Should i prune orchid

Sterilizing the shears will help to keep your orchid healthy. If a whole leaf is yellow or withered, try gently pulling on it to remove it. After trimming the leaves, remove the orchid from its pot to look for any brown or shriveled roots and cut them away with scissors before repotting the plant.

For tips on how to prune the flowering stem on different types of orchids, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers.

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Sterilize your pruning shears before you trim your orchid. Dip your pruning shears in a cup of rubbing alcohol and let them soak in it for 30 seconds. Open and close the shears a few times to ensure that the alcohol gets all over the blades. Then, remove the shears from the alcohol and set them on a paper towel to dry. Wait for all of the flowers to fall off of a stem before pruning it.

Wait until the blooms fall off. Cut the stem down to the level of the soil if it is brown. If your orchid has any stems that are brown or yellow and shriveled, they will not produce any more flowers, so pruning the stems is not recommended. Instead, cut these stems off completely. Trim off any brown, soft roots that are protruding from the soil. Pull your orchid up and out of its pot and look at the roots to see if any of them appear to be dead.

Dead roots will look brown and feel soft to the touch. Live roots will be white and firm. Cut across any of the roots that appear to be dead and then return the plant to its pot or repot it. Part 2. Sterilize your pruning shears before pruning your orchid. Dip your pruning shears in a cup filled with isopropyl alcohol or rubbing alcohol for 30 seconds. Open and close them a few times to ensure that the alcohol makes contact with all surfaces of the blades. Then, place the pruning shears on a paper towel to air dry completely.

If the base of the plant has glossy, green, firm leaves, then it is healthy enough for pruning. However, if the leaves are yellow, brown, dry, or limp, then the plant is not healthy enough for pruning.

Give the plant a chance to get healthy before you prune it. Check to see if your orchid has any dormant eyes on the stems. Eyes on orchid stems look like small spikes covered with a thin layer of brown or beige plant matter.

These eyes can become new stems or flower spikes later on. Identify the second node below where the flowers bloomed. A node looks like a brown line running horizontally in a circle around the stem. However, with the right information, it can easily become part of your orchid care routine. Just follow these four steps! The status of your spikes informs how you should go about the trimming process. Healthy spikes are green and firm to the touch. Unhealthy spikes are brown or yellow in color.

Some orchids have a single-spike and some are double-spiked. The tools you use to trim your spikes should be clean and sterile. Wash the blades of your tools thoroughly with hot water and soap. Rinse clean to ensure no soap residue remains. For non-coated tools, you can also sterilize with the flame of an alcohol lamp or gas stove. For healthy, green spikes: Find a node under the lowest flower bloom.

Trim 1 inch above that node. It may seem intimidating to prune your orchid, but it's important to your plant's health.

Pruning an orchid can not only help it last longer—as well as flower more—but it'll also ensure you're removing diseased leaves and help you get it ready for repotting , according to Bruce Rogers , orchid expert and author of The Orchid Whisperer, Expert Secrets for Growing Beautiful Orchids.

So, grab your pruning shears: Here's when you need to prune your orchid, and how to prune it properly. No matter what method you use to prune your orchids—we'll discuss a few below—start with sterilized pruning shears or scissors. To sterilize your shears, heat the blades over a gas stove or with a lighter for several seconds, says Rogers. Just be very careful with your fingers.

Phalaenopsis, Oncidium, and Dendrobium orchids are some of the most common varieties people own—and they should be pruned to extend their flowering periods , says Rogers.

When you spot the last flower on these varieties ready to die, "count down three nodes—the bumps on the spike where the individual flowers emerge—and use sterilized scissors to cut the end of the flower spike completely off," Rogers instructs.