Meet Helos, my budding second Orchid
I’m so excited to introduce you to Helos! Helos is the second Orchid I purchased after experiencing the thrilling rebirth of my first Orchid Sol. Not long after I brought Helos home, it dropped its flowers. I kept watering Helos and placed it next to Sol on my window sill and this morning I noticed these 3 little buds! I know little about Orchids, so I’m operating as a complete newbie & I am so appreciative of the community here who has offered me encouragement. Especially @MotherOfOrchids #OrchidLovers #HappyPlants #NewGrowth
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Hi 👋. Thank you for your lovely words! How is Sol doing? I’m really happy for you that you decided to purchase a new orchid!
It can be really normal for phals to drop their flowers soon after purchase - it’s frustrating when they drop them so soon after purchase as we want to enjoy them, but we also don’t know how long they have been in bloom for before they came into our care, so there’s a chance Helos has been in flower for a while. Also, it’s a really stressful time for orchids when we purchase them and this can cause premature ageing of blooms - they get shipped from their nurseries, sometimes travelling overseas, then they are in a shop and shops generally don’t have the greatest conditions for them to be happy, then we purchase them and they need to get used to our environment - all of this is stressful and when a phal is stressed, the blooms generally are the things that go first. None of this is avoidable though and they do settle into our homes! Healthy phals tend to handle the stress well, but another thing that can cause the flowers to drop is the plant being confused about what season it is and where in their growing cycle they are - this can easily be thrown out by going from the nursery, to the shop, and to us and it can take a good few months to re-regulate itself and settle down, so if the plant is confused and thinks, say, blooming season is over, it’ll shed the blooms - if this has happened, you might notice an increase in root growth or a new leaf coming through, then it might have thought “actually, blooming season isn’t over” and decides it has enough energy to make new buds. I had this happen with my most recent phal purchase and I also took it to mean that she’s happy in her spot because it’s given her enough energy to rebloom. Once she’s fully settled, she’ll fall into a natural rhythm and she’ll probably sync with Sol. Are there any other signs of stress or ill health? I imagine that there isn’t, seeing as she has chosen to grow some more buds and you are a great orchid parent! If there are no other signs of stress and the leaves and roots look good, it’ll be one of both of the reasons I just described and all you need to do is keep up the same care!
It can be really normal for phals to drop their flowers soon after purchase - it’s frustrating when they drop them so soon after purchase as we want to enjoy them, but we also don’t know how long they have been in bloom for before they came into our care, so there’s a chance Helos has been in flower for a while. Also, it’s a really stressful time for orchids when we purchase them and this can cause premature ageing of blooms - they get shipped from their nurseries, sometimes travelling overseas, then they are in a shop and shops generally don’t have the greatest conditions for them to be happy, then we purchase them and they need to get used to our environment - all of this is stressful and when a phal is stressed, the blooms generally are the things that go first. None of this is avoidable though and they do settle into our homes! Healthy phals tend to handle the stress well, but another thing that can cause the flowers to drop is the plant being confused about what season it is and where in their growing cycle they are - this can easily be thrown out by going from the nursery, to the shop, and to us and it can take a good few months to re-regulate itself and settle down, so if the plant is confused and thinks, say, blooming season is over, it’ll shed the blooms - if this has happened, you might notice an increase in root growth or a new leaf coming through, then it might have thought “actually, blooming season isn’t over” and decides it has enough energy to make new buds. I had this happen with my most recent phal purchase and I also took it to mean that she’s happy in her spot because it’s given her enough energy to rebloom. Once she’s fully settled, she’ll fall into a natural rhythm and she’ll probably sync with Sol. Are there any other signs of stress or ill health? I imagine that there isn’t, seeing as she has chosen to grow some more buds and you are a great orchid parent! If there are no other signs of stress and the leaves and roots look good, it’ll be one of both of the reasons I just described and all you need to do is keep up the same care!
@GypsieSloth Welcome to the Greg community! Looks like you’re doing a great job, but here’s a website that will give you a lot of information about Orchids and their requirements: https://www.bhg.com/gardening/houseplants/care/how-to-care-for-orchids/ Happy Growing
@Ms.Persnickety Thank you!