Having bought a phalaenopsis orchid, you can enjoy its delicate beautiful flowers for a very long time. But nothing lasts forever, flowering ends, and we look forward to the repetition of this beauty: a month, six months, a year. And orchids do not bloom. What to do and is it possible to make phalaenopsis blossom forcibly?
Refusal of flowering: possible causes
Phalaenopsis, despite the external fragility, very strong and hardy plants. A copy bought in the store can please the owners for a very long time, repeatedly throwing buds on the old shooters for a year. And then he can rest for just as long, gaining strength. This is normal, such a plant needs a period of relative dormancy.
Sometimes two plants appear in the house at once, they stand nearby, they are equally often watered and fertilized. One blooms constantly, the other dries arrows and grows foliage. Why is this happening? The fact is that, despite the external similarity, completely different genes can be laid in them. All of them are hybrids, and how often the phalaenopsis orchid blooms depends on the properties incorporated during its derivation.
Orchids need light. They grow well in the shade and on the northern windows, but flower buds are laid only when daylight hours are more than 10 hours. It is very difficult to achieve winter flowering without illumination. It should also be noted that the sconces on the wall and the chandelier on the ceiling will not help them. Lamps should be located close to the plant, at a distance of less than a meter. Not conducive to flowering and heat. The optimum temperature for phalaenopsis is + 17-22 degrees. The orchid will react calmly to a small increase, but at thirty degrees it will not bloom.
What is the reason if the lighting is good, the temperature is normal, but orchids do not bloom? What you do not need to do is try to stimulate the plant with transplant. The injured phalaenopsis will direct its forces to recovery and will safely miss the next flower season.
What to make an orchid bloom?
Despite numerous vagaries, there is a lever of influence on phalaenopsis. It can be made to bloom without resorting to additional lighting and at a temperature that is not quite comfortable for it. It will be about mature plants with a good root system. So, strong, healthy, rested orchids do not bloom. What to do?
To do this, change the irrigation scheme. After absolute drying of the substrate, wait about a week. Nothing will happen to the orchid; it has a sufficient supply of moisture in the roots. Do not spray the phalaenopsis between the irrigations, do not add water to the sump, do not regret it in any way: a complete drought is needed. Roughly speaking, it should be watered two times less than always.
Some give advice on pouring almost hot water, having a shower, soaking in a bucket for hours. None of this is necessary. Water - not higher than +30 degrees, if you really want to soak, then no more than 3 minutes. Fertilizing fertilizing at this time should also be stopped. Now we need to stimulate not growth, but flowering.
After 1-2 months of dry content, the peduncle begins to advance. Now you can return to the usual watering scheme. You do not need to fertilize, after feeding Phalaenopsis fades faster.
In the dark winter months, the development of peduncles may stop. Plants can even drop all buds. So much effort, and orchids don't bloom. What to do in this case? It is necessary to "illuminate" phalaenopsis, and it is enough to direct the lamp only at the peduncle. She should not heat the orchid, only light. Within two weeks after the flowers fade, watering is also reduced, but not radically. Phalaenopsis in nature encounter rainy and drought seasons, so such a watering schedule does not harm them.