Plant and specifically orchid lovers, what does "soak it for 15 minutes" mean?

[questionzzz]

I love this jewel and I don't want to kill her with my black thumb of plant doom.

Submerge in a sink of water to just above the soil line?
(not an expert)

That's what i thought but it feels weird?

Well, I know my Mum used to do it with succulents.

Give it a drench and leave to stand and then empty the pot so it’s not standing in water.

Ideally keep somewhere humid.

Orchids live in the tropics, so are used to heavy, monsoonal type showers. I'm also no expert. I either boil water and let cool, or use tap water and put into a bowl overnight to let the chlorine come out. I then stick the whole orchid pot in the water to submerge. After 15mins, take out and drain well. Mine seem to like underwatering, rather than over, because otherwise they drop flowers, then leaves and die!

Stick it in a bucket (water just covering soil) for the 15 mins, then take it out and put the pot on blocks so it can drain. When it's no longer draining, put it back where it usually lives.

Do not forget it when it's standing in the water!

Thank you @Elouera sounds complicated but I think I can just about manage that. So could I use the cool boiled water from the kettle then.

BTW - a lot of orchids are really much much tougher than they look. So don't worry too much about doom!

I have many.
I fill up a washing up bowl half way up with luke warm water and stand the orchids in it for 30 min or so.
I do it once a week.

when they have finished flowering and the stalk has dried I put a little (a tablespoon) all purpose fertiliser into the water.
then leave the plants without watering for a couple of months. once you water again the plant will start to grow a new flower spike.

Tbh I just put mine in the sink and pour a load of water in, then let it drain. They are in proper orchid pots though. They tend to like clear pots to grow in, and don’t pot on until they’re visibly growing over the top. Works for mine anyway. I’ve now got three as I’ve acquired 2 from people who can’t keep them growing.

I submerge mine in water once a week as part of my cleaning routine

It goes in the sink with cold water up to the brim for 10 minutes, then out and drained and left alone for another week.

So would you say there is hope for this? It was flowering beautifully in May and then the stalks just died. I give it a couple of ice cubes a week, as per the original instructions.

Soak it as advised above then leave it - water lightly no more than once a week. They like it dry with a massive drenching once in a blue moon.

Absolutely hope for that one. Just leave it and be patient, a little drink every now and then. We left one that was just a stalk at our uninhabited house for two months and it was in glorious bloom last week!

ice cubes are too cold.
wait until the stalk is brown and brittle then cut it off.
then a teeny bit of fertiliser and a rest period of 2 months or so before you start watering again. then it should grow a new flower stalk.

Soak to the soil line.

Orchids, especially phalaenopsis, prefer their roots to be soaked through less frequently instead of more frequent partial watering.

They hate to have wet feet though, so allow to drain freely until the pot stops dripping.

Make sure you don't get any water in the hollows where the leaves join the base - it will cause rot and leaf drop unless you plant it at such an angle that any water will drain back out.

Thank you. I was very tempted to snip off the stalk but was scared. fertiliser, you say. Hmmm

Interesting stuff.

I’ve never done anything special with mine and they are flowering almost constantly for years.

I water once a week. Not v much. If hot I may water a couple of days early.

I potted one in into orchid compost and it’s not happy. Wish I’d just left it. I think the pits too big so I will repot into a smaller one at some point. I went from small pot to big without doing medium. Shouldn’t have!

I stand mine in a bowl and water from the top until they are standing in water just about 2/3 up the pot. Any more and they will float and topple. If you fill it above the soil line, you will have a bowl full of bark chips floating around! I leave them for an hour once a week.

Phalaenopsis orchids are epiphytic, they grow on trees. They get moisture from the air, debris in hollows on the bark or when it rains. They might sit in water collected in hollows for a while after rain. All the rules you know about not leaving plants sitting in water are wrong when it comes to orchids.

They are pretty hard to kill but they can be a bit temperamental about dropping buds if you do anything to offend them, even a draught or a sudden change of temperature can cause them to drop. Getting them to flower again can be hard work too. The orchid in the background looks like the flower stems are dead. They probably need chopping off. If you post a pic, I will tell you where to cut and how to entice it to flower again.

It looks very bright where they are. Are they by a window? They need bright light but not direct sunlight.

Yes, they are by a window and get slanted sunlight a couple of hours late morning/early afternoon. Here is a pic of the older dry one. It was flowering so beautifully in May :( Recommendations highly appreciated :)

the plant looks totally fine
the stalk looks too 'green' still, wait another couple of weeks before cutting it off at the base.

it will flower again.
like any plant it has periods where it doesn't flower.

Cross post! You can cut the brown stem at the base. The second stem looks green. You want to cut to just a few cm above the first node (the little green knobbles) below where the original flower side shoots were on the healthy green part of the stem.

The natural annual cycle after blooming is for the orchid to put all its energy into producing seeds (if the flowers have been pollinated), followed by putting all its energy into growing new leaves and roots when there is abundant light, food and water, then when the temperature drops, daylight reduces and there are less nutrients, they put energy in growing flower spikes again (so if they don't survive, the seeds will survive them).

You need to move them into a cooler spot after they flower (about 18C) and start fertilising every week. If you are lucky, they will start to grow new side shoots from the old flower spike and flower straight away. If not, they need to go through the whole growth cycle. The roots and the flower spikes look similar but the roots have rounded ends, the flower stems have a knobbly bit and usually grow under the second leaf. When you get a new flower spike, stop fertilising and move them back to a warmer spot.

Thank you all! I'll let you know how we get on :)