Orchids are ornamental plants that many people love to grow indoors. The beauty of flower clusters with many colors and special shapes always captivates people’s hearts. Orchids have many color combinations and create an extremely harmonious whole.
However, each type of orchid only blooms at a certain time of the year. If you do not take good care or create favorable living conditions, orchids are difficult to flower or inflorescences of low quality.
Orchids growing new leaves but not flowers. It is one of the most common problems among orchid growers. What causes orchids to show leaves but not bloom? How do orchids bloom? Let’s find out the details in the article below.
Orchid Growing New Leaves But Not Flowers – Top 6 Reasons
There are many reasons why orchids show new leaves but do not bloom. Some of the basic causes are lack of sunlight, low temperature, poor soil quality, damaged roots, or the wrong blooming season of orchids. Below is detailed information on each of the causes that cause orchids to show new leaves but not bloom.
Lack Of Sunlight
As you know, orchids are sun-loving plants. So they will grow and develop stronger when there is enough sunlight every day. Light is an important factor that helps stimulate orchids to bloom.
So, if your orchid is not blooming, the first cause you need to check is whether the amount of light is enough or not. Because orchids will never bloom without sunlight.
Alternatively, you can examine the orchid’s leaves to see if they’re lacking in sunlight. If the orchid’s leaves are drooping, weak, and pale in color, move it to a location that gets more sun each day.
However, you need to remember that orchids do not like direct sunlight. Sunlight with high intensity and for a long time will burn the leaves and the stem of the orchid. Therefore, you should choose a location with enough indirect or diffused sunlight.
In particular, the window in the East or South direction will be the ideal location to place the orchid pot. Because the sunlight in these directions will be warmer and softer than in other directions of the house.
Low Temperature
Orchid plants showing new leaves without flowering may be related to low temperatures. Most orchids prefer to grow in warm rather than cold environments. The ideal temperature for orchids to bloom is 75 degrees F. If your area is too cold, it will be difficult for orchids to bloom.
You can place pots of orchids indoors in warmly lit areas or greenhouses. A warm space will stimulate orchids to bloom more than when they are outside in the cold. However, some orchids can still bloom in winter when temperatures are low. They can bloom at temperatures lower than 50 degrees F. So you need to check if the orchid you are growing has winter-blooming properties.
Poor Quality Soil Mix
As you know, the orchid is a very demanding plant when it comes to soil quality. If you don’t have a good quality soil mix suitable for orchids they will never bloom. Even when you take care of other standards.
If your orchid is still not blooming despite adequate light and warm temperatures, check the soil quality factor. Therefore, you should replace the new soil mixture to ensure nutrition and stimulate orchid bloom.
To solve this problem, you can buy soil mixes available in gardeners with special standards for orchids. These soil mixes all have enough nutrients and other minerals needed for orchid growth.
If you want to mix your own orchid potting mix, you just need to prepare the ingredients below.
- Peat moss contains sand.
- Sphagnum moss
- Oak or shredded bark
- Coconut shell
- Agroperlite
Mix these together and place them in a ceramic pot with a vent to prevent waterlogging when you water each day.
Root Diseases
Roots are one of the most important parts of plants. The root system is responsible for transporting water, nutrients, and minerals needed to nourish the plant. If your orchid is not blooming then you also need to check the root system.
The cause can be rotten roots or pests that prevent them from completing their tasks. From there, the orchid will not be able to grow healthy and flower when mature.
In addition, orchids are very sensitive to waterlogging and humidity for long periods of time. If you water too much every day, the root system will rot and be severely damaged. Therefore, watering is a very important thing to help orchids grow well.
You should only water when the ground is 1-2 inches dry. You should not water at night or on leaves. A humid environment will create favorable conditions for fungi and pests to grow. Remember that orchids are very sensitive to waterlogging and they cannot bloom when the root system is damaged.
Not The Right Time To Bloom
Each type of orchid has a certain time of year when it blooms. So you cannot stimulate them to bloom year-round or off-season. Orchids will bloom after growth stops in the spring. So orchids can bloom in summer, autumn, or winter depending on the variety. So, if the orchid shows new leaves and doesn’t bloom, it could be because of the off-season. You need to find out about the blooming time of the orchid variety you are growing and wait patiently.
Too Much Fertilizer
Too much nutrition will cause the orchid to continuously produce leaves without blooming. If you do not prune old leaves or young branches, the orchid will continue to maintain the energy to grow leaves.
Too many young leaves grow every day, causing the orchid to forget its blooming duty and devote all its energy to nourishing the leaves. Therefore, you need to prune the young leaves when the orchid is in bloom so that the plant can focus all its energy on blooming.
Important Notes To Help Orchids Bloom
To stimulate orchids to bloom, you need to create an ideal habitat for them. Orchids are plants that need regular care and maintenance to have beautiful and gorgeous flower clusters. To provide the best growing conditions, some of the following precautions should be taken.
- You should place the orchid next to the window in the south and east about 5 feet
- Use a potting mix rich in nutrients and well-draining
- Fertilize about once a week with liquid ball fertilizer for easy absorption by orchids
- Place the orchid in a warm location, ideally between 50 degrees F and 70 degrees F
- Water once a week when the ground is dry
- Plant orchids in transparent pots to monitor root growth and root diseases
- Provide adequate indirect or diffused sunlight every day
- Regularly clean the leaves on both sides to remove brown or white patches, which can be fungal spores or insect eggs.
Summary
Orchid plants showing new leaves but not blooming can be related to a variety of causes. The leading cause is a lack of sunlight that prevents orchids from blooming. In addition, some other causes such as too low temperature, poor soil quality, root diseases, or too much fertilizer.
To overcome this situation, you should choose a location with indirect sunlight every day and maintain a warm temperature to stimulate orchid blooms. In addition, when the orchid is in bloom, you should also prune leaves and young shoots so that the plant can focus its energy on blooming. It’s wonderful to see the gorgeous orchids in the house!