Everyone wants their orchids to have flowers, but not only that, to have them when they want them to have them. This, for the most part, is totally impossible with these plants. There are all kinds of articles written on how to make plants open by controlling their water, light, temperature, humidity levels and proper nutrients.
But for orchids, there is very little research to support any correlation between these factors and when with flowering or blossoming. Although, you can definitely increase the chances of your plants blooming by using and setting up proper conditions.
Blooming Can Take Some Time
Some of them do not bloom the first time for anywhere from four to seven years. This makes it a little hard to predict at all when a plant might bloom. The floral industry has done a lot of studies of poinsettias and lilies, and then been able apply certain formulas involving temperatures and light so that now they can get poinsettias to bloom at Christmas and lilies to bloom at Easter.
The Most Popular One You Need To Get Your Hands On
These plants are the second most popular types sold at garden shops. But what is interesting is that out of 25,000 different kinds of plants, seventy-five percent of all of them sold are Phalaenopsis. This family includes fifty different species. They originated in the tropical and subtropical regions of the Asia and the South Pacific. Of all the ones available, members of the this family have had the most studies done on how to regulate their process of blossoming.
How To Get Your Phalaenopsis To Blossom
Most of the species in this family of orchids need to be exposed to cool temperatures to promote spiking. While some scientists thought that shorter periods of light also contributed to blooming, now most of these claims have not been supported, as cool air temperatures were also present. What studies have shown is that the Phalaenopsis species begins to open when plants have day/night temperatures of 77/68 or 68/59. The buds may die if the daytime temperatures exceed 82 degrees.
Some Recommendations to Consider
Scientific research on many of them has proven that several of the recommendations given to growers to initiate bud opening are misconceptions. One example is to reduce nitrogen when plants are not actively growing. The varieties that are capable to grow outside in all types of habitat from tropical forests to prairies and even deserts have flowers, whether they are growing on rocks, trees or the ground.
There is no fluctuation in nutrient levels to stimulate this production. When you withhold nutrients you only cause stress to the plant, which is not healthy and is not going to sustain flowering. You can always try planting them in their natural habitat to help them bloom.
A Few More Orchid Flowering Tips
Other tips often given to produce blossoms is to give your plant Epsom salts. There is also no scientific evidence behind this theory. Both magnesium and sulfur, which are in Epsom salts, are involved in the metabolic functions of plants but there are no facts to suggest that these will help them or any other plant to bloom.
As far as petals on orchids go, some studies have been done on Cattleya, Cymbidium, and Dendrobium plants suggest they can be manipulated to grow by providing certain day and nighttime temperatures along with less daylight for some species. Overall though, there is very little research done on this process as compared to opening in other plants.