Orchid owners can ‘stimulate’ new flower growth on their plants by utilising one easy trick that’s free to use, as a gardening expert warns against making a common mistake
Orchids are notoriously difficult to care for – but one easy trick could guarantee new flowers.
With their beautiful flowers and stunning colours, it’s no wonder orchids are one of the most popular plants for keen gardeners to bring home. The plants are available at garden centres and supermarkets, and they make an excellent display piece on a table to brighten up your living room – but caring for them can be tricky.
Many of us buy orchids when they already have flowers, which can make it hard to know what to do with the plant once it’s finished blooming for the year. But according to a gardening expert, there’s a free and easy hack we can use to guarantee a “new flower spike” for our orchids.
Frankie Ferragine, who posts on YouTube under the username Frankie Flowers, is a popular and trusted gardening expert in Canada with more than 5,000 subscribers on his channel. The expert recently posted a YouTube Short on how to make orchids re-flower, with one simple hack.
All you have to do to guarantee that the plant will re-bloom is to trim the flower spike down to a node along the stem. To do this, go along the plant’s stem and look for a node, which is a “bump” in the stem that sticks out. Then simply cut the stem just above the node to “stimulate some additional growth and stimulate flowers”.
Using this method will take a few months before new flowers begin to grow, but it’s a fantastic tip for when your orchid has stopped flowering and needs a gentle nudge to start blooming again. Frankie added that the “key” is allowing the plant to dry out a little bit further, as the plant needs to be “stressed out a little bit” and put in a room where the temperature is cooler at night to stimulate further growth.
However, the expert also said there’s one common mistake gardeners must avoid making – overwatering. He said: “The number one reason why people can never get an orchid to bloom is they’re just giving it too much water, too much fertiliser and too much care. Cut back on the water, cut back on the fertiliser, cooler nights and it will stimulate that new flower spike.”
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