All good things do not have to come to an end. When your Just Add Ice Orchid has finished flowering, you may be able to trigger the plant to bloom a second time. Not every orchid plant can be coaxed to rebloom, and you may have to wait for your Just Add Ice Orchid to progress through the normal annual growth cycle; but many plants can be encouraged to bloom a second time.
To prompt reblooming, follow these steps:
- When flowering is complete, fertilize your Just Add Ice Orchid every other week. More frequent than normal fertilizing provides the extra nutrients plants need to flower. To fertilize, mix a balanced houseplant fertilizer with water using half the recommended amount of fertilizer. Place orchid pot in the sink and pour in fertilizer solution, taking care to add liquid under the leaves. Add fertilizer solution until growing medium is thoroughly soaked and excess liquid runs out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.
- Water your orchid with 3 ice cubes every other week on the weeks you do not add fertilizer.
- For the next month, keep your Just Add Ice Orchid where nighttime temperatures are somewhat cooler than daytime temperatures. Ideally, nighttime temperatures should be between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. In nature, temperature changes trigger plants to grow and bloom in the spring and summer. Placing your Just Add Ice Orchid in a cooler nighttime environment approximates the seasonal temperature change that triggers the plant’s bloom cycle.
- Your Just Add Ice Orchid should continue to receive the same amount of indirect sunlight as usual.
- When a root begins to grow upward and the tip becomes mitten-shaped, a new spike is forming. Return your orchid to its usual location and water and fertilize normally. Second blooms are typically smaller that original displays but just as beautiful.
Photo by: blumenbiene
