Orchid Care Advice: Re-potting, Staking, and Dead Stems

[amandasaved77]

**Update...thank you all so much for your advice. It's very helpful and I will hopefully have a very healthy orchid for a long time to come! I'll turn comments off now as I think all of my questions have been answered.

Hi, I have an orchid that is still alive (which is a miracle in itself as it belongs to me!), I've had it since Christmas and it lost all of its flowers end of January but I kept watering it and it revived! Well here it is! Does it need re-potting? Does it need the 'branches' to be tied to a stick to be straight? What do I do about the dried (dead looking) stems? Or any other advice I'd be very grateful for. It used to be kept in the kitchen window but has been out of direct sunlight for about 3 months. Thank you.

 

[cj21381]

Just a gentle spray on the roots now and again. They like moisture but not soaking.

 

[aemilia]

You can either water culture it (take it out of all the bark/moss and just have it as a water plant) or just leave it in it’s pot for now until it gets a lot bigger.
When the flowers die off leave the stem until it dries out and cut it to the node closest to the dried stem. It’ll reflower over and over if you keep it like that.
Also, orchids like sun but not direct sun. Put it somewhere it can see the sky but not have direct sun on it.

 

[amandasaved77]

@aemilia great thank you, I will cut the dead bits off in a bit. Is it ok that it's going off to the side?

 

[aemilia]

@amandasaved77
As in the stem is growing out the side?

 

[amandasaved77]

@aemilia yes, it's going off like a tree branch, possibly the weight of it though

 

[petrus]

I need orchid help too!!

 

[butterfly81]

It looks very healthy! Don't water it too much though - wait until the soil is quite dry (the roots will look dry and pale greyish) before watering. Never let it stand in water. It probably won't need re-potting for a couple of years yet. Mine live on a north facing windowsill, so almost never in direct sunlight - it has had at least one flower every day since xmas 2022!! I would be careful about trying to tie up the new stems, they snap easily! Just trim off any obviously dead stems.

 

[amandasaved77]

@butterfly81 great! Thanks some helpful advice here

 

[nambome1]

It likes sunlight but not direct sunlight...will do great behind a net curtain or frosted bathroom window. You can cut off the dead stems and give it orchid feed this time of the year. Some of the roots will grow out of the pot, they are air roots so need to be out of the pot.

 

[amandasaved77]

@nambome1 that's good to know regarding the roots, thank you!

 

[nambome1]

@amandasaved77 Orchid Growing for Dummies

 

[nambome1]

@amandasaved77 these have been in bloom since October last

 

[baselineleaner]

They also do a lot better in clear pots as the roots like light, so if you do re-pot get a decent size glass pot and use a good orchid potting mix.

 

[iamgodsproperty]

Put in a steamy bathroom like it humid

 

[mikeyt0505]

Cut the.dead bits off, re plant, don't water it often and they love the sun xx

 

[helenm12]

Orchids will almost always come back
The roots do better if they remain in clear pot as they need light too, get orchid bark mix not soil. With orchids less is more

 

[themusicgoeson]

Following. I repotted my last orchid & killed it! My current orchid is looking like this & I’m wondering what to do with the yellow bits.

 

[regmer]

I have the orchid drip feeder things. Got mine from wilko. Also do a spray which I've used and has helped. I tend to leave the roots alone as I killed one cutting the wrong root
Where the 'branches' have gone brown snip down to the green and they'll regrow
I've scalped one once (not thr one I killed) and it grew back pretty quickly x

 

[jeffbradley22]

I keep a few of these and have had them for years, I’ve never repotted and they keep coming back over and over. I just water them every few weeks, I think less is more with orchids personally x