Anyone who loves plants will sooner or later end up adopting an Orchid !
This plant, whose most common variety is Phalaenopsis and can also be found in the supermarket, is easily recognizable by its flowers with a unique and bewitching appearance.
Unfortunately, intense heat can stress your orchid , weakening it and, in severe cases, causing it to dry out. Let’s see how to recognize when this happens and how to behave .
Symptoms
Let’s start by discovering the symptoms that tell us that our plant is suffering from too much heat .
Floppy flowers
Certainly one of the first symptoms caused by high temperatures is the wilting of the flowers .
These usually have a delicate but vigorous appearance at the same time. In the heat, however, they can appear droopy and floppy as if they have just been bathed and are weighed down by the water.
Spots on the leaves
The appearance of spots on the leaves is also very common . These are often irregularly shaped and yellow-brown spots . They sometimes appear when, in addition to the excessive temperature , the sun is really intense .
Rarely, spots may also appear on the petals .
Dried stem
It is not uncommon for the floral stem to also be affected by very hot temperatures . In these cases, it tends to become darker and drier , woody and unhealthy-looking.
Don’t forget that the floral stem is the stem that starts from the base of the plant and develops upwards, on which the flowers bloom .
What to do
Now let’s see what to do if one or more symptoms of those we have just seen appear.
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Water more
Among the different things you can do to make your orchid feel better, there is certainly watering it more .
In fact, with the increase in temperatures, the orchid always needs a greater quantity of water. You can water from above or even from below , placing the plant with the entire pot in a basin with a few centimeters of water for about 10 minutes . Through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, the plant will absorb all the water it needs.
Move to a cool place
Another small but useful remedy is to move the plant to a cooler place . Consider that the orchid is used to a temperature between 18 and 28°C .
If temperatures rise above 30°C he can really suffer a lot! Move it to a cooler place, perhaps on the veranda , in a very ventilated room or, but only if there is not too much light, even outdoors .
Remember that the orchid should never be placed in direct sunlight .
Fertilize
Fertilizing your orchid is a way not only to increase the extent of its flowering, but also to strengthen it , providing it with all the energy necessary to withstand the hot summer season.
Fertilization should begin in spring and continue until autumn. You can use a specific product based on nitrogen , phosphorus and potassium , but also some natural fertilizers that you perhaps already have at home, even if you don’t know it!
In fact, after preparing a good coffee, you can recover the powdered grounds from the moka , crumble them with your hands and spread them on the orchid soil. Being full of nitrogen , they will give your plant some energy!