It happened again! I had to walk through that garden center. Orchids were 75% off in an after Valentine's clearance. They were a little stressed, but some of them still looked good enough to come home. So, I bought one in the other color that had caught my eye the first time through. One of its flower stalks should bloom for a while yet, I hope. Then I will try to get both my orchids to rebloom.
This process starts by fertilizing as we talked about yesterday. Then I'll move it to a new environment where the night time temperatures are slightly cooler than where it likes to be after buds are set. Nighttime temps lowered to 55 to 65 degrees for about a month will stimulate the orchid to set buds. Water and feed the orchid as normal during this time.
Once a new flower spike is visible, the orchid should be returned to its normal location. A flower spike is a root that begins to grow upward and develops a small, flattened growth on the end that looks like a mitten. The flower spike will need to be supported as it grows. This requires a small dowel and tiny clips to hold the stem along the length of the dowel. They make special orchid clips for this, or you can use the tiny claw type hair clips.
Once the buds have appeared on the flower stalk, avoid turning the plant. The buds will follow the light and turning it will result in flowers that are twisted on the flower stalk. My phaelanopsis orchids will put out one, maybe two, flower stalks per year and are not particular about what time of year it happens. It simply responds readily to changes in temperature when it has rested enough since the previous bloom.
If you have difficulty getting a rebloom, try dropping the temperature more, but not below 55 degrees. Insufficient light will also keep an orchid from setting a new flower stalk. All in all, the phaelanopsis orchids are known as the easiest to grow and the easiest to encourage reblooming, so I am hopeful.
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