Question
I think I have made a mistake cutting my orchid flower stem after it bloomed. I have cut the stem completely down. Will my plant ever bloom again. Will another stem eventually grow and have flowers again? Right now all it does is grow new leaves and sprout roots. I have repotted it once and it seems to do fine. I have had this orchid for a year. It is a Phalaenopsis orchid.

Answer
Hello Eliza,

You did not do any harm to the phalaenopsis by cutting off the flower stem, in fact you probably helped it.  

Phalaenopsis orchids usually only bloom once a year, usually in late winter into spring and the flowers may last 2 months or longer.  The usual causes for a phalaenopsis to not bloom are too much shade, temperatures kept too warm, insufficient humidity, little or no fertilizer, too much or too little water, sporadic watering.  

Phalaenopsis prefer temperatures between 60F to 85F with a 10F to 15F difference day to night, bright shade, humidity above 50%, watered when the potting media becomes barely moist, fed some balance orchid fertilizer.  

Does this sound like what your phalaenopsis has been getting?  If not, you might seeing if you can make adjustments.  

Hope this helped.  

Jim Kawasaki
San Jose, Ca.