First Name:. Please enter your email address so we can send your download link and special printing instructions. Why won't my orchid re-bloom? How do I water my orchid? How do I feed my orchid? When should I repot? What is the best potting media? Where in the house can I grow my orchid? Can I grow orchids outdoors? What is growing on the flower stem? What is the best orchid for growing in the home? Overall, the most common reason that orchids fail to bloom is insufficient light.
The Phalaenopsis and Paphiopedilum orchids are usually happy with the filtered light in a windowsill but many other varieties need more light than that. Dendrobium, Cattleya, Oncidium and other medium to high light orchids may need supplementary grow lights or time spent outdoors in the summer to get the kind of light levels they require to bloom.
Orchids are not like tomato plants, the vast majority cannot handle full sun. Dappled shade is ideal and even though a bright window seems like more light than outdoor shade, it is not. As an orchid gets more light its leaves turn a lighter shade of green.
Very light yellow-green leaves usually indicate too much light where very dark forest green leaves can indicate too little light. In summary, if you have a Dendrobium, Cattleya, Oncidium, Cymbidium, Vanda, Brassia or other high light orchid growing indoors on a windowsill and it has not bloomed in a year or two, chances are a lack of sufficient light is the reason.
One approach is to take orchids that require high light and put them in a vanda basket hanging from a tree branch. Higher humidity supplemented with sufficient watering allows high light orchids to have a vigorous growth season. We've seen Dendrobiums rebloom with this kind of treatment even after they have languished without blooming on a windowsill for ages.
The key to getting the bloom was more light. Good roots bring good blooms. An orchid may have deceptively beautiful leaves with a root system that is in dire trouble. Often root trouble is the result of overwatering or lack of repotting. Orchid roots need oxygen to survive and without it they smother. The media that orchids are potted in is not like the dirt that traditional houseplants are potted in.
Even the best orchid mix breaks down over time and requires replacement. Often times fear of the repotting process will cause people to leave an orchid in the mix for far too long. This may be preventing the orchid from having enough stored strength to bloom.
The selection of a top quality orchid mix is of the utmost importance. Don't be fooled by generic orchid mixes sold at hardware stores. When it comes to orchid mixes, quality and freshness really matter. Once you see for yourself the difference a fresh mix from the highest quality ingredients makes compared to store brands you won't ever want to go back to those inferior mixes again. Watching an orchid carefully can give clues to trouble at the root zone see clear pots.
When we buy orchids at the store they are typically quite young. Over time each new leaf or pseudobulb should be bigger than the previous one or at least the same size. This determination can typically be made when the next new leaf or pseudobulb begins to form, or the plant goes into its bloom cycle.
There are two types of growth patterns for orchids, sympodial and monopodial. The monopodial orchids, Phalaenopsis and Vanda being the two most common, grow up off a single central stem with leaves on either side.
We expect to see each leaf be at least as big as the leaf before it and hope to see at least one or two new leaves per year. The next bloom spike on a monopodial orchid comes from the base at the underside of a leaf, usually 2 or 3 leaves down from the newest leaf and on the opposite side as the prior bloom spike.
In order to keep blooming over the years, monopodial orchids such as Phalaenopsis need to put on new leaves each year. Over time, as the orchid grows in size and strength it will send out a bloom spike on each side of the stem simultaneously. Sympodial orchids have multiple growths and usually grow one or more new growths per year. If you live in a particularly arid climate then I recommend purchasing a plant humidifier from your local garden center or amazon which allows you to control the exact humidity of around your orchid to a precise level so that it has all the resources and conditions it needs to flower.
Read my article, how to revive a wilting orchid for more about orchids suffering from low humidity. While most houseplant orchids grow in environments with relatively frequent rainfall, they are epiphytic and grow on other trees which means they are adapted to growing conditions with good drainage, airflow and high humidity around the roots.
The dying roots place stress on the orchid and cannot draw up and transport the nutrients and moisture around the plant that is required for flowering. Read my article, how to revive a dying orchid if the roots are shriveling and dying or rotting.
It is important to plant orchids in the appropriate potting medium which in the case of Moth orchids pahalenopsis is a pine bark based potting medium as the emulates the natural conditions of its native environment with really good drainage and allows humid air to circulate around the roots. This keeps the roots healthy and helps to mitigate a lot of the risk from overwatering due to the excellent drainage so that your orchid can flower. Water orchids every 7- 10 days in the Spring and Summer when the orchid is more likely to flower and once every 10 days or so in Winter to keep the orchid healthy so that it can flower.
Moss based potting mediums can work well for growing orchids only if you repot them regularly as they tend to decompose quicker then bark based mediums which causes them to hold onto more moisture and reduce the available oxygen around the roots. This then can cause root rot and result in a dying orchid read my article, why is my orchid dying? If the orchid has been under any stress then it is likely to invest its energy into immediate survival of the adverse conditions and regrowth to replace any roots they may have died off, in which case it can take a year or so of favorable conditions for the orchid to start to display flowers again.
Read my article, how to water orchids to learn how often you should water orchids in different seasons and in different conditions. Some orchids prefer a rest period in Winter when the temperature lowers and require less watering and no fertilizer in correlation to the lower levels of light. This is because some species of orchid such as Dendrobium experience a cycle of temperatures throughout the year in their natural environment and when the orchid is exposed to more light and warmer temperatures in Spring it has all the resources and energy to innate flowering.
Orchids of all species should be watered less often at about once every 10 days during Winter as levels of evaporation and vegetative growth are lower due to the shorter day lengths and avoid using any fertilizer during Winter.
When it is Spring increase the watering to watering around once every 7 days and use a specialized orchid fertilizer and the orchid should be able to display its more flowers. Your email address will not be published. Save my name and email in this browser for the next time I comment. The reason orchid flowers and flower buds fall off is because of a sudden change in temperature or humidity.
Orchids flowers and buds fall off due to low humidity or if the temperature increases or The reason for your lilac dying is usually because the soil drains too slowly for the lilac to tolerate. Lilacs require well draining soil, and if the soil is waterlogged around the roots this Skip to content. Reasons for orchids not flowering: Orchids require a cooler temperature at night to trigger flowering.
Not enough light to stimulate blooms.
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