I’m not sure I like moth orchids. They’re pretty to look at when in flower, but a bit of a pain to care for if you want them to bloom again. And I think it’s a bit sad that these beautiful plants, which should be growing in the canopy of an exotic rainforest, are for sale in our supermarkets.
Of course, many of them end up in good homes. But as they’re so often given as gifts in place of cut flowers, do they too end up on the compost heap after they’ve bloomed?
A friend of mine was once a florist, and I regularly used to rescue the unsold pot plants that ‘went over’, before being consigned to landfill. I’d take them home, dust them down and (usually) give them a new lease of life.
Once I took home a moth orchid, Phalaenopsis, whose flower spike had died. It was otherwise in perfect health, so I decided to see how hard it would be to encourage a new one to grow. This was a few years ago, before I really knew what I was doing, but I didn’t do too badly: I cut the stem down to just above a node and put it in my bathroom.
Bathrooms provide the perfect conditions for growing orchids because they’re warm and steamy – although they must have a source of natural light. Tropical orchids require warm, humid conditions to grow in, and don’t like sitting in water. They’re epiphytic, growing on trees in their natural habitat, so they need to be grown in bark, or specialist orchid compost, in clear, plastic containers to expose the roots to light and air.
I didn’t pay my orchid that much attention – I wiped the dust from its leaves occasionally, fed it with tepid water and waited. It was months before the poor thing showed any sign of flowering, but, eventually, a new spike began to grow. It grew really well over the next few weeks, and I lovingly watered it, washed down its leaves and had lots of baths to keep the humidity going in the bathroom. The spike produced four or five flower buds, and then, after what seemed like another age, the buds finally opened to reveal the most perfect, pink delicate blooms. These lasted a whole day, before I knocked the pot over and broke the flower spike off.
RSS
Comments
My 1st has been flowering since April I have 7 now I buy them when they are reduced ie Tescos /and B&Q
Phaleniopsis are actually extremely rewarding plants to grow given the right TLC
Filtered light from windows with frosted glass or net curtains is vital …….bright sunlight scorches the leaves
They love the liquid produced nby wormeries
Simply water once a week in summer and once a fortnight in winter by standing the pot in wormerie liquid up to just under the rim
NEVER water from the top or allow water to get into the crown
They stand cooler temps but never below 50F
only cut nback the stalk if it clearly goes dry and brown
remove obviously dead leaves
repot every 2 years when not in flower using proper orchid compost but with a very sharp sterile stanley knife or blade remove any dead /squishy roots
good roots should be firm and green or greenish ……treat and cuts with a dusting of cinanmon
i have 20 different phalenopsis many that i have rescued from owners about to dump them and theres never a day where one is not in flower
I have had one for 3 years and it has grown new flower spikes each year plus the one it already had. It blooms each year and at the moment is still blooming from buds which opened in June! It is smothered in pink flowers.
I was given an Orchid last year in July, it just keeps flowering. The flowers at the top of the spike went, and then it flowered down by the leaves. Now it’s flowering at the top again. All I’ve done is spray it with a mist of water daily, it sits by a small south facing window which gets at most a couple of hours of sunlight daily.
if possible cut the flowering stem down to a node before the last flower has fallen, regrowth is then almost certain.
I too get a lot of enjoyment from making an Orchid re-flower. Not only the Phaleniopsis but also the Slipper Orchid, infact my Slipper Orchid which is now in full flower has more flower then what it had when I bought it. The other advantage is what other house plant can you get that will flower for 6 months or more at a time.
I have one and water once a month stand in bowl of tepid tap water and one stable spoon of tomato feed for 1or2 hrs. At the moment i have 2 stems of flowers and had flowers since we bought it 2 yrs ago. Its beautiful.
Got a pressie of a moth orchid in July and apart from watering every 1-2 weeks, have ignored it- and it is still in bloom. It’s sitting on my mantlepiece which gets light in from one side from my window at the front of my house and also from my patio doors. I love it!
