This headline sounds like a true miracle, like the kind you see in enticing videos on social media. But let’s take a realistic look.

No magic pill or specific remedy can make an orchid produce 100 new shoots and bloom continuously 365 days a year. Orchids need their natural dormancy cycle to bloom again.

Online recipes that promise this “trick” usually refer to one of the following three methods. Here’s a summary of what to put under an orchid and how it actually works:

Ice Cubes
The Myth: Placing an ice cube on the potting mix weekly will optimally water the orchid and encourage abundant blooms.

The Reality: Ice prevents waterlogging (the most common cause of death for orchids), but these plants originate from the tropics. Prolonged exposure to ice water can damage the roots. A classic, lukewarm shower or soaking the pot in stale water once or twice a week is much better.

Garlic clove (or garlic water)

Myth: Garlic stimulates the growth of dozens of new shoots.

Fact: Garlic contains sulfur and has strong antiseptic and antibacterial properties. It acts more as a preventative against fungi and pests and can slightly promote plant growth (as a weak stimulant). However, it certainly won’t cause an explosive growth of hundreds of shoots.

Banana peel (or a piece of yeast)

Myth: Simply place a piece under the roots, and the orchid will be supplied with nutrients all year round.

Fact: Banana peels are rich in potassium and phosphorus, elements that promote flowering. Yeast, on the other hand, contains B vitamins. However, if you add it raw directly to the flowerpot, it will begin to rot, mold, and attract flies. It’s much safer to make a weak infusion (fertilizer) from it, which you can use to water the orchid occasionally.

Do you want your orchid to thrive?

Instead of relying on “miracle cures,” it benefits most from the following:

The right light: Sufficient diffused light (ideally an east- or west-facing window). Without light, the orchid won’t bloom, even if you place something underneath it.

Temperature difference: For the orchid to produce new shoots, it needs a slight drop in temperature at night for several weeks in autumn (about 3 to 5 °C lower than during the day).

Proper watering: Only water when the roots in the transparent pot turn gray. As long as they are green, there is still enough water.

Do you want to save an orchid that won’t bloom, or are you simply looking for ways to keep the existing blooms fresh for as long as possible?