Wilting Orchid Flowers: 6 Reasons And How To Fix Them - Orchideria

Wilting orchid flowers always make a new orchid grower a bit nervous. How do you now when wilted orchid flowers are normal or not?

Enthusiastic and excited, you purchased an orchid, moved it from the greenhouse into your home, and placed it by the windowsill—just like the instructions said. The extravagant flowers were full, luscious, and eye-catching. The next morning, you wake up to wilted and drooping flowers.

Orchid flowers will wilt because of 6 reasons:

under-watering,temperature change,insects and pests,stress from moving to a new environment,not enough humidity,and the end of a normal life cycle.

1. End of Natural Life Cycle

Orchid blooms aren’t eternal. Even though they have the fame of lasting forever, they eventually die. The most common orchid, Phalaenopsis orchids (moth orchids), can flower up to three months without wilting. Dendrobiums and Oncidiums stay in bloom about a month. Cattleyas last about two weeks, if that.

Below is a simple chart of the most common orchids and how long each blossom stays open (listed in weeks). Note that the times listed are under the right conditions and indoors, and each huge category has many, many subdivisions. This is just a rough guide. In nature, these times can be prolonged.

Obs: If you copy this graph, please cite me as an author when you paste it somewhere else. I found my own graph on several Facebook sites, copy and pasted, but no mention of me anywhere… These articles take a long time to make and I have to research them, so please give me some credit. It’s a bit discouraging when I find my own research pasted elsewhere, as if it was someone else’s work.

A graph like the one above is useful, but when you purchase a stunning, exotic orchid in bloom, you’ve no idea how long it’s been flowering. It could be that you are purchasing a plant that is in its late cycle of blooming, and only has a few days remaining.

Don’t worry about the flowers wilting if this is an orchid you’ve just bought.

Like any new relationship, there are times of adjustment. Moving is always hard (and I’ve moved more than my share…check out my memoir here) and especially so on an orchid. They like to be in one place for life, attached to a tree.

2. Environment Change Cause Flowers to Wilt

Another problem in buying orchids in bloom is that they are more susceptible to environment changes at this stage. They hate to be repotted, change climates, humidity, lighting, etc.

Even changing them from where you had them growing to another room can make a blooming orchid wilt. Some varieties and individual plants are more resistant, but most will not like the adaptation.

Keep this in mind when you take the orchid from the greenhouse, which has optimal humidity, lighting, watering, fertilization, and everything else you could imagine and suddenly placing the orchid in your home office (like I do.)

The orchid will react to this transport and handling phase by wilting.

It can also cause bud blast. If you want to know more about bud blast, this article has some really interesting information and statistics. Environment change can also mean a change in potting medium. NEVER repot a flowering orchid. It has used its energy to produce a gorgeous flower and it doesn’t have enough to make it through a rough, new change. The additional stress of changing potting mediums is even worse.

If you absolutely have to change pots, then keep the same medium. Once your orchid has lost all it’s flowers, then you can safely repot and change it’s medium. New roots are growing during this time as well, so you have an advantage.

3. Temperature Change Causes Wilting Orchid Blossoms

Temperature changes happen for two reasons.

The first is when you purchase your orchid online in winter and have it mailed to you. Ok, that’s extreme. But even if you buy it from a greenhouse and transport it in your car, this can cause a temperature shock. From your car to the inside of your house, the orchid will suffer, and the flowers can wilt.

The second scenario is when your orchid is in bloom and you wish to display it on the living room table or coffee table. This is lovely, but verify for heat vents nearby. Hot, dry heat spurting out in uneven waves from the floor is an orchid’s nightmare.

The opposite could also happen—cold drafts. If you place your orchid by the window or a sill and decide to open the window, cool, chilly air could suddenly shock and orchid.

If your orchid was doing fine, and after you moved it the flowers wilted, temperature change is the most probable reason. Each orchid has a temperature preference in which it thrives the best. This article about the right temperatures is a good place to check your orchid.

Reasons For Wilting Orchid Flowers

Normal Life Cycle

Stress from Environment

Temperature Change

Not Enough Humidity

Under-watering

Pests & Insects

4. Flowers Wilt Because of Humidity Change

Besides temperature, moving the orchid to another location could cause a drop in humidity. When you cultivate your orchid alongside various other household plants, even other orchids, the overall humidity in that spot is always higher. If your orchid now sits by itself, it will need to be misted more often.

