The orchid has soft leaves what to do. Soft and sluggish leaves: why do orchids wither leaves
Orchids are lovely flowers aerial roots, resulting in a large number of problems with improper care. The first problem for beginners when growing on their own is yellowing of the leaves, there are frequent cases of falling buds.
Why do orchid leaves turn yellow and how to deal with the misfortune presented? Only specialists and experienced flower growers can answer this question.
Causes of yellowing leaves
Before sorting out the questions of what to do if the leaves of an orchid turn yellow, it is necessary to identify the reasons that have a natural basis and arise as a result of improper flower care.
Natural Causes of Yellow Leaves
Among all important aspects, which often lead to wilting of orchid leaves, emit completely natural causes. It is not always possible to deal with them on your own - in most cases, natural causes are based only on the characteristics of the planted flower variety. Natural causes include:
Before self-cultivation orchids should carefully study all the features of caring for a flower. Proper care and the timely application of actions to eliminate problems that have just appeared will help to quickly resolve the situation and prevent the flower from dying.
Causes of wilting leaves due to improper care
There are many prerequisites for premature withering of orchids, which are associated with improper care and non-compliance with the basic rules for providing flowers with comfortable conditions. Here are distinguished:
1. Wrong watering- flowers are harmed by both insufficient and excessive watering. Moreover, the answer to the question of why orchids turn yellow lower leaves at the base, it is precisely the excess moisture that leads to rotting of the roots.
Orchids should be watered only after the soil is completely dry. During the dormant period, these flowers are watered once a week, no more. You can eliminate the situation only by reviewing your actions to care for the plant. At the initial stage, you should also transplant the flower into a new substrate and follow the rules and frequency of watering.
Lack of watering leads to wilting of the leaves. Here you can find the answer to the question why orchids soft leaves:
The leaves contain all the incoming moisture. If it is not enough, the leaves become soft. The problem can be eliminated only by timely watering.
2. Hard water is the main reason for the yellowing of orchid leaves. Many novice flower growers do not follow the main rule of watering, using ordinary tap water for this purpose.
If it is not possible to purchase distilled water in specialized stores every time, then use tap water, but only after settling for a day in a bottle or vessel without a lid.
Distilled water is also not always suitable for irrigation. It all depends on the type of orchid.
Experienced flower growers advise in any case to dilute the purchased liquid in equal amounts with the settled tap water. To get rid of the misfortune, you should change the substrate.
3. Poor lighting or sunburn - you can not put a flowerpot with a plant on the windowsill under the direct rays of the sun. It is also not recommended to put the flowerpot in a shaded place.
This will also adversely affect the foliage. To prevent further death of the flower, it is necessary to rearrange the flowerpot to another place.
4. Overuse fertilizers and other chemicals to stimulate growth. If you were fond of the actions presented, you should take a 2-3 week break.
Subsequently, top dressing is resumed, but by reducing the concentration chemical substances for preparation of solutions twice.
5. The yellowness of the leaves can also occur due to a lack of potassium. If you do not carry out additional feeding, this is most likely the reason.
To eliminate such troubles, it is enough just to transplant root system into the new soil and use top dressing with a potassium content, which is very small in the plants themselves.
6. If you use top dressing, study their composition. It is possible that they contain calcium, which, in excess, also leads to yellowing of orchid leaves.
Transplant the plant to a new substrate and stop using existing chemicals.
What to do if the leaves of an orchid wither? Most likely, the reason lies in the decay or drying of the roots, which occurs due to improper watering.
Transplant the plant to another pot, inspecting the root system. When transplanting, all damaged root processes are removed and slices are sprinkled with crushed charcoal.
Care mistakes, video:
Reasons for falling flowers
Not only the leaves fall off the orchid, but also the flowers. It is especially insulting for beginner flower growers when the still unblown flower buds wither. Here you should also reconsider your actions in caring for the plant and identify the cause of the described troubles.
Why do orchids drop flowers?
Already blossoming flowers in orchids fall due to such reasons as:
Analyze the whole situation. Perhaps the plant is missing nutrients, which are so necessary during the flowering period. Use a variety of top dressings according to the instructions for the above composition.
Why do unblown buds dry up on an orchid?
Quite often, due to irregular watering and excessive drying of the soil, subsidence occurs even more. unopened buds. In anticipation of flowering, it is necessary to pay special attention to the care of orchids.
