What are the methods to make orchids bloom as soon as possible?

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Based on the knowledge and practical experience we have gained, the factors affecting orchid blooming are many-sided. The first is sunlight. Only with sufficient light can you grow strong plants, and strong plants are the foundation for orchids to bloom. Although orchids all like sunlight, the major groups of Cymbidium have different requirements for sunlight. Those needing the most light, in order, are Cymbidium faberi, Cymbidium ensifolium, and Cymbidium goeringii; those that cannot be exposed to direct sunlight for long periods in summer, in order, are Cymbidium hookerianum, Cymbidium sinense, and winter orchid, followed by Cymbidium goeringii, Cymbidium ensifolium, and summer orchid. Outdoors in the open, using granular material, peat soil, soilless culture fine mix, and mixed mix respectively to plant wild-collected orchids as a test, all four pots of summer orchid survived. One pot of orchid planted with soilless culture mix even produced a flower spike in mid-September. Now, it is not considered strange for summer orchid to bloom at National Day. One orchid enthusiast kept Cymbidium goeringii, summer orchid, and autumn orchid all on a rooftop terrace, letting them be exposed to wind, rain, and sun. Of course, orchids grown this way will not be very attractive, but they bloom more than those grown by ordinary methods. This should show that to grow orchids well, appropriate shading is still necessary, and the purpose of emphasizing regulation of sunlight is to grow strong plants that can bloom more. Different varieties should be treated differently: when to shade and for how long to shade cannot be generalized.

"Dry orchids, wet chrysanthemums" is always the truth.

How should we approach the issue of orchids? In order to make orchids not only grow leaves but also bloom, proper watering is required during the orchid care period. Sometimes, some potted plants grow quite well and can reach the expected size on schedule, but they do not bloom. In order to make orchids bloom in time, during the sprouting and leaf-growing period, water should be given in time so that the potted plants do not fail to grow fully or develop properly due to lack of water.

Then when the flower bud differentiation period arrives (for example, when Cymbidium goeringii has four or five leaves on the previous year's growth and there are five or six plants in the pot, and by late August the new growth has basically matured), water should be withheld forcibly at intervals two or three times. Under conditions where the plants are not scorched by sunlight, do not water for two or three days, until the water level in the pot drops below 20%, then supply water to the pot, let the orchid absorb enough water, and then withhold water once or twice more. Treated this way, generally, under conditions of no shortage of fertilizer and flowering elements, flower buds will appear in September. This method is suitable for summer orchid, winter orchid, and Cymbidium sinense. On windy and dry days, attention should be paid to environmental humidity.

Many orchid enthusiasts report that the plants grow very vigorously, especially autumn orchid, which often fills the pot with growth, yet does not bloom for two or three years. Especially small-leaf Tiegu Su is even harder to bloom, and may even be grown into large plants several plants strong, with no pests or diseases, but simply no flowers. This problem lies in fertilization. When we grow orchids, most enthusiasts use fertilizer, but they lack phosphorus and potassium fertilizer and trace elements. Most use soybean cake water or fish scraps, and in recent years "Osmocote" is mostly used. The main component of these fertilizers is nitrogen, with only a small portion of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. The plants grow very vigorously, with a sprouting rate as high as 100%, and many even produce "double dragons" from a single growth, a lush green display.

To use a technical term, at this time the orchid only devotes itself to vegetative growth and does not carry out reproductive growth - the more vigorously the plants grow, the less they bloom, and year after year they are grown into "mute orchids." When this happens, stop regular fertilizer supply and apply defatted bone meal heavily. It can be applied over a longer period, once every half month, scattered on the pot surface, slightly stirred and mixed into the topsoil, and the fertilizer can then seep into the soil with watering. When applying foliar fertilizer, it is very important to add trace elements such as magnesium, selenium, and boric acid; boric acid is especially important. Trace elements should be dissolved in alcohol and then diluted a thousand times with water, once a week, with a 5-7 day interval, and water withheld once, for a period that can last from three months to half a year.

We often find colored flowers among wild-collected orchids, but when cultivated in pots, we find that the flower color fades: purple flowers are not purple, red flowers are not red, yellow flowers are not yellow, and so on. Besides increasing the application of targeted chemical substances according to the different colors of the flowers, such as clear limewater, sulfur water, ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, and alum water, some people now introduce the use of rare earth elements as fertilizer, or growing colored flowers with a mixed medium of medical stone, so that colored flowers and variegated leaves will be more brilliant and vivid. Those that have lost their variegation may regain it; it is worth a try.

Orchid Bar, your good teacher on the road of growing orchids