New orchid arriving home, all exuberant, flowering and with shiny leaves. A plant full of life and beauty and we are so enchanted that we want to keep it like this for many, many years. But, how can you always make it look beautiful and also recover the orchid that has been in your home for a while and has been suffering a little? Carol Costa shows how! Do you have a sad orchid, with torn, cut and bitten leaves? The first tip is to avoid taking anything from the plant unnecessarily. If the leaves have green parts, they are still able to carry out photosynthesis and obtain energy to recover. Just like the stems that have already produced flowers but are still green, let it go. She will discard and dry this part herself. No one is better than the plant itself to know whether a piece will still be useful or not. If the leaves are wrinkled or have roots that look dry, looking like straw, again, hold back the urge to cut. The plant will need every little bit to stay alive and create new leaves and roots. The area that is wrinkled will not recover, just like the canopy (the covering that covers the root), will always have that straw-like appearance. But, that's what she has to react and grow again. Water heavily and keep an eye out for signs of recovery. Little by little, new leaves and roots will emerge, as well as keikis – the orchid's little shoots. Again, patience is important! Wow, does the sheet have a mark on it? If you look closely, you can find out who caused the damage to the sheet. If there is a hole in the leaf but you can see a part similar to a screen (the veins), it is a slug or snail attack. There are tips below for preparing baits and removing problems that cause problems. Cuts or tears on the edges of the sheets may have a simpler explanation. A bump could have made this cut and the plant continues its life, healing the area on its own. Sun is vital for the plant, but too much can harm most orchids. In some cases, the burn is so severe that part of the leaf dries out or splits in half. All you need to do is remove the orchid from the strong sun and nothing else. Let the leaf recover and, again, the little chlorophyll creature will know if it needs that part or not. Yellow spot on the leaf? It could be a fungal disease. Control watering, do not overwater or let the plant go thirsty, especially if the orchid is already a little weak. The good news may come when the yellow spot turns brown, a sign that the problem has been resolved. If the yellowness starts to increase, apply something to combat the fungus, such as Bordeaux mixture (recipe below!). Do not remove it from the pot, this will only weaken the plant even more. Has the orchid lost all its leaves? If it is a species that has pseudobulbs – that chubby, reed-like stem – it is normal. The plant stores energy in this stem and uses this reserve to create a new part. You don't need to do anything, just water and fertilize. Long pseudobulbs like Dendrobiuns, round ones like Coelogyne cristata or even twisted ones, like Cyrtopodium cardiochilum, are examples of orchids that lose leaves but remain firm and strong. Cymbidiuns and Oncidiuns are also on this list, generating new stems and older ones drying out. The exception is orchids that do not have pseudobulbs and have lost all their leaves. It's a case of ICU and, without much hope, #sinceregardening. It is easier for an orchid with leaves to take root than the other way around. In the video, our plant madwoman shows a nun's hood (Phaius tankervilleae) that recovered, even without any roots but with leaves. Did you see that, in all the examples in the video, it was not necessary to take the plant to a more radical treatment? Even the orchid ICU is something that should only be used in special cases, as if it were the last attempt to help the plant recover. Links: 5 homemade recipes against pests – https://minhasplantas.com.br/tv/praga... Orchid ICU – https://minhasplantas.com.br/tv/praga... Bordeaux mixture recipe – https ://minhasplantas.com.br/duvidas/... Bokashi – https://minhasplantas.com.br/tv/adubo... Thanks: Ven Flor - / venfloroficial Grupo Terra Viva - / globo.terraviva Hotel 1948 - /hotel_1948