Great article. I will put my orchid in the bathroom. I had it for 3 months and the leaves seemed to be fine. Its just the flower stem is not growing! My question is. Where exactly do i cut the stem? And do i need to water the orchid or just let it grow from shower steam?
Excellent timiing with this topic! I need some advice – how do I propagate a moth orchid from leaves that are growing from a flower stem? I believe it is called a keiki. So far there are two leaves, one 10cm and the other 2cm and I can see new growth developing from the centre of these two, but no aerial roots. Can I propagate from this?
A trick that I am sure everyone will appreciate. Whilst the orchid is not flowering & you are left with the boring green leaves – insert a “silk” orchid spray (available from garden centres) then remove when your orchid decides to flower again. The number of people that have passed comment on mine!! On the real ones – I use rainwater (at room temperature) once per 2 weeks – letting it run through the pot/roots & then allowing to drain. Success so far!!
Moth orchids are FABULOUS. I buy them reduced when the flowers have faded. Cut to the third visible node preferably before all the flowers have fallen, sit on any window sill, water sparingly and wait. They never fail to re-flower. I have so many that I can “rest” non flowering plants on the spare room window sill and rotate those in flower to other rooms. I always have beautiful orchids on display to the amazement of my friends…but actually it so easy!!
I want to know what to do with the flower spikes once all flowers have gone? Only 1 flower left now at end of each spike. My first orchid, it has flowered since June, really lovely.
Cut the stem to the third visible node. If you do it now, before the final flower has dropped it will reflower much quicker. (This is because the flowering hormones are still flowing through the stem)
help I made the mistake of cutting the dead stem off too low, How do I bring it to flower again?
What a stupid article.
I thought Gardener’s World articles were to encourage people to grow plants, not the contrary!
Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis) are the easiest orchids to grow and they can easily flower year after year.
The orchids are cultivated by millions in greenhouses. They are not protected plants and they should be in a tropical forest cannopy as much as any plant deserves to be in its natural habitat.
If we only cultivate plants from our area, we didn’t even were eating potatoes and carrots.
It looks like this ‘gardener’ didn’t have much to write about.
Not funny, just stupid!
I have just loved the orchid I bought 3 yrs ago thinking when it died, well that was it! But it’s now growing a new (3rd annual) flower spike and hopefully will bloom again by Christmas. At one point the leaves went floppy and began to yellow, but after advice, repotting and TLC it has recovered. I.m so pleased – thanks for all the advice – it all helps!
My advice to Madgecollier – and I’m not an expert… is just wait – I did the same but eventually it grew a new flower spike and, as I say it’s now in it’s 3rd year. Good Luck!
Got three moth orchids one still in flower they sit on top of my china cupboard near a window should i move them to get them to flower again they are all healthy
After all these questions, no-one has said how to get the moth orchid to flower when the flower stork has gone brown. I have had this happen and it has taken 2 years for a new one to appear. Any comment?
“Moth Orchids (Phalaenopsis) are the easiest orchids to grow and they can easily flower year after year.”
Half the comments here are people asking for help.
My orchid also seemed to die, and instead of throwing it away, I tried keeping on watering it, but no luck. I’m going to do what another poster has said, and use a silk flower instead.
I bought a Disa Orchid at Hampton Court Flower Show this year and it was lovely. They come in shocking pink, orange, yellow and have three pointed petals. When I saw the display I just fell in love with them. These orchids must stand in rainwater, which is the opposite to most orchids. You pour it through the top of the pot and let stand. I top it up every couple of days when the saucer is empty and have cut off the dead stalk, following the instructions that I got from their website. Hopefully, I should get it flower again. The neighbours must think I’m nuts because when it rains I rush outside with a couple of buckets and tubs to collect clean rainwater for all my orchids, and then store it in empty pop bottles. Here’s hoping!!
Kate has got everyone talking about orchids but I cannot agree that they should grow only in the wild – not everyone has the chance to see them there. The children from Writhlington school in Radstock have and are blogging now from Durban. Look up the school website and click WSBE orchids. They are beautiful plants to draw and paint and wonderful for flat-dwellers. A little research and buying a plant with good cultural hints with it will minimise the chance of disappointment.
