Gardener warns against a common planting method that may be killing your orchids: 'I have never had success'

It seems like no gardener is truly challenged until they take on an orchid. 

But one TikToker recently shared a simple explanation as to what may be killing your prized plants — and she also shared an easy way to ensure they blossom to their full potential. 

The scoop

Valerie H's House (@valerie_hhouse) recently shocked some TikTokers when she shared an incredibly simple way to ensure your orchids thrive. 

@valerie_hhouse Growing orchids in water has been the easiest way I've found to keep my orchids thriving. Converting orchids to water culture is so simple too. #flowers #flowertok #plants #plantsoftiktok #planttok #howto #orchid #planttiktok #planthacks #planttips #houseplants #waterculture ♬ Beat Goes On - The All Seeing I

Valerie starts the video by showing off an orchid that, four months ago, had only one bare stem. She explains that she got rid of the dirt it was planted in, switching just to water. And now? The orchid had grown a stem full of blossoms and was working on growing another stem. 

"I never had success growing orchids until I started growing them in water," she explains. 

How it's helping

Thankfully, Valerie goes on to explain the process she uses to grow her beautiful orchids in water. She demonstrates with an orchid she picked up at the grocery store. 

"Let's change this baby into water culture!" she starts. "I removed all the mulch and then I realized this thing is also packed in moss. Moss will hold on to water and this is what usually causes root rot."

Once she's removed all the mulch, dirt, and moss, she breaks out the scissors to remove the roots that are too weak. 

"Remove anything that's wet and mushy or anything that's dried out and paper-thin," she adds.
Then I rinse the roots off with water. And I'm cutting any other bad roots that I missed before."

Once only good roots are left, she points out the top of the roots, or the crown, where the leaves come out, explaining you want to use braces to keep that area above the water level. 

"I added enough water to just cover the bottom of the roots."

She explained in the comments that the water should be changed weekly for the plants to truly thrive using this method. She also adds that orchids love lots of light — but none of it directly. 

What everyone's saying

The TikTok gained over 207,000 likes and more than 600 comments. Other TikTokers had a lot to say. 

"I did this too and ALL of my orchids are now flowering! I'm so happy," one person wrote. 

"This is [100 percent] true!!! This is my exact experience….I [love] orchids now!! So easy!" another exclaimed. 

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