Also, common reasons for dropping buds include:
- lack of lighting;
- lack of moisture;
- mechanical injury;
- lack of useful trace elements.
The last reason often arises immediately after the purchase, because quite often sellers use various growth stimulants, on which the plant becomes “addicted”.
As a result, the abrupt termination of the supply useful trace elements leads to similar negative consequences.
Orchid diseases and their treatment
Yellowing of leaves and premature fall of flowers can also be caused by the presence of any disease in the plant. The most common lesions include:
To determine the nature of the disease of an orchid, it is better to contact a florist who can accurately identify the cause and advise the necessary procedures.
Orchid pests
The most dangerous and very common pests are whitefly and root mite. The whitefly leaves a bloom on the flower white color, while the root mite infects the root system.
Be that as it may, at the initial stage, all affected areas should be removed: flowers, leaves, roots.
Then use special chemical solutions for the treatment of plants. The use of drugs is carried out according to the instructions for 7-10 days. After fixing the problems, the orchid is transplanted into a new soil.
Orchid diseases, video:
How to revive an orchid?
Sometimes there are situations where even experienced florist does not know what to do if the orchid withered. If you wish to provide a plant new life, which means that you should resort to the main actions to resuscitate the plant.
Orchid Revival
How to revive an orchid if its root system has remained normal, but the flowers and leaves have all faded?
It is necessary to carry out some resuscitation actions, having previously examined the plant as a whole. Flower resuscitation is carried out in the following sequence:
The flowerpot can not be purchased new. enough to disinfect old container. The presented procedure can only be performed if the orchid has retained its root system.
Take a look at this stuff -
Root recovery
The method of resuscitation presented above is not difficult when the root system remains intact.
And how to save an orchid if the roots are rotten? To do this, carefully remove the plant from the flowerpot and carefully examine the root system. In the presence of damaged areas, pruning is carried out.
For resuscitation, it is important that 5-6 cm from the root system remain intact and intact. Sections are treated with an antiseptic and sprinkled activated carbon. Then the plant is planted in a new soil, after removing the damaged leaves and arrows.
In order to speed up the process a little, it is used. This composition stimulates the growth of the plant's root system, so it can be used when healthy root shoots are less than 5 cm in length. As a rule, with the help of the presented stimulant, you can save the plant.
Knowing how to save an orchid without horses, and taking all the steps in a timely manner, you can achieve quite positive results and continue to enjoy the flowering of this lovely plant.
All the shortcomings of care, as well as the presence of pests or diseases in plants, are reflected on the leaves. Flower lovers often face the problem that without apparent reason the leaves of the phalaenopsis orchid wither. Why does an orchid have wilted leaves and what to do if your orchid has wilted leaves?
If the leaves of an orchid wither, then it is worth considering whether the flower has twitched to unfavorable influences environment. Often overheating or frostbite is the reason that the leaves turn yellow. Sometimes, they are covered brown spots, in places of burns wrinkle. Against the backdrop of all this, flowers are dropping. A characteristic symptom that the problem of the leaves is not a disease is that it is mainly the upper photosynthetic plates that suffer from adverse environmental conditions that suffer.
How to save the flower in this case? Move it to another place, add growth stimulants to the diet and ensure peace.
lack of moisture
If you notice that the leaves of an orchid have wrinkled, remember when you last watered a flower. Most common mistake when growing this flower, it is precisely insufficient watering, which leads to the fact that the orchid fades.
Even with caring care insufficient moisture may be reflected after transplantation. If the shoots turn yellow - this indicates strong handicap moisture and requires immediate resuscitation methods. Water your flower generously, in some cases even a hydrogel transplant is recommended in order to save the pet in time.
Diseases and pests
Before you do something if you suspect a disease, you must first deal with who is the causative agent of the disease.
Among fungal diseases, phalaenopsis is most often affected by pathogens of spotting, anthracoses and various rots. Usually, the diseases that these organisms cause manifest themselves in the form of local spots, in places where the epidermis begins to turn yellow or blacken. With prolonged illness, the affected plates wrinkle. If white mycelium appears along the bottom edge of the photosynthetic plate, then you are dealing with powdery mildew.
