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| © Linda Nelson 2013 |
Have you ever purchased a phalaenopsis orchid or received one as a gift, but have never gotten it to rebloom? The one shown will be in its glory for the third consecutive year this April. Here are my tips for reblooming success –
- When your phalaenopsis orchid drops its last bloom snip the entire stem off at its base from where the shoot first emerged.
- Continue with your watering schedule, but incorporate a liquid fertilizer application about once a month. There are orchid specific fertilizers out there, but I have success with good old-fashioned Miracle Gro. Your orchid should send out a flowering shoot in about one year.
- Hate to wait that long? Stagger your orchid purchases to one every three months until you have a total of four plants. Place the blooming one out for display while tending to the others in “waiting”.
- Repot about every two or three years. I use a mix of sphagnum moss and orchid bark.
- These particular orchids like bright light, though not direct sunlight, nor do they like soggy roots. With the right amount of light the leaves should be a light to medium shade of green. Dark green leaves indicate not enough light; very light green leaves with red undertones indicate light that is too strong.