Common problems that every orchid owner faces (and how to solve them)
Orchids are easy to keep once you know their preferred habitat, which is one without extremes – no direct sun, no super-dry air, and no overwatering. Your orchid will do best when it has a little bit of everything.
Of course, there are exceptions, but most problems come from something out of the ordinary. It could be a waterlogged pot or something as innocent as a mirror on the kitchen wall reflecting the sun onto its delicate leaves.
Join us below to discover the most common orchid problems people face and stay one step ahead of the fumbling fingers of complete beginners.
The easyplant difference
Self-watering technology takes the guesswork out of orchid care with built-in water reservoirs and Waterwick systems that deliver moisture directly to roots only when needed.
You refill the reservoir once every two months instead of monitoring soil moisture weekly, and prevent both overwatering and underwatering.
Easyplant's Phalaenopsis orchid collection includes six colors that bloom for months:
Our pet-friendly Phalaenopsis orchids arrive in ceramic planters ready to bloom without complicated maintenance. You can also add a bamboo or walnut plant stand to protect your surfaces from the bottom of the planter.
Should you purchase a regular orchid – i.e., one that isn’t from easyplant – then you should expect more upkeep requirements.
Here’s what to look out for:
Wrinkled leaves reveal thirst
Pleated foliage and shrunken pseudobulbs (swollen stems that store water and nutrients) are a sign that your orchid is surviving on its internal water reserves (basically, you're not watering it enough!).
If you don’t own an easyplant orchid, flood the pot until water streams from the drainage holes, then let everything dry completely before watering again. Tropical downpours followed by days of drying created the wet-dry cycles these plants expect, not the steady moisture most houseplants prefer.
Dim rooms prevent flower spikes
Beautiful green leaves fool you into thinking that low-light orchids are thriving. The truth is that flowering demands much more energy than simple leaf production requires from available illumination. So, a flowering orchid is a happy orchid.
Morning sun through east windows avoids scorching afternoon heat. Filtered south light works equally well for most orchid varieties.
Bleached foliage from excessive exposure needs immediate relocation to indirect bright spots. Consistent illumination year-round encourages reliable blooming cycles you want to see, for instance, new flowers in the spring season.
Climate equipment kills buds
Cold blasts from air conditioning shock developing flowers into aborting prematurely. Hot drafts from heating systems damage flowering mechanisms just as severely.
Keep orchids away from vents and high-traffic doorways where temperatures swing hourly; stable conditions between 65-80°F support steady growth patterns.
Nighttime cooling by 10-15 degrees triggers flower bud formation with hormonal changes. Tropical origins featured significant temperature drops after sunset compared to warm days.
Dry indoor air can damage leaves
Brown leaf edges can develop if your house maintains 30-40% humidity. Remember that most orchids need 50-70% moisture in the air around them.
The good news is you can create localized humidity with a few water-filled pebble trays beneath your orchid's pot. You could also group several plants together since they all release water vapor from their leaves throughout the day.
Never spray water directly onto orchid foliage, though - droplets that get trapped between leaves can cause bacterial infections that kill your plant.
Stressed orchids attract pests
Chemical distress signals draw spider mites, scale, and mealybugs to weakened plants. Healthy specimens resist invasions that overwhelm struggling orchids rapidly.
Look for moving specks, sticky residue, or cottony masses during weekly inspections. Early detection prevents population explosions, causing permanent flowering damage.
Alcohol on cotton swabs eliminates visible insects in leaf joints and spikes. Quarantine infected plants immediately before pests spread to healthy neighbors.
Strong fertilizer damages roots
It's tempting to think more fertilizer means healthier orchids, but the opposite is true. Heavy-handed feeding harms roots more quickly than drowning them with too much water.
When fertilizer salts build up in the potting medium, they create a barrier that prevents your orchid from absorbing water properly, even if you're watering on schedule.
All easyplant orchids have fertilizer within their original soil, and you don't need to add any additional product for at least one year.
Enjoy less orchid maintenance with easyplant
Watering woes are the biggest reason for ill health and death in orchids. The mistake that most people make is treating them like regular plants. They need less water than you think and hate sitting in wet soil.
The self-watering easyplant container is the perfect solution for orchids as it provides a consistent water supply for around two months. Refill it, keep your orchid away from direct sunlight, and it’ll thrive with beautiful, glossy leaves.
Start shopping: self-watering orchids.
Looking for something else? Check out our latest indoor plants.
