How do I get my Orchid's to rebloom?

[Blondie111]

I am new to this orchid thing and need some help! I am up to 9 orchids already and don't see myself stopping anytime soon. All of my orchids are growing new growth and I was wondering if I need to do anything special to get them to rebloom?
This is the list of my current Orchids:
5 Phalaenopsis
1 Dendrobium
1 Bulbophyllum mounted on cork bark
1 Cattleya
1 Nuns orchid
I am sure they all have different needs. I am currently fertilizing them once a week with Better Grow Orchid fertilizer and once a month using the Better Grow Orchid Bloom Booster.

[jkofferdahl]

These are different plants with different needs. Some, such as the Phals, are warmth-loving plants. Cattleyas tend toward intermediate or even cool temperatures in my experience, though some do well in warmer environs - and others here are going to know worlds more than I about them, too! Their light needs are different, too. Catts like a lot of light but Phals don't. So the first thing to do is to look into the temperature and light needs of each genus. There are some great care sheets here, and also some wonderful books on it. There are as many good books on orchids as there are orchid genera, so you might want to just go see what you can get in your local library as a start. I have a number of books, and it seems that each Spring I reread at least some of them, plus I'm a librarian and so like to browse the library's book collection.

The point I'm making is that you need to try to reproduce, as best you can, the environments which the various plants naturally grow in. I have a kind of hard time with that because I'm in a house with no greenhouse and poor windows, so I use lights. It stays kind of warm here in Georgia, and humid. For me, Phals do best, which is a good thing because to me they are the most beautiful of all orchids. I keep them warm, slightly cooler in the night, and give them plenty of low-level light. When they are growing I feed them regularly (weekly, weakly) but as they spike I back way off on fertilizer, though not watering. They reward me by sending up a spike or two each year.

Good luck!

[mayres]

Jkofferdahl is on the right track - you really need to deal with one type of your orchids at a time and figure out how you can provide good culture to make each type rebloom because they will be significantly different. May I suggest one of the group that you have had the longest and tell us how you are watering, what type of light, what type of media, when did it bloom last, etc. The majority of orchids will only bloo once so you shouldn't worry about a plant reblooming if it doesn't normally bloom until a certain time anyway. Enjoy!

[Ray]

I would also like to add to this excellent advice that one does not "get plants to bloom". By growing them properly, you "allow" them to do so. Improper culture prevents it.

[EdinAZ]

When I was growing on windowsill and outdoors several years ago, I had a VERY difficult time getting anything to re-bloom. I finally learned there was not enough day-night temperature differential, and so started leaving (or putting) them outside in the fall, and leaving them there day and night until the low temp's were down into the fifties (left cymbidiums out until frost). They started to re-bloom almost 100%.

This was in Washington D.C. and in southern Arizona, but it worked in both places. I had mostly Phal's. (about 15 or so) and a couple of other species. We currently have a friend in Chicago who does this with all her "windowsill" Orchids (about 35-40 plants - a variety of species), and everything blooms well.

Don't know where you live, but you DO need to watch the water when things are outside (in Arizona, we had to hose them at least once every day), and you will probably pick a pest or two, but . . .

There are (as I now know) many other factors in getting/keeping plants healthy and blooming, but this simple solution did work for blooms, at least.

Ed