The orchid is a beautiful flower, a symbol of passion, if it is given to us, it usually has a very strong meaning, beyond this it is also a very delicate plant and, if we want to make it last over time in all its splendor , we must learn to take care of it in the right way.
Orchid, yellow leaves: let’s learn to observe it
When you want to take care of a plant, it is very important to learn to observe it closely, in order to immediately notice the onset of any problems. A healthy orchid plant has full-bodied and shiny leaves, the flower is straight and well open, as long as we see it like this we don’t have to worry.
Yellow leaves
If we realize that some leaves are losing their beautiful green color and begin to turn yellow, it is better to run for cover immediately, also because this characteristic can be the symptom of various problems, if we do not have to immediately guess which one is the right one, caught in time, we will succeed with the various attempts, however to save her, otherwise she could die before we understand what it is.
Yellow and black
If the leaves are yellow but with black spots, we are probably watering our orchid too much, the remedy for this problem is to repot the pint with dry soil and from that moment reduce the amount of water we have given it until at that moment, to regulate ourselves, before watering we wait for the earth to dry by inserting our finger inside the vase (often the superficial part of the earth dries up but inside the vase it is still moist).
At that point, if we are afraid of pouring too much water anyway, we can immerse the vase in a container with three four cm of water and leave the orchid to soak for an hour, so she will only absorb what she needs.
If we really don’t want to repot everything, and the problem is just starting out, we could try putting sheets of absorbent paper inside the soil and let them absorb the excess water, if, however, in a couple of days the situation no better we would be forced to change soil and vase.
Yellow yellow
If the leaves appear yellow and dry, the problem could be excessive exposure to the sun or drafts, the plants need light and air, but the orchid must not take them directly, so let’s try to move our little friend green in a well-lit and ventilated place but not directly exposed to light or wind.
Another possibility of yellow and dry leaves could be the low humidity of the air which should be around 40% for the orchid to feel good, also in this case the solution is to move it from where it is and place it in a more humid.
Yellow with little holes
If by observing our orchid we notice that, in addition to being yellow, the leaves also have small holes, the most probable cause is the infestation of red spiders, in this case we should also see some, the home remedy to eliminate them is quite simple, just boil a couple of cloves of garlic in half a liter of water, let the solution cool, put it in a vaporizer and spray the mixture on the leaves every 3/4 days until the situation has normalized.
Inhomogeneous yellow
If the color of the leaves of our orchid is a patchy yellow, it is almost certainly the fault of the cochineal (a parasite), to eliminate it just dissolve a handful of Marseille soap flakes in a liter of water and spray every 2/3 days on the plant.
Unidentified yellow
If our plants have yellow leaves but we cannot identify them in any of the previous categories, we could be in the presence of a potassium deficiency, in this case, it will be enough to use a fertilizer rich in this element to resolve the situation, or, if we already had intend to change the vase, then we directly replace the earth with one rich in potassium.
