcohol to get rid of these plant problems.
1. Let it Adapt to the New Environment
Orchids are sensitive to sudden environmental changes. Just like a human needs time to adjust to a new setting, your newly bought plant does, too. This is a major step that most people skip, but if you do this after buying orchids, it will ensure the longevity of your plant. You will also have time to observe how it adapts and care for it accordingly.
Avoid abrupt changes in light, temperature, and humidity—this can stress the plant. Try to provide a similar growing condition to that in which the plant was kept in the garden center. Also, avoid placing it in direct sunlight or near air vents. It will take 1-2 weeks to acclimate your orchid plant to your home’s conditions, so be patient.
2. Right-Sized Pot and Medium is Important
Your newly bought orchids should not be repotted immediately, but it has to be done after some time once it’s adjusted to the new growing conditions. If you don’t like the current container, you can always use the cache pot!
If it is not required, you can wait for a year or until the growing season is over; the exact timing depends on the orchid’s growth rate and the condition of the potting medium.
Re-potting will help you check for root suffocation and address any bug infestation, which is very likely in the old potting mix.
Now, it’s time for the ideal pot size. Make sure you pick one about 4-5 inches deep and wide. The pot should also have multiple drainage holes at the bottom to help drain excess water and keep the medium from getting too wet.
To prevent stressing the plant, always wait for the flowers to fall off before repotting, and never do it when it’s blooming. Next, it’s time to whip up the perfect potting mix, which goes a long way toward keeping your orchids thriving.
Use bark, charcoal, and perlite as a growing medium, mimicking the orchid’s natural growing environment. You can always grow it without soil if you can’t find the proper ingredients to make a healthy potting mix. This guide will help you!
3. Amount of Light
Orchids thrive in 6-8 hours of indirect, bright light daily and moderate warmth around 65-80 F (18-27 C). They can tolerate slight winter dips but ensure they stay above 50 F (10 C). In summer, provide the plant with cool temperatures and maintain them below 90 F (32 C). If it gets hotter, it is best to bring the pot indoors.
Keep them near east-facing windows where they can receive gentle, filtered light. If the light is not dappled, provide them with afternoon shade. They also enjoy cozy spots with 40-70% humidity.
4. Water Consistently
Make a watering schedule based on the changing seasons and conditions to ensure your orchid’s longevity. Water them every 7-10 days during the growing season (spring to summer). And in extreme heat, increase this to every 3-5 days or whenever the medium feels dry. Fall and winter are dormant months; here, you can reduce watering to once every 2-3 weeks.
Remember, we want the soil to stay moist, not soggy. Establish a proper watering schedule by following these after buying an orchid, and it will thank you with beautiful blooms for many years.
5. Nourish Your Orchids
Orchids need ample nourishment throughout their life. A water-soluble fertilizer specific to orchids helps. Dilute it to half or a quarter of its strength and feed it once a week during the growing season. When dormant, cut down fertilizing to once in three weeks. You can pick any of these homemade fertilizers for orchids.
Also, remember to flush the potting medium with plain water at least once a month. To do this, water the container until excess water drains out. This practice will balance the soil’s nutrient content and remove accumulated fertilizer salts or chemicals.
That’s it! Doing these five easy things after buying an orchid will ensure it stays healthy and gives you pretty flowers for many years. If you’re getting one for your home, do check out these fragrant orchids!
