A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The House Plant Forum Orchid Question

My hubby bought me a orchid for Valentines Day and it was in bloom. No new blooms have come up since then and I am wondering if I should prune it? Do you prune ochids? If not what can I do to make it bloom again?

have you fertilized it?

Sometimes it is the matter of how much light it is getting.

I tried to prune my orchid... after the blooms died. Now the whole stem is begining to die. Any suggestions?????? It gets plenty of light and I've fertilized it (mom hurried up and bought the fertilizer). Now the same is happening to mom's plant. I don't have much of a green thumb and mom is not exactly going to be taking care of her plants for a while... so any suggestions will be very much appreciated. I'd rather not kill 2 $20 plants....

-Val

No, I haven't yet I wanted to find out what I should do first.. The poor little thing came with no instructions... I will go get some right away.
Do you think I should re-pot it? Maybe some more soil? Thanks, guys.

I am not an orchid expert, but a friend gave me some, and here is what I've learned about them:

They only bloom once a year, and sometimes they may miss a year, depending on what stage they are at. In Oz, they bloom in late spring to early summer. They require very good drainage, as they don't like wet feet. Over time, they will multiply, and you need to split the bulb thingys, and leave some roots on each, and re-pot them in orchid mix, which is like bark chips, not potting mix.

Hope this is some help.

Orchids need to be potted in an orchid mix of some sort. Either spaghnum moss or a mix you can buy specifically for orchids. I have great success with mine. I don't prune. Once blooms die off of one stem I let the stem die away itself naturally. I keep their pots sitting down in a shallow dish with rocks and marbles in it. After I water the actual plant, I pour about 1/4 inch of water into the dish also. The plant will pull up the water as it needs it. As far as how to make them bloom, I have no idea. But they can bloom more than once a year. My larger phal orchid has had constant blooms for well over 2 years now. My smaller one (formerly Mommy's that I stole) has had blooms constantly for the past 10 or more months. Honestly, I think my outcome with them is just luck.

Good luck to you. They are truly beautiful plants. Definitely my favorite. I hope it decides to bloom for you again soon.

I see. Maybe it depends on the type of orchid. Mine bloomed just once, but the flowers lasted for quite some time. I read Dodge writing about her orchids, and they bloom without much attention. They certainly seem to be hardy plants. Recently I split mine, and wasn't really sure how to do it, but they survived the experience quite well, and I gave one to my neighbours. I think you are right to let the stem die away naturally.

My husband got one while in the hospital a year ago. I just put it in the west window and made sure it has water once a week. It has put on double blooms twice this year. So far it is looking good.

I am now thinking that mine may be only blooming once a year because they are outside- they are following the seasons. Maybe if I brought some in, they would keep blooming.

Oooohhhh LOL! Mom and I thought the plants were dying, but it was just the stems from the previous blooms dying off as they should! So I suppose that we are caring for them correctly. Thanks for the advice!!
Valarie