What Do You Do With Moth Orchid Plants After the Flowers Fall Off?

Plant Replacement

• Homeowners may simply discard the moth orchid once the flowers wane and only the naked flower stem remains. Either the plant is thrown in the garbage, tossed into the compost pile, or is given away to a friend who enjoys growing plants or is well-versed in moth orchid culture. American greenhouses grow lots of moth orchids in huge numbers, so the cost of a replacement isn't as expensive as it used to be. A new flowering specimen may be bought for $15 to $20, as of publication, although larger plants with more multiple flowering stems cost substantially more.

Partial Stem Pruning

• Few people know the simple trick to getting another small flowering display from moth orchids. Once the main flower stem drops its last blossom, cut back the stem part way so two nodes remain. The nodes are the rounded notches where old flowers once attached. Looking at the moth orchid flower stem, it looks somewhat zig-zagged. Typically, one node occurs at each bend. With a sterile hand pruners or heavy-duty scissors, cut the flower stem 1/4 inch above the second node from the bottom of the stem. Within four weeks, a new flower stem sprout arises from one of these two remaining nodes, providing a few more flowers that last for one to two months.

Post-Flowering Care

• If you don't want to bother with partial stem pruning to coax a secondary flowering, or the flower stem already is drying and turning brown, prepare the moth orchid for a basic growth and recovery period. Cut the old flower stem off at a height 1 inch from the base of the plant. Place the moth orchid in a warm, humid location in the home where the air is moving. Do not place the plant in a cold or warm, drying draft that originates from the HVAC system.

  Provide a basic growing regimen of watering to keep the potting media moist but well-drained and apply a diluted orchid fertilizer every two to four weeks. Give the moth orchid very bright, indirect light so the leaves become medium to light green. Dark green leaves suggest overly dim conditions. Yellow-green leaves indicate the light is too intense. This recuperative growth period needs to provide temperatures in the 75 to 85 F range, with night temperatures about 10 degrees cooler.

Repotting

• If the potting mix has deteriorated and become mushy, repotting the moth orchid is best done immediately after the flowering season ends. Another reason to repot a moth orchid is that the plant has gotten much too large for the container. Depending on growth rate, moth orchids need repotting once every 18 months to three years. Use a porous mix, such as bark nuggets or pumice granules, in a container that is 1 to 2 inches larger in diameter. If the moth orchid is large, a heavier container prevents the plant from tipping over.