It’s that time of year when nights are cool, but not yet cold, to put your dormant phalaenopsis orchids outdoors so they can experience a noticeable nighttime temperature drop for a couple of weeks. The stuff I’ve read says the cool nighttime temperature (anywhere from 10-15/18 C) persuades the plants the season is changing and it’s time to flower again.

I have 20 dormant orchids – I placed them in two large tubs and put them out on my balcony five days ago. I missed this cool period last year and the temperature on my window ledge wasn’t cold enough so I had but a couple of spikes form. This year I think I’ve timed it right and, fingers crossed, I’m hoping for maybe 15 (could I be lucky and all will spike?) of the plants to create spikes. I plan on leaving them outdoors for at least two weeks (weather permitting and so far it’s looking promising).

The plants are healthy in spite of my benign neglect – however, I’m going to feed them judiciously as well as soon as I bring them in, in the hope that will further encourage them to bloom.

The process is slow – I don’t expect to see spikes until February/March.

Wouldn’t it be nice if I were to get 5-8 blooms from each spike?

Here is some helpful info if you want to experiment with your orchids.