Remember: humidity is not the same as watering. Humidity is the overall concentration of water droplets in the air, while watering is how much the roots absorb. Keep your orchid in at least 40% humidity—and I say at “least,” because most orchids want much more than that.

Indoors it’s hard to reach more than 50% because the paint, wallpaper and drywall will start to chip off or mold. I aim at 45% in my home office, but my orchids are not high-humidity orchids. Anything above 45%, my computer and camera equipment complain.

You can keep a small humidifier by your orchid and turn it on a few times a day if you want to isolate it form the rest of your orchid collection.

It’s great to have them on display when flowering, but they don’t do well if the same conditions they were in before aren’t met now.If you don’t have a humidifier, a good place to keep your orchid is in the kitchen. I don’t recommend the bathroom for two reasons: (1) not enough light, and (2) the humidity fluctuates greatly and only for short periods of time. The temperatures also raise and fall too much to keep the orchid happy.

If you have just purchased your orchid and brought it home and only now, after a few days, the flowers are wilting, check your humidity. You can read about what instruments you need and recommended humidifiers in this article, which is a product review.

I wrote that article after researching over one thousand reviews, and elaborating a list of the humidifiers, humidistats, hygrometers and other humidity related equipment.

For my small home office, I use this humidifier (Affiliate Link).  

5. Humidity is not the Same as Watering

If your humidity is correct for the type of orchid you have, then it might be that your orchid is thirsty. In this case, the leaves will have started to wilt some, too. They will have deep veins in them, with streaking lines. They’ll also lose their bright, shiny luster.

Flowers require more water from the plant, especially in the budding stage. Once the flowers dry and fall off, you can water less. If you aren’t quite sure of what water to use, in this article I explained the pros and cons of distilled water, rainwater, tap water and reverse osmosis water. 

When orchid flowers wilt, this is the first sign that they need more water. They wilt because even if pollinated, they can’t produce enough energy from the minerals and nutrients to keep the new seed healthy.

If the entire cause/reason of the flower was to attract pollinators and from there, produce seeds, it’s a failed mission—no use to carry it to term. The orchid gives up, wilting its flowers to focus on maintain humidity and energy to survive itself.

If you are watering your orchid to the exact specifications of it’s liking, and your potting medium is draining more than fine, too fine, then it might be that your potting medium is to coarse.

This means that water is draining out too fast, not giving the roots the time to soak up the water before it all drains away. Only stop watering after the roots have turned green and you are certain they have had enough.

If you see this problem happening over and over again, you may want to add more sphagnum moss to your potting medium. There are several kinds of sphagnum, which you can read in this article, but the brand I use is this one (Affiliate LInk).

6. Pests and Insects will Wilt Orchid Flowers

Pests and insects munching on your orchid is the hardest to cure (compared to the other 5 reasons orchids wilt.) With the right information, and accessibility to fungicides, bactericides, and other remedies, you can fight off these pests.

Do your research with pictures and proper identification of what pests are attacking your plant. Observe the bottom of the leaves, crown, and potting medium for white dots, black gooey areas, and anything that is not normal.

Don’t Stop Learning!

If you want to be included in more information and get a 14-page fertilization guide, please sign up for my newsletter. I don’t spam, but send emails out bi-monthly with some curious topics of interest. If you want more information, click here to go to a specific page on this website where I explain it more in detail.

Also, if you are looking for an orchid journal to keep your notes specifically about orchid care, check out my 2 solutions for that on this page. If note-keeping isn’t your thing, then there is a free excel spreadsheet that you can download. Click here for more information on how to do that.

If you subscribe to my newsletter, I will send you a 14-page guide on the main tips of orchid fertilizer. It is downloadable and you can print it out on your computer. I designed the guide to double up as a coloring book, just to make it fun.

If you aren’t sure of what exactly is on your orchid, I suggest these articles that could give you some guide:

Orchid Bugs, Pests & Critters That Like Sphagnum Moss

Orchid Bugs That Live in Orchid bark

Best Pesticides & Insecticides for Orchids

Even though root rot could be a possible cause of flower dropping and wilting, it’s not a major cause. That’s why I didn’t include it in my list of 6 reasons. If you are overwatering and not letting the roots dry out before watering again, or if the orchid sits in a puddle of water on its humidity tray, then you have all the ingredients for root rot.I wish you the best in finding out what caused the flower to wilt and drop.

With these 6 reasons, you’re well on your way. Leave a comment in the section below if this article has helped you. If you have any questions, ideas, or disagree with anything here, please say that, too. We only learn when we share information.

Happy Cultivating!