Has anybody tried growing the Egret Orchids recently? I got a job lot of bulbils earlier this year and planted them in open compost on top of a gravel tray in the bathroom. They germinated eventually and I continued to water them via the gravel tray and they thrived for a time and reached about three inches in height and then died back.
I have preserved the pot in the (probably folorn) hope that they may show their faces again. I noted the comments elsewhere on the blog about the need to have ranpaent containers to enable light to reach the roots, which I did not have, and I am thinking that perhaps the high temperatures which we had earlier this Summer may have been a factor in their demise.
Would anybody care to comment aout this?
David.
Kate really got us talking! That’s what good journalists do – they invite debate and discussion!
I also buy orchids once the garden centres reduce them after flowering, I have several and they all flower over and over, I find them trouble free to look after.
Hi everyone, thanks for all your comments! I do agree that orchids are very beautiful and make wonderful gifts etc, and one day I would love to go and see them growing in their natural environment. Ruth – if the flower stalk has gone brown (and has it shrivelled?) I would cut it down and hope it grows again. There’s a range of orchid plant food available (just Google ‘orchid plant food’), which might help the plants recover. After the accident, my orchid did grow a new spike from the base of the plant, so there is hope!
Orchids of any type. I luv ‘em! A message to Ruth on the back of Kate’s last note. If the flower spike has gone brown, then I think that’s it really. Because of the way they grow, a lot of energy goes into producing a good flower spike so moth orchids do like to have a rest from flowering. I’ve found that if the leaves are still nice and healthy, keep feeding and be vigilant. It will flower again. PS I’ve had a Phalaenopsis for about 8 years now and whilst its been bashed about a bit, it still flowers.
I having been growing house plants for years and find orchids and in particular phalenopsis one of the most rewarding as far as blooms are concerned. They sit on my window sill and it is not often I do not have at least one in flower and at the moment I have 3 with another one growing a spike. Flowers last for ages-months at a time and are so spectacular to look at. Since all the plants bought in shops are hybrids grown for sale you really should not worry about where their grandparents come from just enjoy the flowers. I certainly feel they are better value for money than the amarylis I was given 2 weeks ago as a present. It came with 2 spikes which have been beautiful but by the end of the week they will be finished.
My first lovely phalenopsis lasted 3 weeks. It was then VERY dead. My next 2 are not good – I took a stem to the Gardener’s world exhibition last year and the experts said it was too wet.
I get flower stalks growing, but the buds dry up and fall off before opening. This has happened for 3 years now. The plants are on a N facing windowledge, though I might now try them in the bathroom which faces S.
I water infrequently, and sometimes with orchid food. I have bought some new compost so maybe I will try repotting. I have found the comments here encouraging.
My Moth orchids keep flowering and grow new flower spikes after resting for about 6 months. I didn’t know you weren’t supposed to cut the spike off at the bottom when its finished! I keep mine on south-west facing window sills – they don’t seem to like any other.
One of mine has also produced a baby plant on one of the finished flower stalks. Please can someone tell us what to do?
lets hear itfor the cymbidium orchid,you dont see them in the supermarket,but garden centres often have them for £10+,and they are great,can be put out side in Summer,june/Oct lots of foliage and beautifull sprays of flowers, had mine for 15 years,swap with friends and repot every 4 years and take new plants off..try them.
loved all the posts, this is my first orchid and I am definitely smitten. Can anyone tell me if I should continue to feed now it is winter? I have been using the special little bottles that you stand upside down in the compost.
I was given an orchid last Christmas and didn’t know how to care for it apart from little watering and using an orchid feeder bottle as mentioned by Diane. I completely removed the flowering stem back to the base and thought I wouldn’t see anymore flowers BUT it is flowering again and has 8 blooms as I write. Thanks to all the tips given by your site I am going to try to follow the advice and hope for even more flowers in the future.
Greenman: learn some manners. If you are going to leave mean-spirited, rude responses to articles, at least have the courage to do so under your real name.
