Top Tips For Growing Orchids Indoors in the Fall: The Ultimate Care Guide 🌸

[@wandashaw3551]

Hello Nicole, and thanks for these tips. Such a great help. ❤

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@wandashaw3551 so glad it was helpful ❤️

[@edwardmangoma7673]

Nice sharing

[@alp-1960]

"Weekly weakly," yeah, me too. I don't fertilize them in winter unless I see blooms forming, then I give them a little.

[@hillbillyorchids]

Great Tips! Yea i can't wait for winter. Less watering 😂

[@NicoleDeanna]

LITERALLY! lmao! 😂

[@shirleyholt898]

Hi Nicole. Looks like you covered everything pretty well. Lot’s of great tips. My air is very dry. So I do run humidifier. We are having a bad drought here in Ohio. We only had 0.07 inches of rain for the month of September. So I’m very cautious about the spider mites. Thanks and have a great week ahead. 🥰👏

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@shirleyholt898 thank you Shirley ❤️ I hope you get some rain soon. We didn't get much rain here this month, but we are finally getting some this week. Enjoy your week my friend 🫶

[@denisesase]

I have so much plant moving to do by mid autumn. My growspace changes prior to winter because the usual spot gets much too cold in winter for the majority of my collection. I'm also watching everything like a hawk for bacterial and fungal issues during this time of year 👀.

[@NicoleDeanna]

You're so on top of everything!! :) Excellent!

[@KathyGeils]

What do you spray your plants with getting ready for the fall? What is the mixture of dish soap and neeman oil? I am new to this and need to stay on top of things. Thank you. You are very helpful.

[@denisesase]

@KathyGeils Hi Kathy. I'm guessing there are a variety of different methods employed by individual growers. I don't personally use systemic fungicides. If I notice bacterial or fungal issues, I tend to cut away the affected part of the leaf, root, stem, or other tissue with a sterilised tool (snippers, knife, scissors, anything appropriate really) and dust the open cut with cinnamon powder, which has antimicrobial properties. This prevents spread to other parts of the plant. While it may look cosmetically imperfect, at least my plant will be healthy (it is better to sacrifice a leaf than the entire plant in my humble opinion). I also spray mould in the potting mix with 3% hydrogen peroxide, which seems to keep it at bay until the season or root growth is appropriate so I can do a full repot. It's about finding a method that works for you in your environment and within your budget. In MY environment during winter, I keep my leaves and stems bone dry and wipe up any water that spills on them during watering as I find this helps to prevent rot in my cold, humid conditions with suboptimal airflow (UK wintertime 😮‍💨). However, this might not be appropriate in your environment if, for example, you have dry hot conditions. It's about trail and error, and I've lost quite a few plants along the way. But ultimately, you'll learn what works best for your conditions, with perseverance and research. Happy growing 😁. PS: My main preventative is providing as dry as possible conditions during winter, which is when I notice the majority of bacterial/fungal spotting. I can't comment on dish soap/neem oil as I don't personally use these, but perhaps another grower may be able to share their experience.

[@annatydniouk5739]

Thanks!

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@annatydniouk5739 thank you so much 💓🫶

[@PatriciaRomero-v5o]

Hi Nicole , Thank you for always keeping us updated! Question, What product will you recommend to treat the orchids against pest that is pet friendly and how often is it ok to treat it as preventable ? Thank you

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@PatriciaRomero-v5o thank you so much for watching and for your super thanks, that was so kind! 💓 I like using a product with spinosad in it. It's effective against thrips and spidermites and safer than many of the other insecticides. I like NATURALYTE and I hear good things about Captain Jack's Dead Bug. You can also spray your plants with a mixture of a little dish soap, Neem oil and water. Works with spider mites, but less effective against thrips. You can use the transition in seasons to do a preventable spray down. I hope this helps :))

[@valerieclark5695]

Thanks so much. Just this morning I picked up one of my Phalaenopsis and it had a root growing down the drainage hole. I had never seen a root growing down the drainage hole with this genus and was wondering what to do. Guess a little repot is in my future.

[@NicoleDeanna]

Perfect, yeah it can be done but phals tend to bloom now so if you repot it, it'll take lot of energy to bloom and recover from the repot, let it have a nice bloom show this fall :)

[@elsapanta8531]

Thank you for your video it really helps me to refresh my routine with my orchids.. I acquired some novelty Phals they have some blooms and 2 have a spikes, hopefully they will continue until they bloom, I already bought the heating mat for them, do you think I should put them already on it? I’m in the north side of Jersey close to NYC so my climate is similar to yours? I have some orchids that their medium smell kind of musty or not fresh do you recommend repotting? Or just give it a good flush and that will be enough? What can you recommend.. thanks in advance, awesome video very helpful!

