Tried growing orchids in my bathroom for 6 months and got zero blooms

I moved my moth orchid into my bathroom back in March because I read they like humidity. The thing grew like crazy - tons of new leaves and roots, super green. But after half a year of waiting, not a single flower spike showed up. Turns out I was giving it too much nitrogen and not enough temperature drop at night (like 10 degrees cooler). I moved it back to my kitchen window in September and it finally shot up a spike last week. Has anyone else messed up their orchid blooms by coddling them too much?

3 comments

3 Comments

smith.parker7d ago

Kept doing the same thing with my phalaenopsis for almost a year before I figured it out. Moved it to a colder room at night in early fall, like 65 degrees instead of 75, and stopped fertilizing completely for a month. Got two spikes within six weeks. The extra nitrogen just makes them put all their energy into leaves, not flowers.

gavin2287d ago

My grandma had a phalaenopsis that bloomed every year like clockwork and she kept it in a south window that got direct sun in the afternoon and watered it with ice cubes from the freezer. Never moved it anywhere or changed the fertilizer. I think people overcomplicate this stuff. That whole "temperature drop" thing is real but only if your plant is healthy enough to handle it. If you starve it of nitrogen for a month, you might just end up with a weak plant that drops buds instead of blooming. And 65 degrees at night in a house with drafts could be 60 in some spots, that's too cold for a tropical orchid. I'd rather get blooms a month later than risk killing the roots.

cooper.drew7d ago

Hear that @gavin228, grandma's been proving the pros wrong for decades with ice cubes and all. Sometimes simple just works.