Welcome Everyone!

[Dave]

I want to officially welcome everyone here to OrchidGeeks.com

Please feel free to make yourself at home!

[deccaden]

Hi Dave,

It looks like a nice site you are putting together here, Pretty soon I'm sure you'll have lots of visitors

[Dave]

Thanks for joining deccaden!

[Carol]

Hi Dave,
After a visit to Phipps conservatory in Pittsburgh I decided I had to have an orchid. It has three blooms and doing well.
While shopping at Lowes I noticed some neglected orchid plants. (marked down to $1.00 each) I rescued two of them that had good green leaf color. I repotted them in bark medium, fertilized and becausr rhe flower stem was withered and brown, I cut it back as far as I could. Can you tell me how long it will be before it will start a new flower stem (spike)?

Carol from Seven Lakes

[Carol]

OOPS I forgot to sign my name.

[Dave]

Hey Carol, excellent find at Lowes. I myself have purchased some out of bloom orchids at Home Depot...you can't beat the prices!

You didn't say what type of orchid you have such as a phal or denbrodiums, lady slippers ect... but since you talk of a flower stalk it sounds like you have a Phalaenopsis Orchid. In that case they bloom about once or twice a year and the blooms can last for awhile. Your orchid is now in a period of rest and probably won't bloom again for another 3 months but this is just an estimate.

One important thing to remember if you are having trouble getting your orchid to flower again is temperature.


Temperature
Cool night time temperatures in the fall encourage flower spike initiation. However, once the flower spike is developed, wide changes in temperature can cause unopened bud to drop off. Temperatures higher than 90 can slow growth. The ideal temperatures for Phals range between 55 and 85 F. For ideal growing try to maintain 60 at night and between 75 and 80 during the day.

Good luck

[argus]

Its also a good idea to be sure your plants get bright indirect light and adequate fertilizer, especially during the warmer months. Insufficient light is usually the reason most otherwise healthy orchids don't bloom.

Good luck with your rescues-I'm sure they'll thank you with blooms!

[Carol]

Dave and Argus,
Thank you for your answers and encouragement.