Ornithogalum dubium is a non-hardy variety of the milk star that is cultivated as a houseplant in this country. Care is not complicated if you follow a few tips. How to care for the orange milk star.
How do I care for Ornithogalum dubium properly?
Ornithogalum dubium care requires a bright location, regular watering without waterlogging, fertilization before and during the flowering period, cutting back spent inflorescences and removing yellow leaves. In winter the tubers must be stored frost-free and in a dark place.
What should you consider when watering Ornithogalum dubium?
Always water when the substrate has dried on top. Do not leave water in the saucer.
After flowering, water more sparingly. Stop watering if the leaves turn yellow.
How do you fertilize the orange milk star?
Fertilization is only carried out before and during the flowering period. To do this, use a liquid fertilizer that is administered every fourteen days.
Are you allowed to prune Ornithogalum dubium?
You can only cut the faded inflorescences. Be sure to leave the leaves after flowering. They ensure that the onions are supplied with sufficient nutrients. The leaves retract themselves after just a few weeks.
Remember that Ornithogalum dubium is poisonous! Make sure that cuttings do not fall into the hands of children.
Does the milk star need to be repotted?
Repotting is not necessary. The tubers are removed from the pot anyway as soon as the leaves of the milk star have grown in.
What diseases and pests can occur?
After flowering, the leaves turn yellow and shrink. This is normal and not an illness. If the onions rot, you have probably watered too much.
Watch out for aphids! Rinse off an infestation with water and, if necessary, spray the leaves with nettle lye or commercially available products.
How do you care for the tubers in winter?
When the leaves have shrunk, remove the onions from the pot. Shake off the soil well and place the tubers in a place where they can dry.
Overwinter the dried onions in wood shavings or paper bags in a dark, frost-free place. The onions contain a particularly high amount of toxins and must therefore be stored safely away from children and animals.
- Store onions in wood shavings or paper bag
- dry, dark place
- safe from children and pets!
Tip
Ornithogalum dubium prefers a bright, warm location in the flower window. After the flowering period, you should leave it in place for some time. Occasionally you will achieve a second bloom.
