How to take care of an orchid after flowering - do I need to prune the flower stalk or other parts of the plant?
Indoor orchid is a beautiful flower. It pleases the eye with flowering for a long time if you take care of it correctly. Its duration depends on the type of plant purchased to decorate the windowsill or fill the interior with bright colors.
Some bloom for two weeks, while others for six months. Having sold it, the seller in the store will give practical advice: how to care for it, with what frequency to water it and whether it is worth trimming it. Without hearing it, they search for information on the Internet immediately upon arrival. So is the flower stalk removed after flowering? How? When?
What is this procedure?
Pruning is a healing procedure for a flower. By doing it, wilted parts are removed. It helps to redirect the internal forces of the orchid to the formation of new shoots. Do not disturb her if she has not fully blossomed. Otherwise, she will die. Carrying out the procedure, they act carefully so as not to damage the plant.
Ways
- Shortening the peduncle over a sleeping bud. Movement with a sharp secateurs is done above it by 1.5 cm.
- Trimming at the base leaving a hemp with a height of 2.5-3 cm.
The best tool during the procedure is a garden pruner. He injures the plant, but not like a knife or nail scissors. Using it, do not touch the leaves and do not leave burrs. It is dangerous to use another tool, since microbes get into the “wound”, and there is a risk of developing dangerous diseases or serious injury to the capricious beauty.
Garden secateurs are sanitized before the procedure using bleach or alcohol. Without them at hand, the blade is held above a burning burner or dipped in boiling water. These simple methods are best for avoiding infection in the wound.
The place of the cut is not disregarded, but processed. To do this, use iodine, activated carbon, cinnamon or brilliant green. Sometimes orchids with a hollow stem inside grow on home windowsills. To prevent water from getting inside it and rotting in the future, they close the cut-off point with beeswax.
What is pruning orchids, read here.
Pros and cons of holding
Beginner florists consider pruning a necessary procedure to accelerate the re-flowering of a plant. They are mistaken. Cutting off the "live" flower stalks cause serious damage to his life. This is a tangible minus. The following advantages are highly controversial: healing and eliminating wilted parts for redirecting forces.
Effects
The consequences are individual and depend on how the grower conducted the procedure. If you do everything with a sanitized tool and according to the rules, the orchid will delight you with its healthy appearance and will release a new flower stalk in the shortest possible time.
Note! If you do not sterilize the instrument, do not close the cut on the hollow peduncle, soon the orchid will rot. She will die, and the grower will not immediately associate the wrong pruning with what is happening to her.Timing for manipulation
The orchid must bloom. On its peduncle no buds or flowers should remain. During this period, it falls into a phase of rest. This is the best time to trim it and not harm it. A flowering plant does not bother, otherwise it will die.
The best time for pruning phalaenopsis is October-November. When trimming, they act carefully, observing unspoken rules. Before removing parts of the plant, its appearance is taken into account, since each has its own characteristics of growth, development and flowering. Phalaenopsis is pruned immediately after flowering, and others when the stems become brown.
Is it possible and necessary to carry out pruning after the plant has flowered?
Pruning an orchid after flowering is a rather controversial procedure. Some gardeners do not bother with its holding, and note that nothing terrible will happen from abandoning it. Sometimes, even on a faded peduncle, beautiful and bright buds appear from the buds. Others spend it regularly, thinking that it helps in redirecting forces to the development of new shoots.
Having decided on the procedure and conducting it, observing all the rules, organize proper orchid care:
- The soil in the pot is monitored, preventing its drying out.
- From time to time they spray it, not fertilizing it until a new leaf appears from the growth point of the root.
- Since then, they feed the culture with complex fertilizers.
Is it possible to prune an orchid after flowering, as well as how to carry out this procedure, you will learn in this article.
How to cut individual parts?
Consider how to trim individual parts of a faded plant.
Flower stalk
A flower stalk is an escape on which flowers form. This term is used to refer to the area of the stem part of the plant, on which the buds will soon bloom. Is it worth trimming it after flowering or not? First of all, examine him carefully.
If they notice traces of desiccation and complete yellowing on it, remove it, leaving a stump at the base. If you hurry up and remove it ahead of time, i.e. then, when it is still green, the orchid will "get sick", but will recover, having spent a lot of energy on restoration, and will bloom not earlier than after 6 months.
On a note. Having noticed buds or buds during examination at the peduncle, cut it 1.5 cm higher than them. Flowers will bloom from them, "babies" will form with proper watering and timely spraying.Arrows
Before trimming, inspect the epiphyte arrow carefully. It may have sleeping kidneys. If there are none and hints of them, too, it will turn yellow, dry up. It will never form new buds. Without sparing, cut it off, leaving a site above the nodules by 1.5-2 cm.
Sometimes on the arrow they notice the absence of nodules. Having observed, they see that it is drying. Do not take any action, waiting for the peduncle to dry completely. At these points, the epiphyte receives the necessary nutrients.
If the arrow is cut low, the new peduncle will be even longer than the previous one. When pruning to the root, new flowering does not come soon.
After flowering, the arrow is green and numerous branches remain on it? The life of a flower in this case is difficult, since every piece of it needs moisture and nutrients. Having noticed this, the flower grower should carry out the forming pruning. He must remove all the side arrows, not forgetting about the processing of the cut points with powdered activated carbon. After conducting it, they achieve a long and bright flowering.
Stem
Experienced flower growers recommend cutting off the sluggish part of the stem. By doing so, they save plant strength. Having cut off the green trunk, do not throw it away, but put it in a glass of water. Who knows, maybe a "baby" will appear!
Possible problems
Important! Unknowingly, many novice flower growers cut the orchid, without waiting for the flower stalk to dry and the flowers to fall. They are in a hurry and subsequently note that she is languishing.It will take a long time to restore strength, and it will not please the flowering species for a long time. This is the only consequence of premature pruning.
Useful video
Orchid after flowering. Trim the flower stalk or leave:
Conclusion
Each grower decides for himself whether to cut the orchid after flowering or not. The decision depends on its type, characteristics of growth and flowering. On the one hand, it is better to remove the sluggish part, and on the other hand, cutting off the stalk that is not too withered to the end, harm the orchid. If you do it, then carefully and using a disinfected garden secateurs.