It's been over two months and two new leaves since old stem has died. It was cut off two nodes from main plant and dabbed with cinnamon (to prevent fungal growth). I have it by a northeastern window with a 10W CFL light for 4hrs a day and have used a 30-10-10 NPK with 1teaspoon/gallon of epsom salt. How long will it take for a new flowering stem growth to begin? Something I should add that I'm missing?
Thanks for the response Vitog, the orchid is a Phalaenopsis, I also forgot to note that there are reddish tinged spots/regions on two newer leaves and stem stump(with two nodes) looks reddish. The flower blooms were a dark purple, almost blue.
I have a relatively new Phal that lost its last blossoms this summer. It started to put out a new flower stem about a month later (without removal of the original stem), and it looks like it may start blooming around Christmas. I keep it in a north window with no artificial light and have fed it very little so far. This is one of these newer purple and white Phals. I used to have a standard white Phal that bloomed continuously for several years. One thing to keep in mind is that Phals, like most orchids, need humid air, which is difficult to maintain in most indoor situations, especially during the colder part of the year. My house is well insulated and carefully sealed against air leakage (built to R-2000 standards); so the humidity is fairly high. Orchids have done quite well when I've looked after them. In most poorly sealed houses where winters are cold, it will be difficult to maintain humidity at a suitable level; so you might try misting and keeping a tray of water under the orchid.
Could you post a pic of your tray setup(if you do have one)? Do you mist with warm or cold water? What is the recommended humidity range?
Sorry, I don't use a proper tray any more. When I was more serious about growing orchids, I used any available plastic container, such as the cut off bottom of a 4 liter milk jug, with about an inch of small gravel. These days, I just keep the lid of an ice cream bucket under the plant pot to catch any water overflow, and I don't make any attempt to keep water in the lid. I don't mist regularly, but the humidity in my house stays around 50% this time of year. The air in most houses won't be that humid. Water for watering or misting should be at room temperature and should have been standing in an open container for at least a few hours, preferably a day, to release the chlorine normally added to city water.
Has anyone tried ice/cold water to stimulate a new spike growth? I was thinking of putting ice in drainage pot, not in direct contact with plant roots or moss, but in drainage pot.
Why please? I could see that with plant that requires chilling to flower such as an apple, Forsythia or Lilac? Cultivated Orchids are generally tropical and resent much chilling.