[@NicoleDeanna]

I think you can wait till things cool down a bit more, but there's no downside to the heat mat. As for repotting you can if you see new root tips growing, otherwise I'd wait for the spring :)

[@annatydniouk5739]

Thank you, Nicole! It is a very helpful video. What do you use for fighting mites? How do you provide winer rest for your catasetums. I have a few and am not sure what to do with them in fall/winter. A few of them have spikes now.

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@annatydniouk5739 thank you ❤️ I use NATURALYTE when I have thrips and if I have spidermites, I use soapy water with neem oil and it works well! (Neem only won't work for thrips I found) I usually keep watering my catasetums until the leaves fall off and they are done blooming. You could gradually taper the water down a little bit in the fall but I wouldn't significantly pull back until I start seeing their leaves fall off. Then when they have no leaves you stop watering. I hope this helps! Lmk if you have any more questions 💓

[@annatydniouk5739]

@@NicoleDeanna Thank you! It is very helpful.

[@ellietobe]

I have not gotten my repotting completed. I have one phal in particular that is climbing out of its pot that I should have repotted last spring and still have not done along with another that is overdue for a repot. I did do a few others last spring but got stalled with other necessary duties this summer. I feel guilty whenever I look at the orchid that is climbing out of its pot. ☹️ I don’t know how you keep up with yours. At one time I had much more time to fuss with my plants. It’s different now and I am really stressed about it. 😩

[@NicoleDeanna]

I am in your shoes! How I keep up with my repotting? ehh, i don't :) Lol, don't feel too bad, sometimes I have more energy than other times, some years are better than others, next spring I will do everything early. I had the challenging task of getting things out of semi hydro so those repots took me longer.

[@YRMYPPPT]

❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

[@NicoleDeanna]

❤

[@joannatheartist1004]

Hi Nicole! Do you flush your Hoyas too or just your orchids ?

[@NicoleDeanna]

Mostly the orchids because their roots are sensitive. Hoyas are much less sensitive but I'll flush the leca every few months and check for root mealies

[@crazykittensmiles]

I've got 7 on their way to me next week. I assume they will be sent in that compacted Spagmoss. Should I wait for those until spring? It's so frustrating watching them cramped inside those flimsy plastic "pots" and rammed inside the moss!

[@NicoleDeanna]

Ahh yessss ahh I hate those. Are they standard phals or summer bloomers? If summer bloomers, they take a blooming break in the winter, and you can probably do it wihtout trouble if you keep them warm. You can use a heat mat as well to keep them extra happy :) If they are standard complex phals, they will bloom soon, and your bloom count could be reduced if you disturb the root systems now. It can be done but not the most ideal. I get it though.... sometimes they do even better if you repot them out of that tight moss plug, even in a cooler time, so this answer I know is kind of all over, but I think you can do it.

[@crazykittensmiles]

​@@NicoleDeannaOh actually there's 8! 😅 Phalaenopsis gigantea var. decolorata 'Tawei' Phalaenopsis KS Super Zebra 'Yellow Zebra' Cattleya 'Jungle Eyes' Cattleya Monte Elegante 'Xin Pu' Phalaenopsis bellina Red Apple x alba Phalaenopsis schilleriana Cattleya intermedia var. orlata species Phalaenopsis GENE'S SUMMER VIOLET It's weird there's one seller on eBay who has wonderful orchids and they do so well when I get them home. But the online large sellers I know it'll just be me growing roots for at least a month. Although I had a rootless Dowiana regrow a very good system in 4 weeks which was brilliant.

[@crazykittensmiles]

​@@NicoleDeannaBut I will definitely be lowering my grow lights from 14 to 12 hours Tomorrow. I'm nursing a Bellina Fire in moss and on a heat Matt right now for hopefully some root growth 🌸

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@crazykittensmiles perfect!

[@yamiletmedinagutierrez7493]

Hola!! Cómo estás me gustaría preguntarle si se pueden usar los típicos tubos led que se usa para iluminar la casa los más económicos.. saludos y muchas. felicidades

[@NicoleDeanna]

Claro que si! No se necesita nada caro, solo algo que sea suficientemente fuerte. Besos!

[@yamiletmedinagutierrez7493]

@@NicoleDeanna ❤️

[@PatriciaRomero-v5o]

Thanks!

[@NicoleDeanna]

@@PatriciaRomero-v5o 🫶❤️ tysm!!

[@debragrace-johnson3789]

Thanks!

[@NicoleDeanna]

Thank you so much for this 🤗❤