I keep a lot of orchids, but have only ever had one (a zygopetalum) make a full rebloom. The others in the photo that are blooming are new. Does anyone have any advice to get my phals to rebloom? I know it takes patience but I have had many of them for well over a year and seen no sign of a new spike or anything really. They are almost all growing new leaves or in the cattleya/onc. case new p-bulbs, but I cant seem to get any of them to bloom. I have tried fertilizing but it is just difficult for me because I am keeping them in a dorm room and dont really know how to do it affordably.
by Own_Competition_1534
4 Comments
They probably aren’t getting enough light. Cattleyas in particular want a LOT of light
Phals like a significant drop in temp from day to night to trigger the blooming, so that could be part of it. Mine in particular likes to rebloom when the weather is cooling off in my area
Your winter-blooming Phalaenopsis (the ones found in grocery and big box stores) need a 10-degree drop in temperature at night. So turn your heating thermostat down 10-degrees at night. Alternatively, you could move those Phals into a room that is cooler in temperature, no lower than 50F or 10C though. Just do this cooler growing environment for two weeks to initiate the blooming cycle.
Giving them brighter indirect light (no direct sunlight though) also helps the plants. So strive to get their foliage to a light green color similar to a “Granny Smith” apple.
Light made a huge difference for me. I started with an inexpensive LED from Amazon and got 2 reblooms on Phals within a few months. In my area we get the cool nights in the fall which they also want, but without the light I got nothing.