Why do orchid leaves suddenly wither? The reason for this may be vascular mycosis or root rot. Often, if the plant suddenly shrinks, nothing can be done. The treatment of internal diseases is a laborious and costly process, and in phalaenopsis it is virtually impossible.
In addition to fungal invasion, the answer to the question - why orchid leaves became soft and watery, is bacteriosis. This group of diseases develops very rapidly and in a matter of days can kill the entire flower. The affected tissues become Brown, blurred, at the beginning of the disease, the photosynthetic organs shrivel, later they become very flabby, soft and dry out. It will be very difficult to do anything, in some cases transplantation and treatment with antibiotics can help.
Of the pests on phalaenopsis, various insects or mites often start. Due to their vital activity, the flower becomes yellowed, the softness of photosynthetic tissues increases. Pests often develop massively on the lower part of the organ.
Root problems
Why do the leaves of the Phalaenopsis orchid wither? The essence of the problem, most likely, is hidden in the roots. The cause of their damage is drying out, infection with fungi, bacterial diseases or unsuitable, too dense soil for their fastening and nutrition. As a result, you can see how the leaves of orchids turn yellow. To prevent the flower from wilting, in this case, a number of therapeutic measures should be taken to restore the root system of the flower.
Indoor orchid species have a high degree of ecological plasticity and are easily adapted to home environment. But under too stressful conditions, biochemical processes are disrupted, the leaves wither, dry and eventually die.
If your flower has suffered such a nuisance, as a rule, the reason is improper care. In this article, we will look at why the leaves lose their elasticity and what to do in each case.
Under the influence of most negative factors, the lower leaf plates become soft first of all. If the plant lacks moisture and nutrition, and the root system cannot compensate for the shortage, resources are redistributed from the leaves from below. Their nutrient supply goes to the top.
Most often, orchid leaves wither and turn yellow for the following reasons:
- lack of moisture;
- overheat;
- frostbite;
- root problems;
- excess water;
- illness.
Note: if you bought a new orchid, it will not interfere with a monthly quarantine. This time will be enough to make sure of her health.
lack of moisture
Orchids are native to the tropics, so they need moist soil combined with warmth to thrive. With improper organization of watering, the filling of leaf cells with moisture is reduced, the leaves wither, become lifeless.
To solve the problem, it is enough to drink the orchid. For this:
- prepare a container filled with warm, pre-settled water;
- immerse the pot there - the level should be “shoulder-deep”;
- make a warm shower - irrigate the orchid over the entire leaf area;
- depending on the size, leave the pot in water for 1-3 hours so that the substrate is completely saturated with moisture;
- take out the flower, let the water drain completely, blot the excess on the leaves with a cotton cloth;
- Place the orchid on a warm, well-lit window sill.
To avoid a repetition of the situation, water the flower as the soil dries out.
Note: the rate of drying of the substrate is affected by its composition, friability, and the temperature at which the plant is kept.
Overheat
When the room is too hot, the soil heats up quickly, due to which there is an active evaporation of water, the roots dry, they cannot absorb moisture. The orchid evaporates water, but the root system does not compensate for it. Within a few hours, the tissues lose their elasticity and wrinkle. The flower withers, losing its appearance.
When exposed to direct sunlight, a burn is possible, in which the tissues of the leaves are damaged, turn yellow and fade.
If the orchid is overheated, you need to follow 3 steps to save it:
- Store in a cool place away from a sunny window for at least 2-3 hours.
- Only after complete cooling, the plant should be watered, sprayed with warm water.
- Place the pot on a windowsill protected from direct sunlight.
Recovery water balance and regeneration takes time, so the result will be noticeable only for 3-4 days.
Important point! In no case should you cool the heated leaves from the spray gun. Such actions can cause the appearance of vitreous areas, tissue damage, the death of leaf blades and shoots.
frostbite
All varieties of tropical exotics do not tolerate sub-zero temperatures. Therefore, if in winter, when airing, you forgot to close the balcony, window, or your heating was suddenly turned off, the orchid will inevitably freeze and begin to wither.
At minus water in the cells freezes, expands, irreversibly injures tissues. As a result, frostbite occurs, the leaves wither before our eyes and die. The critical temperature for orchids is -15º C, after its exposure it is useless to save the flower.
Treatment of frostbite areas is to remove damaged tissue. The affected areas are completely cut out, the cut points are processed with crushed coal.
Note! Transplantation during this period should not be carried out so as not to take away the forces needed for recovery from the plant.
