I have been trying to grow orchids for years

[sepal]

I have bought phalaenopsis, vanda, and cattleya, but have failed to encourage any of them to flower a second time. They stay alive for several years, but never flower. Is there a secret to this?

Thanks!

[arleneg]

Welcome to the forum!

Yes. Give them the proper lighting, which is most important in making them bloom. You have three different light requirements there.

Phals = low to medium light
Catts = medium to high light
Vanda = high light to full sun (strap leaves like bright light; terete or semi-terete leaves can take full sun); they prefer outdoors.

Second important thing is water/moisture.

Phal likes to stay moist (not wet);
Catts like to dry out between waterings (don't let it stay dry for too long though);
Vanda loves water (if bare root and in basket, water one to two times daily; or water in the morning and mist/spray in the evening.

Third...give air movement, even the slightest.

[mayres]

Wecome sepal!
The secret is to provide light, water, nutrients, temperature, & air movement to make them "happy". Any single factor or combination thereof can prevent them from blooming. Each of the orchid types you have listed require somewhat unique cultural care. Can you tell us where you have them placed, what they are potted in (media type), how you water - how you care for them? Pics are often helfful. By looking at the color and condition of parts of the plant it is often easy to make assumptions that are often correct.

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

The right light and the right degree of dryness before watering are the critical factors, with temp important, but room temp is usually OK, so that isn't generally a problem. The air movement helps but isn't a problem unless you are running things too warm or too humid. Most homes are OK with temp and humidity. Fertilizer is not all that big a deal. Sometimes the plants can go for very long times without any fertilizer, believe me, I know from experience. So, just treat fertilizing as something you do when you have time, half to quarter strength of any multipurpose fert. To make it easy, water the plant well, and then dump in a cup of fert solution after, and you're done. So, that just leaves light and watering as your goal to be achieved. Check out the skewer thread under Culture for watering, but if you have kept plants alive for some time you probably have this correct already.

So, now, it is light. Too little light, and the plants can't store up enough energy to bloom, too much light, and the plant is under stress, and the first threat that comes along, the plant will succumb to what ever it is.

One more thing, where Phals are concerned. They need to know that the seasons have changed to bloom. Some say that it is stress that triggers blooming in Phals. Shorter day length, lower night temps (except for the warm growers like violacea), brighter light, getting a little drier than usual. If you have a Phal that should bloom but hasn't produced a spike yet, see what you can do for a culture change. 50F nights helps, and maybe a dark closet for 14-15 hours a day for a few weeks. Soon as you see a spike has started, return the plant to the previous culture.

[digitalgate]

I bought the plant in april 07 and when it shed it flower. It came under
spider mites infestation.


I used omite to kill them i thought they were dead and spider mites came back
to the same plant. you can see the damage done to the leaves. black
patches severe infestation.I was quite frustrated then. You can also
see my T5 HO light i provide for the rest of the plant. Most plant don't
bloom when they dont have enough light and food.

ALway give enought (not more) light first before you give fertilizer. If you are
not sure how much light for your Phalaenopsis. Use a light meter
they need 700 to 1500 foot candle of light. May be take a photo of your
growing area and may be we can suggest something.

Now this plant rebloom this year. This plant is really a winner.

sepal you can rebloom your plant. Just something is missing.

[kmarch]

arleneg,

I think the advice you gave was first rate, clear, concise and brief. Very useful, but....

Originally Posted by arleneg

Vanda ... they prefer outdoors.

This one cultural recommendation is very region-specific. For example I wouldnt' grow a Vanda outdoors in arizona unless I had some kind of misting system set up to repeatedly mist the roots/raise the humidity. If you're growing them in Michigan the summers are warm and very humid (which Vandas like) but of course they could never survive the winter.

[arleneg]

kmarch,

I saw sepal's location and assumed (I know, never assume ) a good amount of humidity is present. Plus, I was in somewhat of a rush I forgot to mention misters, sprinklers, etc., needed depending on environmental factors.

[jerrymeola]

A little addition to the previous advice.

I am assuming you are trying to grow these inside, based on your failure to flower.

The Phalaenopsis should flower in indoor light near a window (it requires 1500 foot candles of light which is a bright home), but requires a cooling in the fall or spring to under 50 degrees at night. Many people grow these indoors and fail to give them the necessary cooling resulting in failure to flower. In Southern Cal put them outside to cool. If there is no danger of freeze they can stay out any time. Keep it out of direct sun.

The light is never sufficient in a home to flower a Vanda. It requires about 8000 foot candles of light and noon sun in July without shade is no more than 11,000 in S.Cal (less further north). Put it in the brightest spot you can find. It likes to be watered daily and commercially we often water twice a day.

The Cattleya requires light levels in the middle about 3500-4000 foot candles. Outside morning sun and afternoon shade works well.

If you have kept them alive they all should have bloomed for you and will with the required light.

[sepal]

I came here and then forgot that I had registered, so I didn't see all your replies. Thanks to everyone. I will try some of your suggestions and see if I can get the gorgeous phal that I bought at the Santa Barbara orchid show in Feb. to rebloom next year!

BTW, do you mean air movement as in a fan? It's pretty dry here in LA most of the year. The woman who sold me the orchid told me to water it once a week, which I have been doing since feb.

When my daughter brings the camera back, I'll take a pic and post it.

[kmarch]

Originally Posted by sepal

BTW, do you mean air movement as in a fan?

Yes, a fan if you're growing indoors, or if your orchids are being grown outside, the natural breezes are probably mostly sufficient.

Originally Posted by sepal

The woman who sold me the orchid told me to water it once a week, which I have been doing since feb.

Which orchid? Unfortunately this advice is far to vague to have been of any practical use to you. She should have given you a culture sheet that told you what the orchid needed. In your conditions, in your part of the world, with a particular orchid potted in a particular mix, once a week watering may be perfect or it may rot the roots off depending on the circumstances.

If you know what kind of orchid it is look in our orchid care & cultivaton section or at AOS | Home for information on how to gorw it. If you don't know what kind of orchid you have, try to post a pic and we'llsee if we can ID it for you. If ti doesn't have a tag, usually we can at least tell you what family it is in so you'll know how to take care for it.

Oh and ask lots of questions!

[Aleksa]

Originally Posted by digitalgate

I bought the plant in april 07 and when it shed it flower. It came under
spider mites infestation.


I used omite to kill them i thought they were dead and spider mites came back
to the same plant. you can see the damage done to the leaves. black
patches severe infestation.I was quite frustrated then. You can also
see my T5 HO light i provide for the rest of the plant. Most plant don't
bloom when they dont have enough light and food.

ALway give enought (not more) light first before you give fertilizer. If you are
not sure how much light for your Phalaenopsis. Use a light meter
they need 700 to 1500 foot candle of light. May be take a photo of your
growing area and may be we can suggest something.

Now this plant rebloom this year. This plant is really a winner.

sepal you can rebloom your plant. Just something is missing.

Digitalgate, Is that Catt on the second picture next to phal growing in the charcoal? I didn't know that they can grow in pure charcoal...

I know, I know, this is offtopic but I simply had to ask... Sorry.

[digitalgate]

yap, it is on charcoal.