The key is feeding them. Put in a drip feeder (sold in garden centres and probably supermarkets) and water occasionally. That’s it. No need to worry about cutting flower spikes and humidity – it’ll produce at least one flower spike if not more and mine has flowered constantly for at least 6 months if not longer.
In reply to hp about his/her keiki (I didn’t know that was what it is called)I had the same happen on one of my moth orchids. Mine grew to three leaves before it also produced an aerial root. I detached it, planted it in orchid compost and it seems healthy after about 6 months though not yet growing any more leaves. The other thing that occurs to me is whether it might be worth wrapping it with some moist moss for a month or so while still on the stem before detaching it.
I have lots of Phalenopsis happily flowering away in north facing windows; an odontocidium & several dendrobiums re-flowering for the third year on a south facing window sill; By my north-facing front door I have a rampant zygopetalum which is coming back into flower for the second time this year; In my greenhouse I had an anguloa and a vanda re-flower this summer but I can’t keep paphiopedilums or miltonias!
I recently picked up a reduced price miltoniopsis with wonderfully scented, creamy yellow flowers. It had been neglected in the garden center and the top buds had died, but I was hopeful that I could give it enough TLC to see it thrive, however it is not doing well. I have tried it in various positions but the flowers and buds all died and now the leaves are yellowing. This is my third attempt at this type of orchid, can anyone help?
Further to the question of whether moth orchids should be left to the rainforest, most of the varieties on sale are nursery-bred hybrids!
I do think that they should come with more detailed care instructions, usually, due to being imported from abroad, they just have a set of vague diagrams and often they don’t even have a proper name. I think it is sad that companies sell them as potted bouqutes and expect most of them to die – so that people will buy more! They can be such rewarding plants to grow.
I have four orchids, two are in flower now the other two finished flowering a month ago and already have new buds forming. The first orchid I bought about 4 years ago and until last month it had 54 flowers on four stems. The flowers fell from two stems and the remaining two stems still have 24 flowers! I have had my moneys worth from this plant alone as it is rarely without flowers, orchids, I love them!
I was given an orchid at the end of August 2008(an M&S one)It had 3 stems full of flowers&buds.I’m now down to 1 stem and the last 3 flowers.What a birthday present!,it has given me such pleasure for 14mths.Now looking forward to caring for it until it decides to throw up more stems.They may seem expensive but are really good value,but only in the right hands(or should that be green fingers!)
Yep. me too. Bought a moth from Sainsburys for £7 in Jan 2008, with a smile from the girl on the checkout. It has flowered ever since, a second spike coming as the flowers on the first were reaching the tip. Now this flower spike is reaching the end, it is producing two new leaves so i have bought a drip feed from B&Q. Otherwise just misted and moistened with rainwater. On a desk, near a radiator and a large north facing window
What a pleasure to read all the post about orchids after coming in from the garden ,frozen from picking up Bramleys. The hardy orchids are beautiful too and so easy to grow at the front of a border or in the rockery – just make sure they do not come from the wild.
My first orchid was from B&Q and this was reduced after Mothers day and looked very sad it was reduced from 14.95 to 3.00 over 3 years ago. The ticket on the pot say discard when flowered, but I trimmed it off repotted in new orchid compost and it has been flowering ever since. I keep min in the conservatory which as lots of natural light and warm from the sun, it loves it. I agree that there probally are too many being discarded after flowering.
Like so many of you, I buy my orchids when reduced, at the supermarket.
So far I seem to be doing the right things as Mine have flowered for months.
Question:
Why has the occasional leaf become beige and papery -looking with a bumpy, blistered appearance under the surface?
This starts at the tip of a leaf and gradually spreds downwards. It is not on every leaf, has not spread to other orchids and when I chopped off the offending bit, it made no difference to the flowers. Other leaves on the same plant are healthy and green.
HELP!!!
David I grew the Eagret Orchids this year, but outdoors in the garden and all flowered. the bulbs need to be kept dry through the winter months to protect from rotting. Use orchid compost and growing in dappled shade
I would love to have orchids in my garden but doesnt know a thing about it. What can you recommend. Thanks in advance.
