Fall Weather Can Help Your Orchids To Flower!

Orchids bloom most profusely in the fall through winter months. Now is the perfect time to prepare your mature healthy plants to bloom, but you only have a few weeks! What's the secret? Most orchids depend on a day and night temperature variation of about 8 to 10 degrees to stimulate them to bloom. As night temperatures fall in the next month or so, you have an opportunity to encourage your orchid plants to flower. Simply place your plants close to a window that is cracked at night, to let in a little cool air. Give your plants this treatment for about 3 to 4 weeks and you should begin to see flower stalks emerging soon after that.

How low should you let the night temperature drop? For paphs and phals, temperatures of about 55 to 60 degrees should suffice. Make sure your plants are not in a cold draft, or protect them with a light curtain. Placing them in an unheated room at night will also do the trick. Remember that day temperatures need to be about ten degrees higher. If your orchid plants have been growing outside this summer, you can simply leave them out for a few more weeks. If temperatures threaten to fall below 55, all but the coolest growing of orchids, such as cymbidiums, should be brought in.

Your plants must be healthy, and well care for to respond this treatment- if a plant has just flowered, don't expect it to bloom again right away. It may need to wait until spring before it sends up more flowers. This method generally works best with orchids that have their natural flowering season in the fall through spring months, including most phalaenopsis (moth orchids), paphiopedilum/paphs (slipper orchids) and cattleyas. Give it a try and you may be surprised when that reluctant orchid finally puts on a dazzling floral display.