How to Care for My Orchid After the Buds Die

Considering that orchids appear as more than 30,000 species, the best way to give your plant the after-bloom care it needs is by studying the species to understand its requirements. Do not apply what you learn about one orchid to another unless you have documentation or the advice of a reputable expert telling you to do so. Of the plants that have become domesticated, Phalaenopsis is the only species, for instance, that might bloom again if you trim the flower stalk. Other orchids require a change in environment or food after the buds bloom and die.

Shears
20-20-20 soluble fertilizer
Knife
Planters
Potting mix

Instructions

- 1
  Prune Phalaenopsis orchids – known as moth orchids – between the dead flower bud and the node, or eye, closest to it along the flower stalk. If the node begins to swell in few days, the plant is making the stem for a new flower. If nothing happens within a couple of weeks, trim the stalk all the way back to the soil. The orchid should produce new blooms the next season.
- 2
  Cut the stems of non-Phalaenopsis orchids back to the soil surface after the buds flower and the stalks begin to die back.
- 3
  Move a nun’s orchid to dappled sunlight after its flowers fade. Keep the plant outdoors as long as the temperature stays above 40 F. Feed it a 20-20-20 soluble fertilizer monthly, according to the rates listed on the product label. The time to divide nun’s orchids, if you want to propagate them, is after the flower buds die. Slide the plant out of the pot. Cut through the root system with a knife vertically. Start at the root crown and move the knife down. Plant the root sections into individual planters filled with potting mix. Water the orchid divisions and keep them in the shade.

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