I decided to try orchids again....

Drissell:
Generally, paphs will bloom in the spring to early summer but it really depends on the cultivar. If they have formed baby plants, you have to give the babies a chance to mature before expecting any blooms. Continue with regular watering and fertilizing and make sure they don't get too hot in the summer (I have been known to bring some of the orchids into the air conditioning during those dreadfully hot days). I use distilled/rain water because my well water is much too hard and full of dissolved minerals. I like to wait and collect fresh rain water, but sometimes this isn't possible. So I will take melted snow and make certain to strain it through a couple of cotton towels. I begin storing rain water in the fall with some large bins I keep in the basement to help get me through the winter. But then, I have 100+ orchids to water! We, too, are going to get the approaching storm. It was pretty miserable today!

EJ:
That's a very pretty oncidium! Does it have a nice fragrance? I have oncidiums, too, but none are yellow. My favorite is Sharry Baby which smells like chocolate when it's blooming. Finally divided it last fall and will see if I get any flowers this year. Sometimes orchids will pout and not flower during the next cycle. I am putting more and more of my orchids outside in a shady location during the summer, but last year was so terribly wet that I had to watch they didn't rot!

gfreiherr:
Do you know what type of orchids you have? Maybe I can help figure out why they aren't blooming for you! And just so you know, I have a few that took 4-5 years before I saw another spike!

- Lynn

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~ Lynn ~

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly" ~ Langston Hughes

Those orchids are simply BEAUTIFUL, Sherry, the blooms on the phaleanopsis should last a month before "going by". When they do, don't cut off the spike they were on as new blossoms WILL form on it at a later date..just be patient! Was glad to see you have them in little saucers with rocks in the bottom for humidity/drainage as these don't like their "feet" overly wet: keeping the saucer filled with water to just the bottom of pot works ideally.
When I purchased two, over a year ago, instructions said to place 3 ice cubes (YEP! ICE CUBES!) once a week around the growing orchid's leaves in top of pot to water them as that's all they need. Thought it was CRAZY but found it WORKS! The cold doesn't seem to hurt the orchids at all, both are going strong and blooming again plus putting out new spikes. I have these, and five other types of orchids, under (or near) a grow light to give them 12 hours of brightness per day, and pots are set on small stones in a large humidity tray. They get NO SPECIAL treatment except a trip to the kitchen sink once a year for a good cleaning, or repotting every 2-3 years in small "orchid chips". When repotting (I've had some of these orchids eight years) I remove all the old chips from around roots, then pack them with dampened sphagnum moss before setting into new chips: is a HIGHLY unorthodox method many won't agree with, but I haven't lost an orchid since I began using it.
Care of orchids sounds scary to the beginner with all the do's and don'ts. Light (filtered if outside), warmth, humidity and proper watering methods are all there is to it in actuality: if I can grow them, I believe anyone can. GROW ON and ENJOY!