What do I do with my orchid??

[somanychristmaslights]

How can I get it to grow more leaves? I think the current bloom is nearly finished as the flowers have been on there for ages. But it feels like the orchid is growing out the pot now. I’ve had it for ages but don’t want to kill it as I have no idea what I’m doing with plants.

Awaiting photos to upload….

Re-pot into a larger pot. Buy orchid feed and sit your orchid in a bowl with the feed in it (it’s a powder or drops dissolved in water) because the plant roots need the feed. We have found placing ours on north facing kitchen or bathroom windowsills ideal as no direct sunlight and some humidity when cooking or showering. Some orchids just don’t grow lots of leaves but a re-pot and a good feed might encourage yours to grow a bit more.

It does have a new leaf coming and the flower spike is still healthy. I’d wait until it stops flowering, I think you’re going to get more before that spike dies. Then repot. You’ve got a lot more enjoyment to come from that orchid.

Look on YouTube for how to repot the orchid, it's not difficult. Some moth orchids have few leaves, others have more. Once repotted, yours will look much better just by sitting lower in the compost. Although the individual flowers yet to come will be beautiful, the overall look of the plant isn't pleasing as it is. I would cut off the flower stems and repot right away.

Once old and damaged roots have been removed, you will probably be able to wash and re-use the existing pot. An overly large pot isn't a great look and plants don't like it.

My daughter pruned my orchid and it’s got loads more flowers on it this time.

It is a phalaenopsis orchid and should be in a clear pot with orchid bark, not compost. The roots need light and will rot if they get buried. Looking like it is climbing out of the pot like a mad octopus is normal for them! Garden centres sell orchid bark and clear pots. They also sell special spray orchid fertiliser.

If you look at the flower spike, there should be bumps on it, lower down than the current flowers. They are buds. Cut back to just above one of those, and it should grow another flower spike from there.

I have 3 orchids. I repotted them but in the same sized pot with fresh orchid “compost”. The type I have have a constant turnover of leaves, as one grows another dies, which is normal, so the number remains the same. One lives in the kitchen, tge other two in the bathroom. They are rainforest plants that live in trees so don’t like a lot of light, like cramped root space and love humidity. The aerial roots soak up water from the air.
They all flower annually but the flowers remain for months. They all started blooming at Christmas and are still going strong nearly 3 months on.
For me they are fantastically low maintenance, once the flowers fall off I just leave the stem to dry out, often further flower stems stout from it.
Once every 5 yrs I repot them and cut back the flower stems and aerial roots. They seem to have a bit of a rest and then flower again 12mnths later.
2 or 3 times a year they get a cold shower to clean the l aves and rinse the back they are planted in. It removes the build up of dust and feed.
I’ve recently started using rice water to feed them. I wash my rice before cooking it to remove the starch, so keep the water used to wash it to feed the orchids. A good sign your orchid needs watering is if the roots are grey or silvery, if they are green it is well hydrated.

All my orchids are over 10yrs old. One of them is at least 15 yrs old. It was given to me by a friend when I gave her a car seat for her son who is now 18.

This year they have all flowered simultaneously and with loads of flowers. Apparently you can propagate the leaves using used coffee grains. I might have a go when they look like they are on their way out.