Root problems
If the conditions for keeping orchids are not observed, the horse system may dry out or rot. This will immediately affect the condition of the leaves - they wither, wrinkle, turn yellow and die. The roots are damaged due to drying out and stagnant waterlogging of the substrate, when too concentrated fertilizer is applied.
First, diagnose: pull the orchid out of the pot and inspect the root system. Signs of healthy roots: light, slightly greenish tint, dense and elastic structure. On diseased roots, there are wrinkled, dried up or moist mucous brown areas, from which fluid is released when squeezed.
With any of these lesions, the orchid must be treated. To do this, make a transplant:
- Remove the plant from the pot, carefully inspect the roots.
- With a sharp knife, remove any dried or rotten areas.
- Treat the slices with activated charcoal crushed to a state of powder.
- Plant the orchid in specially prepared soil.
- Wipe wilted leaves succinic acid diluted in water. This measure will help to quickly restore elasticity.
After transplanting, do not water for 3 days, you can start feeding in a month.
Note: soil mixtures for orchids do not contain earth, their main task is to ensure the stability of the flower and create conditions close to natural.
In nature, representatives of the orchid family grow on tree trunks, so the main component of the substrate is the rough parts of the bark. conifers providing nutrition and aeration.
The remaining components provide moisture capacity, so their proportions depend on the humidity of the air. If the room is humid, you can get by with one bark, adding about 5% coal. In dry air, sphagnum and peat with a low salt content are introduced.
On sale there is a ready-made universal substrate designed for orchid plants. When buying, it is advisable to choose mixtures without artificial components.
Too much water
In a natural tropical environment, orchid roots get wet almost daily in warm downpours and dry out due to air circulation. When growing at home, try to keep the conditions close to natural. This means that the substrate must have good aeration and drainage to ventilate the roots.
One of the main enemies of orchids is stagnant waterlogging. When water stagnates in a pot or even in a pan, the roots are bound to rot. This will immediately affect the leaves - they will become soft and begin to wither.
To understand the extent of the damage, first diagnose and take action:
- move the orchid if it sits tightly in a pot - the roots are still alive, it’s enough not to water the plants for some time (until the substrate dries);
- if the planting mixture is too compacted, it is advisable to replace it after drying the roots;
- if the flower staggers from side to side - the root system is damaged, it must be treated as in the previous section.
Note: in order not to flood the plant, determine the watering time by the dryness of the substrate mixture, and not by the calendar. in summer and winter time(during heating) drying can occur faster than in the spring-autumn period.
Diseases
Orchids rarely get sick, however, with a lack of care, weakened specimens may become infected. At the same time, spots appear on the leaves, they wither, and subsequently die. Treatment consists in removing infected areas, using antiseptics and fungicides, and disinfecting the pot.
Please note: most types of ticks start only when the air is too dry, when the leaves wither and become soft. Therefore, maintain humidity, regularly spray the orchid, make sure that there is no overheating.
To get rid of small pests, carry out a series of treatments with insecticides diluted at the highest possible concentration. For this, systemic or contact-intestinal agents are suitable. Treatments are carried out three times, with an interval of 10-12 days. In this case, all house plants are subject to spraying.
Once upon a time exotic flower"Orchid" is so fond of flower growers that it is difficult to find an apartment, wherever this plant decorates the windowsill. But not everyone has learned how to properly care for him.
This is expressed by the fact that the leaves of orchids begin to wither, turn yellow, and subsequently fall off. Having noticed such changes in your flower, you need to analyze the care process and understand why the orchid has lost its beauty and healthy appearance.
Causes of wilting leaves
Before starting the process of flower rehabilitation, you need to understand the reasons for this. There can be many options:
Consider each cause of wilting leaves in more detail.
Why do flower roots overheat
The first thing that specialists in breeding these flowers pay attention to when you need to answer the question of why the leaves of an orchid wither is elevated pot temperature.
Despite the fact that orchids love warmth, a constant hit sun rays on the area of \u200b\u200bthe walls of the pot provokes its heating.
Because of this situation, the roots overheat, which causes the leaves to wilt. IN winter period the cause of wilting can be a battery that heats the window sill from below, and that, in turn, a pot with roots, which leads to the same effect as the sun's rays.
