In botany, orchids are part of the immense family of monocotyledonous plants that has more than 25,000 species. Surely the most popular and highly demanded indoors, the “Phalaenopsis” orchid, better known as the “butterfly orchid”, is very easy to grow at home. With simple maintenance and without too many conditions, it can be kept for a long time and prolong its flowering. It blooms fully in an environment around 20°C (never below 10°C) and tolerates summer heat. Light as butterflies, its flowers are very beautiful to look at, oscillating between various colors ranging from white, pink, yellow and orange. Some hybrid orchids can even borrow perennial hues such as purple, violet or electric blue.

This tropical plant is resistant and its cultivation is ideally carried out during the winter period. In the bulb or rhizome state, it adapts calmly to cool temperatures. After the cold months, the orchid prepares for its vegetative awakening. But how to take good care of it to give it everything it needs and stimulate its flowering in spring?

In this article we are going to reveal to you the best natural fertilizers so that your orchids bloom (or bloom again) faster at home according to the advice of Romain Le Tallec, a florist from Lyon.

Banana peel to make your orchids bloom

To enhance the flowering of your orchid, there is nothing like adding a little fertilizer to its substrate. The most popular natural fertilizer for this type of plants is banana peel. This is exactly the nutrient you need: rich in vitamins B6 and C, in mineral salts such as potassium and magnesium, banana peel is the little push you need to grow and flourish serenely.

Take a banana peel, wash it and cut it into small pieces. Then put them in a container with 2 liters of water and let them soak for about 48 hours. Finally, strain the mixture.

The liquid obtained will absorb all the nutrients from the banana peel, then you can use it as irrigation water for your orchids.

eggshells

Widely used to hunt down all the undesirables that revolve around plants, eggshell is also a natural fertilizer full of calcium and potassium. By crushing the peels very finely and sprinkling them on the bark of your orchids, the soil will quickly absorb all these nutrients and minerals essential for flowering.

The ash

Do you like to create a cozy atmosphere in winter around the fireplace? So little advice, don’t throw away the ashes! You may not know it, but you can recycle them into fertilizer for your orchids. It may seem strange to you, but fireplace ashes are very rich in calcium, potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. In other words, a cocktail of nutrients that your plants need!

The ideal is to add these ashes directly to your orchid’s soil. Do this after watering. The ash promotes flowering and is also used to suffocate insects that flutter around the plants. However, it lacks nitrogen and phosphorus, which you must supplement with other fertilizers. Warning: As ash is a bit caustic, it is best to wear gloves when handling it.

banana tea

Another ingenious method with this same ingredient: take a banana peel and cut it into small pieces. Then place them on a cutting board and expose them to direct sunlight for about 48 hours. You will notice that the skin becomes dry and harder. Then put the peels in a blender and you will get a powdery mixture.

Use a teaspoon of this product, pouring it into about 200 ml of hot water. Remove. Then let it cool. You have just prepared a banana tea: let it cool and pour it into your orchid.

banana powder

This method is also very convenient. In this case, after drying the banana peels in the sun, you must put them in the oven at 70°C until they are completely dry. Then take them out of the oven and grind them into powder. You can then use this banana powder as a fertilizer to help your orchid grow better.

Don’t throw away your banana peels, as you can see, they are much more useful on your plants than in the trash!

cooking water

Another unexpected fertilizer alternative: the water from cooking vegetables. You are sure to prepare it for every meal! So stop pouring that water down the drain and save it to water your orchids. Because, you should know that during cooking, these foods release many nutrients into the water. And it turns out that it is a great natural fertilizer for your plants!

NB: you should not use salt water, at the risk of killing your orchids!

When to use these natural fertilizers?

These natural fertilizers must be used very carefully. If you use them too often, you risk damaging your orchid. During the winter months, fertilize once a month at most. Begin fertilizing more frequently as new shoots develop.

Why doesn’t the moth orchid bloom indoors?

If you notice that your orchids develop their leaves well, but do not produce flowers, it means that the conditions are not optimal for flowering. Generally, it’s a light problem: your plants need light, but not direct sunlight. On the temperature side, avoid drafts and install them in a warm but humid place. Lack of humidity can prevent flowering.