How to clean my orchids’ leaves

[Maru777]

Thank you very much for your answers! Very much appreciated! In the end I tried just the water and paper tower - but that did not really work - and then tried the lemon zest - which did wonders. I think it might have had something to do with the fact this was an old leaf so maybe the store I got it from sprayed it with something the acid in the lemon dissolved. I was too scared to use the leaf shine for fear of sunburn - still waiting for amazon to deliver my newly ordered photometer Thanks again everyone! It’s great to have so many people offering good advice when needed!

[mobelle]

I use lemon juice also and then rinse the leaves with water.

[Ray]

All of the recommendations above are good for removing dust, dirt, and mineral residues from water or fertilizer, but sometimes that "dull" appearance is from the surface texture, not from a deposit.

That can happen if the irrigation solutions contain excessive dissolved minerals. Not only can they leave deposits, but they structurally affect the leaf as well. If you would like to remedy that, you're going to have to find a source of purer water, whether that be rainwater, distilled, or RO, and then feed regularly at very low concentrations, mimicking what the plants would get in nature.