This situation leads to the fact that the plant begins actively evaporate moisture. Due to the heat, water evaporates in the ground. As a result of such created conditions, the roots do not receive the right amount moisture.
And along with the lack of moisture, there is no supply of nutrients contained in the water. The result is obvious, lethargy and flabbiness of the leaf plate, and subsequently yellowing and falling off of the leaf damaged by excessive heat. The leaf can wither quickly, in especially unfavorable conditions in a few hours.
Why Roots Can Be Damaged
Damage to the roots occurs if the orchid is regularly in conditions unsuitable for its growth and development. The roots can both rot and dry. All this is detrimental to the plant and casts doubt on the fact that if urgent measures are not taken, the orchid will survive.
Created by the owner ideal conditions care, which each flower will have its own, will allow the plant to recover and grow a new root system. Which, in turn, will allow the leaves to get rid of wilting.
What are the reasons for excess moisture?
In nature, the orchid grows on rocks and trees, fastening with bare roots to the surface chosen by the flower. So, watering and drying the roots occurs natural way rain and sun.
Being in pots, the roots cannot immediately get rid of excess water if in a container few holes or they are small. Stagnation of water provokes a deterioration in the condition of the root system of orchids.
Moisture can be eliminated by controlling the tray that stands under the pot. It must not contain water. In addition, the room where these plants stand should be often ventilated. But keep in mind that you can not leave an orchid in a draft.
Why a flower may not have enough moisture
This state of the plant can occur when a novice grower, having heard the advice of supposedly experienced specialists, begins to water the orchid strictly on certain days.
This can only be done in cases where the same temperature and humidity are constantly maintained in the premises.
This can only be done in the laboratory, so for growing orchids at home, this approach to watering destructive to flowers.
For each flower, the orchid owner must have individual approach, since the need for watering can only report the condition of the soil in the pot. The ideal condition of the substrate is moderate moisture and friability, but in no case sputum.
How can you harm a flower with top dressing
For many flower lovers, there is an axiom that the more fertilizer, the better the plant will feel. In fact, this is an erroneous statement, not confirmed by practice.
Since the orchid grows in a substrate of moss and bark, which loosely envelop the roots, as the earth does, even a fertilizer that is incorrectly diluted in violation of the instructions on the package can cause significant harm to the plant.
In addition, for fertilizing orchids needed special formulations , on which this particular plant is indicated. On the packaging you can always read the doses and periods of fertilizer, how to dilute it, if necessary. If you follow the recommendations, then there will be no problems with feeding the orchid.
Causes of soil compaction
If the orchid is properly cared for and it is actively growing, then a sluggish leaf may form due to the fact that the soil in the container has compacted. This suggests that there are too many roots. It is easy to see this, because almost all pots for these flowers are produced transparent.
To remedy the situation, the plant simply needs transplant into a pot with large volume. But in no case should the roots that stick out, try to fit in a container and sprinkle with soil. They must be left in the state they were, otherwise they may be lost.
Roots are as important to a plant as the circulatory system is to humans. Therefore, if they have little space for the normal supply of the orchid with everything they need, or they are in an uncomfortable temperature regime, this may immediately affect appearance plants.
How to save a wilted orchid
Seeing the wilted leaves of a flower, you must immediately do resuscitation manipulations that will restore the healthy appearance of the plant.
If the plant is overheated, it should be immediately move to shade. In this state, he cannot be disturbed for four hours. It is strictly forbidden to spray or water the orchid, this can provoke rotting of the parts that the water gets into.
Restore normal condition flower will be a long undertaking. After overheating, the orchid will need to find a place where this will not happen again. Then it will need to be watered regularly, which should restore her water balance.
Experts have noticed that the wilting of the leaves of a flower due to damage to the roots occurs only in ten cases.
The degrees of injury to the root system are:
- Easy.
- Average.
- Heavy.
- Very heavy.
All degrees of damage, except for the last "very severe", can be treated and restored.
Rules for the prevention and restoration of orchids
You need to restore the flower from the fact that you take it at the base and try to move it. If he does not move, then he needs water procedures. If the orchid stood in a warm place, then it needs to stand in the shade for about an hour.
Then, the pot must be lowered into a container with warm water and let it sit there for an hour. After this, the plant needed warm shower , but you need to remember that you can not get water on the flower stalks.
