Flower ResourcesDiscover the right flowers for your garden.
Photo by : Susanne Nilsson .
Question : Not one of my orchids has rebloomed in over a class . I buy them in flower and they look beautiful for weeks , then they never bloom again . I irrigate once every week to 10 years and inseminate monthly , but they do n’t look like they ’re even think about flowering.—Sue Stewart , Raleigh , N.C.
Answer : PROVIDE A NIGHTTIME TEMPERATURE DROPMany orchids flower only once a class , but you are emphatically delinquent for some payback . When they ’re felicitous , your orchid should rebloom about the same calendar month they flower when you bribe them . Do n’t interest , your flora are still alive and growing fine , so you seem to be doing almost everything correct . A few minor adjustments should bring them back into efflorescence . Orchids that do n’t getcooler nightsoften refuse to make flower buds . If yours are near a window , they ’re plausibly getting at least a fond temperature drop at dark , but that may not be enough . Try turning the thermoregulator down by at least 10 degrees when you go to bed . Many of your other houseplants will thank you for this as well . cymbidium , which need serious low temperature ( 35 ° F to 50 ° F ) at dark to set up flower bud , are the elision to this rule . Put the minuscule dears outdoors in late summer to other fall for about six weeks , and they ’ll develop buds .
Courtesy ofGrowingWisdom.com .
GET THE LIGHT RIGHTAnother of import factor in work flower bud isexposure to light . All the pop orchids - those you find at florist workshop and orchid show - will grow quite gayly on most windowsills . A few , notably the lady’s - slippers ( paphiopedilums , or “ paphs ” ) , will do well with no verbatim visible light , in a north window , for illustration . Others , such as the cattleya , want pot of light and a south window . In fact , many cattleya and cymbidiums are at their best when their leaves are a little on the chicken side ; dark green leaves mean they need more sunshine . Of course , those that require intermediate spark are the easy to please , and that ’s one reason for the popularity of moth orchids ( phalaenopsis ) . When everything is to their liking , many phalaenopsis will blossom twice a twelvemonth .
If you suspect that light is the problem , first try placing your plant in a brighter spot . If a south windowpane is too acute for your particular orchid , soften the ignitor with a curtain or light - filtering shade . If you ’ve get a sun devotee but no gay southern exposure , you ’ll require hokey light : Hang fluorescent thermionic tube very close to the foliation , or practice hefty halide industrial plant light source , that can be place farther away . If you’re able to move your plant out of doors in the summer , most of them will appreciate the light and fresh air ( they ’re also much easier to water and fertilize ) . Just do n’t overdo the sunshine . Outdoors , even sun buff will want some protection . Bright , mottled shade is adept , so do n’t move them until the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree have in full leaf out and all menace of frost is snuff it . tincture - loving orchid should be observe in deep shade , and sun lovers will thrive in a spot that gets direct sun either early or late .
FERTILIZE & REPOTFertilizer is likely not your problem . Even without any , plants that are well - watered , get plenty of lighter , and have a day - night temperature divergence will blossom . But that said , they will flower better if you fertilise them properly . Any soluble houseplant fertilizer likePetersorMiracle - Growill serve well . fertilise only during the active grow season , when the sun is unassailable and the days are long . From mid - December until mid - February , contain off on fertilizing . Repottingyour orchids this spring may also ameliorate their chance of blossoming . Phalaenopsis , which raise more apace than other orchidaceous plant , should sure enough be repot once a class , at the showtime of their active growth period , when you see fresh new roots or a shoot ; some people repot them every time they finish flowering . Orchids with a originate point that creeps along the aerofoil in one direction ( cattleyas , dancing lady orchid , and cymbidium , for deterrent example ) should be repot when that tip reaches the edge of the throne . With repotting , bigger is n’t inevitably good . you could put your orchid in the same - sizing pot or even take it down a sizing . Just remove the old potting mix , dress away the old roots and sections of the plant that have lose their leaf or are in decline , and repot it with new barque - based potting mix . After repotting , resume your lacrimation number , and as soon as you see new growth , start fertilizing . Your flora will quickly show signboard of rejuvenation , and after a few month you should start to see fresh young bloom spikes .
