Overwinter White Egret Orchid After Leaves Yellow

When the leaves yellow in fall, dry white egret orchid down and rest the tubers cool and barely moist all winter. You can leave them in the dry pot, or lift them and store them in damp vermiculite.

After the leaves yellow, dry it down and keep the tubers cool

White egret orchid is deciduous, so the tuber, not the leaf, is what has to live through winter. When the leaves yellow in fall, cut off the dead top and ease off the water over a couple of weeks. Let the plant go dry slowly where it stands rather than moving it to heat. [1] Once it is dormant, keep the tubers cool but frost-free, around 32 to 50 F, and only barely moist. Winter kill on this orchid is almost always wet cold rotting the tuber, not a low night alone. [2] A frozen, soaked pot is the usual loss, so shed winter rain and never let the tubers freeze solid. The spring pot-up, once the rest is over, is on Planting White Egret Orchid. [3] [4]

1. When the leaves yellow, cut off the dead top and start cutting back on water.
2. Let the mix dry down slowly over a couple of weeks. Do not move the pot to a warm room to speed it up.
3. Keep the dormant tubers cool and frost-free, about 32 to 50 F, and only barely moist.
4. Check the tubers now and then, and pull any that have gone soft or moldy so they do not spread it.

Lift and store the tubers, or leave them in the pot

You have two safe ways to rest the tubers, and which one you pick depends on how cold and wet your winter is.

In a mild spot you can leave the tubers in the same pot and the same mix, dried down and kept cool. Where winters are hard or damp, it is safer to lift them: once dormant, pick the tubers out, let them dry a little, and store them in a bag of slightly damp vermiculite or perlite in a cool, frost-free place such as a refrigerator crisper. Dampen the storage medium about once a month so the tubers do not shrivel, and never freeze them.

1. In a mild, dry winter, leave the tubers in the pot. Keep the mix cool and barely moist.
2. In a hard or damp winter, lift the tubers once they are dormant and let them dry a little.
3. Bag them in slightly damp vermiculite or perlite, and keep them cool and frost-free, such as in a refrigerator crisper.
4. Dampen the medium about once a month so the tubers stay plump, and pot them up again in early spring.

If tubers are soft in spring, the winter was too wet or too warm. Next year, dry them down and keep them cool, frost-free, and only barely moist.