After the water has completely drained from the leaves, the flower needs to be wiped dry with a cotton cloth (or any other natural one). It is better to put the plant in a bright place, but without direct sunlight.
During the period of resuscitation, it is impossible to water the orchid with preparations for growth, this will only make the flower worse. First positive result can be expected within three days. If this does not happen, you need to inspect the roots.
To do this, take the plant out of the pot and studying the root system. Healthy and lively roots can be seen at a glance, they are green and elastic.
All other roots are needed delete sharp knife to healthy tissue. The cut point must be ground into powder charcoal to dry the cut root.
According to orchid experts, even one live root of at least five centimeters can grow into a full-fledged bush. Only you need to plant it in a new soil, strictly controlling watering, avoiding excess water.
Direct sunlight is also unacceptable, otherwise the flower will not have the slightest chance to survive. orchid very beautiful flower, so it’s worth making an effort to make this plant decorate the room and delight others with its spectacular flowers.
And do not despair if suddenly the leaves wrinkled and lost their luster. Need urgently take steps to improve plants and flower will be able to recover.
The once rare expensive plant - the orchid - has now ceased to be a curiosity; more and more often it can be found on the windowsills of lovers of exotic flowers. And, it would seem, what's wrong with it: I bought a flowering specimen, brought it home - and admire it. It wasn't there! Suddenly, you find that the long-awaited beautiful flowers wither and fall.
Why is this happening and what needs to be done to prevent it? Studying this issue in various sources, we tried to collect all the most common reasons for this behavior of orchids.
Possible causes of wilting orchid flowers
In order to understand true reasons, because of which the flowers wither and fall, analyze whether all the necessary conditions for the favorable maintenance of orchids. To help you figure it out, we will focus on the most common plant care mistakes, as well as look at ways to eliminate them. So, what can prevent an orchid from blooming?
- stress or shock
Usually, bringing a flower home from the store, we try to create it Better conditions, but instead, without noticing it, on the contrary, we worsen the situation.
The most common reason why flowers suddenly begin to wither is a sharp change in “place of residence”, which means a change in the conditions in which the orchid was located. Even we, moving from one climate to another, sometimes experience discomfort, to say nothing of this tender flower! Changing the conditions of detention for the worse adversely affects not only the flowers; Orchid leaves and roots also experience discomfort.
Methods of treatment: optimize the conditions of "residence" according to the recommended rules for the care and maintenance of the plant.
- Natural aging of flowers
"Nothing is eternal under the Moon!". Unfortunately, we cannot influence the duration of flowering inherent in a particular type of orchid. Of course, some varieties can stand for more than three months, but for someone even ten days is a holiday. Complicating the situation is that when you buy an already blooming orchid in a store, you do not know how long it has stood in this form. It is quite possible that a week, and it may turn out that the flowering period is already ending. Therefore, if only the flowers withered, but in general the plant feels satisfactory, then there is no reason to panic.
Methods of treatment: fortunately, this is not a disease. Treatment is not required, carry out further activities for subsequent flowering.
- Insufficient lighting
An orchid is a light-loving flower, and the lack of light is very traumatic not only for flowers, but for the whole plant as a whole. Often, it is newly acquired flowering specimens that are sensitive to a sharp change in light saturation. Agree, in greenhouses where they are grown, the light intensity is much higher than in apartments. And amateur beginners, inspired by blooming flowers, do not attach much importance to this issue, naively believing that all the conditions for an orchid have been successfully created.
With the advent of autumn-winter, when the daylight hours are reduced, we curtain the windows earlier, and the orchid may react to this by withering even unopened buds, or shorten its natural flowering period. The long winter is a difficult period, as in general content orchids, and in relation to its flowering. Peduncle "shoots", as a rule, in full swing sunny summer, and the buds begin to bloom by October, scant in the sun. In this case further growth the peduncle will stop, and, having stood in this state for a month, the buds will begin to wither and fall off. This process is explained by the fact that the amount of absorbed light directly affects chemical reactions required for flowering. Therefore, not getting enough light, the flowers begin to wither.
Methods of treatment: rearrange the orchid in a sunny place, install additional lighting(phytolamp). For a less demanding phalaenopsis, a fluorescent light bulb is sufficient.
