What to Do If an Orchid Gets Frostbitten? Detailed Treatment and Remedial Methods
Of unknown origin...
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By Liu Ge 5678
Orchid frostbite: it shows as leaves, pseudobulbs, aerial roots and other tissues turning water-soaked and necrotic after freezing damage. However, ordinary frostbite usually shows as orchid leaf frostbite; orchid rhizomes and orchid roots are very hard to frostbite. Cymbidium goeringii and Cymbidium faberi are also very cold-tolerant, no problem; Cymbidium ensifolium and Cymbidium sinense are the varieties prone to frostbite! The hardest thing to accept about frostbite is the hidden frostbite of orchid leaves. I have had deep lessons from several years of growing orchids on an open balcony. The name "hidden frostbite" is one I just came up with and may not be correct! It means that during the cold winter the internal tissues of the orchid leaves have already suffered freezing damage, but it does not show on the leaves; when the weather starts to warm up, it begins to appear as soon as they get a little sunlight. This type of frostbite is the most headache-inducing thing for orchid growers, and it also creates the false impression that the orchids were sunburned! Spring sunlight is not yet strong enough to damage orchid leaves, so sunburn is only an illusion; the main issue is that the internal tissues of the orchid leaves have already been damaged.
This type of hidden frostbite will appear quickly within one or two days under sunlight after the weather warms up, and obvious water-mark spots will also appear on the undersides of the leaves; after a few days, black spots will also appear on the undersides of the leaves. If there are orchid plants likely to have this kind of frostbite, please do not rush to give them sunlight; they should be grown in partial shade. Last year's cold winter must have caused frostbite in many orchid growers' orchids; this spring, if conditions allow, it is best to delay exposure to strong light.
Of course, for severe frostbite, the only thing to do is to immediately cut off the frozen dead roots and withered leaves, stop watering, and grow them in partial shade.
Although frostbite on orchid leaves is not enough to endanger the orchid's life, it will seriously affect the orchid's overall appearance. Orchid growers growing on balconies should still delay the time their orchids are exposed to strong light, so that hidden frostbite on orchid leaves shows less or not at all.
Preventing orchid frostbite may also have a certain relationship with the timing of repotting. Several pots of Cymbidium ensifolium I repotted in December all had varying degrees of frostbite, while the several pots of Cymbidium ensifolium I did not repot had no problems. So theoretically speaking, repotting can be done in all four seasons, but in reality it still must be combined with one's own growing environment! Of course, the above situation is just my personal summary and may not be correct; it is only for orchid growers' reference!