It has been about 10 years since I have been buying orchids at Trader Joe's and other such places. I convinced myself that buying them over and over again is like saving money because the flowers last at least a month and would be cheaper than buying cut flowers every week. (Not that I have ever actually bought cut flowers once a week, but IF I did....). I have never once succeeded in a re-bloom. They were basically long lasting cut flowers. Yes, I poured over my books and other peoples blogs about making it happen. I watered frequently, I watered infrequently, I trimmed the stem, etc. None of these things ever actually worked. Eventually the leaves turned yellow and the plant was tossed.
BUT, now everything has changed! My mother bought me a lovely yellow orchid for my birthday last November. It kept flowers on it until mid-December. A few months later I was visiting a friend and noticed that he had an orchid on the verge of re-bloom. His answer was simple, keep the orchid in a window and every time you water it (like once a week), give it a quarter turn. Could it be that easy? Window, water and quarter turn?
So, I did that very thing. I set a calendar reminder to water the plant every Thursday. The way I water is pretty straight forward. My pot has holes, so I stick the plant under the kitchen sink and soak through with water. Then I make sure all the water is drained out. Yes, of course, I did still forget to water it some Thursdays and it still re-bloomed. As I said, my plant is in a pot with plenty of holes so it gets plenty of air (the perk of taking ceramics classes is being able to make holey pots in just the right size!). I cut off the flowerless stem about mid way down and just above one of the nodes (or what I think was a node). I placed it in a west facing window because that was the only practical window in my apartment. I watered and turned for a couple months. Sometimes, I'd put a few drops of African Violet fertilizer in the water, because that is the fertilizer I already owned.
Then, out of now where it started growing a new stem. A month and a half later, it started blooming. There have been blooms on it now for at least two months and it seems to be going strong.
I hope these steps work for you too.
BUT, now everything has changed! My mother bought me a lovely yellow orchid for my birthday last November. It kept flowers on it until mid-December. A few months later I was visiting a friend and noticed that he had an orchid on the verge of re-bloom. His answer was simple, keep the orchid in a window and every time you water it (like once a week), give it a quarter turn. Could it be that easy? Window, water and quarter turn?
So, I did that very thing. I set a calendar reminder to water the plant every Thursday. The way I water is pretty straight forward. My pot has holes, so I stick the plant under the kitchen sink and soak through with water. Then I make sure all the water is drained out. Yes, of course, I did still forget to water it some Thursdays and it still re-bloomed. As I said, my plant is in a pot with plenty of holes so it gets plenty of air (the perk of taking ceramics classes is being able to make holey pots in just the right size!). I cut off the flowerless stem about mid way down and just above one of the nodes (or what I think was a node). I placed it in a west facing window because that was the only practical window in my apartment. I watered and turned for a couple months. Sometimes, I'd put a few drops of African Violet fertilizer in the water, because that is the fertilizer I already owned.
Then, out of now where it started growing a new stem. A month and a half later, it started blooming. There have been blooms on it now for at least two months and it seems to be going strong.
My Four Easy Steps to Re-Blooming An Orchid:
Yellow and pink orchid re-blooming- July 2012
1. Put the orchid in a window.
2. Make sure the plant has plenty of air circulation around root system.
3. Water once a week by soaking the roots and letting excess water drain out (i.e. no standing water in the roots).
4. Turn the plant a quarter turn with every water.
I hope these steps work for you too.
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