- Plant overheating
Similar consequences can be caused by an excess of bright saturated sun. Fortunately (or unfortunately), our latitude is characterized by stingy light in winter and burning sun in summer. And the intensity of sunlight in summer is several times higher than the norm. Orchids are epiphytes (that is, they use another support for growth), and in nature they can safely hide from the scorching rays under the crowns of trees. In the apartment, the orchids standing by the windows often overheat, and their flowers wither. In addition, overheating adversely affects the condition of the entire plant as a whole. Roots weaken, dry up, and for a short time dehydration occurs. As a result, the leaves turn yellow, the flowers wither and the buds fall off.
Methods of treatment: it is necessary to shade the plant from direct sunlight. A blooming orchids put away from windows.
- artificial heating
Enemy number one is dry hot air coming from batteries central heating. This misfortune is familiar to almost every grower. Not only the flowers themselves dry up and wither, but also the ovaries of the buds that have not blossomed.
Methods of treatment: If you keep the orchid on the windowsill, place it away from the hot air flow. In extreme cases, cover the battery with a wet towel.
- lack of air humidity
Methods of treatment: use a humidifier directly near the flower. A good option- build or purchase a ready-made pallet with wet moss, expanded clay, sand. Being above the stream of hot air (for example, above the battery), the water evaporates, creating the necessary humidity. Do not forget to moisten expanded clay only in time.
- Orchid hypothermia
This is possible when transporting an orchid in winter or when the temperature in the room is below acceptable. Even with careful packaging with cellophane and paper, the flower may freeze, and as a result, the flowers will wither and the plant may die.
Methods of treatment: with severe hypothermia, it will not be possible to save the plant.
- Draft
Arranging ventilation in the room is a beneficial action for both people and flowers. Thus, we provide air circulation. But a cold draft leads to disastrous consequences, the orchid slowly becomes supercooled, gradually fades and dies.
Methods of treatment: do not put the plant pot in the path of cold air.
- Close proximity to fruits and vegetables
Some foods (nuts, tomatoes, apples) emit ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process of flowers, including unopened ones. Which leads to rapid aging of the inflorescences.
Methods of treatment: treatment is not subject. Just try not to place the named products next to the orchid.
- Poor watering
The reason that the orchid wilts is both a lack of moisture and its excess. The main thing in this business is a competent balance. The soil should always be slightly moist, and for this it is necessary to water often, but little. The consequence of improper watering is damage to the root system: its rotting or drying out. When the plant does not have enough moisture consumed from the roots, it will begin to redistribute minerals from one body to another. And first of all, flowers and buds will suffer, then the peduncle, and then the whole orchid will begin to fade.
Methods of treatment: treatment of the root system is troublesome and not fast, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to save the flowers, but the orchid itself still needs to be treated. On initial stage root damage is difficult to determine the degree of withering. To do this, move the plant in a pot: it sits tightly - which means that not everything is lost. Put the flower in a bowl of water room temperature for about an hour.
Then arrange a shower, avoiding getting water on the flower stalks. After the water drains, remove the accumulated moisture from the axils of the leaves and the core and place in a bright place at a temperature not exceeding 25 ° C. If the plant did not improve within two or three days, then the degree of damage to the roots turned out to be stronger than expected.
If the orchid does not hold tightly in the pot, you can pull it out and inspect the roots. Determine how many live roots are left. Living roots are always dense and light, rotten - brown and hollow. Remove dry and rotten roots, disinfect the sections with activated charcoal. And then it all depends on the presence of the remaining roots. Transplant the orchid into a new substrate, put it in a warm, bright place and water it in the traditionally correct way. It may turn out that your pet will again please you with flowering.
- Pollination
And this happens! The culprits can be bees, wasps, flies and other flying insects.
Methods of treatment: in case of successful pollination, a seed box will appear in place of a withering flower, otherwise, the flower will wither and fall off.
- Pest infestation
A possible cause of wilting may be small pests. Mealybug loves to suck juice from buds and flowers. Outwardly, it resembles cotton wool and leaves behind a sticky coating.
Methods of treatment: daily inspection for the presence of pests. First things first, isolate orchids from other plants. Then it is necessary to carefully remove the worm, one by one. The next step is the application of insecticides. And once again we emphasize - daily inspection !!!
In this article, we looked at common causes of wilting flowers and buds. Do not forget that often the loss of flowers entails the death of the plant itself. And in order to prevent such a situation, provide your pet with competent care and proper maintenance.
