My indoor orchids have been amazing and have flowered for quite a few months.
The flowers are now starting to drop and I am interested to hear what others do in terms of care when they are not flowering?
I usually feed with a small amount of water every 8-10 days.
Do I keep up on this or reduce feed or....?
I don't know as this is my first season of successfully bringing orchids back to flower.

thanks

I have had the same three orchids for a good six years now. After flowering I cut the flower stem right down, leave them in the same spot and water them about every 10 days with water to which I add liquid orchid feed. Before too long a new stem appears. I was on the point of consigning one orchid to the compost because it hadn’t flowered for about two years. It was the oldest one and I thought it had finally done its dash when a new and really strong stem appeared. The plant must have heard me uttering death threats. I know people who cut the stem that has flowered back to a strong ‘nodule?’ and had a new stem come out of it. I have tried this but it hasn’t worked for me. I water generously but make sure that the plant is well drained as they don’t like wet feet. I also mist the air roots between watering. We have central heating and the air gets really dry.

Oh great thanks Chris.
I will go now and inspect.
Our local Palmers garden centre has quite a few for half price at present as they are due to drop their flowers.
I bought one this morning.

I'm almost at the point of giving up on our orchids because of mealy bugs. Our house has underfloor heating and is warm and dry, which I think encourages them. I go over the orchids with a toothpick every few days, rinse them under running water every few weeks or whenever I notice new infestation, but it's driving me mad. Some of them are coming into flower at the moment and the mealy bugs just love the new soft buds.

I agree that feeding is important.

TPANDAV Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm almost at the point of giving up on our
> orchids because of mealy bugs. Our house has
> underfloor heating and is warm and dry, which I
> think encourages them. I go over the orchids
> with a toothpick every few days, rinse them under
> running water every few weeks or whenever I notice
> new infestation, but it's driving me mad. Some of
> them are coming into flower at the moment and the
> mealy bugs just love the new soft buds.
>
> I agree that feeding is important.

What a disappointment for you, particularly since your orchids are doing well otherwise. In the past I have had to get rid of a couple of plants that had mealy bugs. So frustrating. Thank goodness the orchids have never been affected but at times my huge gardenia which, because of the cold here in Wanaka is being kept inside, has shown hardly visible signs of a bug. The leaves seem to take on a greyish hue.When I spot the slightest sign my husband sprays with Neem Oil. Should any infestation take hold I will consign it to the compost bin though.

Oh gosh I have never seen mealy bugs but will be on the lookout for them now.
I need to go and google to see what I am looking for.

Here's a link with photos. They lurk on the undersides of leaves, and seem to breed in the base of the plant, where they are hard to see until fully grown. The other place I find them is inside of the little plastic clips that fasten the stems to a stake.

[www.aos.org]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2019 12:28AM by TPANDAV.

TPANDAV have you tried cutting back the old, dead roots, repotting with fressh new potting mix. I guess the mealy bugs quite like the coarse bark to hid in, although you won't want to do that while the plant is flowering.
Regads,
Dawn.

Oh I’ve had serious infestations of those on my lime trees but thankfully none indoors or on my outdoor orchids. I’ll now be on the alert. How frustrating that must be.

Dawn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TPANDAV have you tried cutting back the old, dead
> roots, repotting with fressh new potting mix. I
> guess the mealy bugs quite like the coarse bark to
> hid in, although you won't want to do that while
> the plant is flowering.
> Regads,
> Dawn.

Thanks Dawn. I did exactly that about three months ago but it doesn't seem to have deterred them. I guess all it takes is a few eggs hiding somewhere and off they go again.

Another question from a novice grower.
Is it fine that roots are starting to hang down over the pots?
I’ve only had orchid success for about a year so not sure on what I am doing.

Yes, Helen. They are air roots and you don’t cut them off. They tend to dry off if they are not misted. I mist them with a little sprayer between watering.

Thanks Chris, they got a little mist spray today.
I love orchids and am thrilled that I managed to get 3 of them to flower again from a fairly neglected state.