Orchids require a sufficient amount of light, water and fertiliser to bloom, however, sometimes, no matter how well you care for your orchid, it refuses to bloom
Orchids need adequate light, water and fertiliser to flower properly. Yet sometimes, despite your best efforts, these finicky plants simply won’t bloom.
In a TikTok clip, gardening expert @judybaogarden revealed her secret for coaxing orchids into flower using just two basic ingredients. You’ll need a hammer, sandwich bag, water bottle, and a single garlic clove.
She placed the garlic clove inside the sandwich bag and bashed it with the hammer. The bag prevents the garlic from scattering everywhere whilst you’re crushing it.
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After smashing the garlic, she tipped the fragments into the water bottle, screwed on the lid and gave it a vigorous shake. She allowed the garlic and water mixture to steep for 24 hours before using it to water her orchids.
When feeding the plant, she made sure no garlic bits ended up amongst the roots. The gardening guru claimed this straightforward trick “helps the flowers bloom”. She then revealed her orchid “one week later” which had sprouted multiple fresh blooms, reports the Express
Garlic water is recognised for boosting orchids’ root development as well as encouraging flowering and repeat blooming. The high sulphur levels in garlic water are also believed to prevent fungal growth on the plants.
Meanwhile, the allicin found in garlic is thought to eliminate algae that can occasionally form in orchid compost. The video from @judybaogarden garnered 145 comments and 26,000 likes.
Many of the comments praised the advice with several fellow orchid owners claiming they were going to try the tip. One user said: “Thanks I’m trying it.” Another wrote: “I must try this!!! More orchid tips please.”
A third applauded the advice and posted, “Also, the garlic keeps little flies away too. Great tip! I had six orchids and always used garlic on them.”
A bulb of garlic can be bought from Sainsbury’s for 24p, a pack of five costs £2 from Asda and a pack of four costs 95p from Tesco.
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