I have a moth orchid which was a present five years ago, and it has never been without flowers since I received it. It had one stem originally, and before the last flowers have died there is always at least one new stem starting to bloom. Some of the stems which have flowered turn white and dried out so I cut them off, but the stems which are still alive will flower again. When I remember to water it I put it into a bowl of water and leave it for about ten minutes, then leave it to drain before returning it to its container.
I moved house three months ago and with the upheaval of unpacking and workmen in the house I forgot to water it for about six weeks, but it does not seem to have affected it at all and there are now eight flowering stems on it with lots of side shoots.
I have an orchid which has finished flowering, but now seems to have a new very small set of leaves forming, on its side, with aerial roots. Can I take these off and start a new orchid?
I thought the same when people bought me three orchids when I moved to my new house three years ago. I have just left them on my kitchen bay window sill (east facing)and watered them when I remembered (I do use water from my water filter tho’). I have not repotted or pruned in anyway and they have surprised me when they have flowered again and again. I think they like to be neglected a bit I don’t think they can go on forever so I don’t know if I should look after them now or not.
I have a fair few moth orchids. I plant them in a glass jar/tall glass vase. I place glass beads in the bottom and then plant the orchid on top with its compost. I fill it with rain water out of my water butt and allow algae to grow on the beads. The orchids thrive in the kitchen, bathroom and lounge. All I have to do is top the water level up occasionally!! I have them flowering 2-3 times a year.
I have about 12 phalaenopsis, a papheopedium, a miltonia and a couple of zygotiums and have managed to get all to re flower. They are all kept in east facing windows and I water about once a fortnight. I did try a couple in the conservatory but the sun burnt the leaves. Rather than throwing away I kept them and they have both re-flowered though the leaves are a little deformed. I would always hang onto mine until I was sure they were dead and even when the flowers have stopped it has never taken too long to wait for a new spike. Apart from the phalaenopsis I put all the rest outside for the summer and they really seem to like it, even though we live in the north.
I continue to be amazed with orchids. I started out in the same way as others around two years ago with a gift. Now I have over forty of them in all stages of growth. I have at least five in full bloom every month all year round. I have lost one or two over the two years I have been growing them but the time I have given to the plants I have gained so much experience and the pleasure they given to date has been the best reward a person can have who normally can not even grow grass. Congratulations to other growers who have taken their plants into a second year. The rewards are obvious. Good luck.
Orchids are so easy to get to flower year after year whats the problem?
I just love moth orchids,i grow them on my kitchen window ledge which is east facing also in the dning room which is west facing.
the bathroom almost killed my first few! Ieither cut off the flower spike to a node or if it goes completly brown icut it as near to the plant as possible.Ihave had i baby which i planted as soon as there where 2 roots about 3cm long,it seems to be fine.Most of my 15 plants were discounted & so far i havent duplicated any, thay are always in flower or putting up a new flower spike.I feed about 3 times a year if i remember &i water with ordinary tap water when i think they look dry.my advice is just relax & enjoy , overwatering is always the worst thing for any plants.
my first 2 were in a sale at a well known garden centre @4.99 each, both thrived then 1 died and I binned it. No2 flowered for 18 months nonstop, best value ever had! Have had several since, benign neglect seems to work but they do get watered and fed.
I have a poor record with houseplants (having killed 7 bonsai trees) and was worried when I was given a moth orchid 2 yrs ago. But it is so happy and keeps flowering its socks (roots?) off. It’s got loads of buds on it at the moment which is great as the rest of the world is just boring snow. PS I remember to water/feed it about one a month so I think neglect is definitely the thing to do!
Sorry you had a bad experience with the moth orchid.
I also want to say sorry for your bad experiences with the moth orchid.
Try to identify your exact species and it’s possible you can find information that will help you revive it.
Terri A.
http://www.orchid911.com/caring-for-orchids/
Also re-potting your orchids at the right time can be a breeze! If you learn how to give your orchids longer life and a little more room to grow. http://www.growingorchidsonline.com