Guys, I did it. I got my mini orchid to re-bloom! And I’m here to tell you how I did it, because it wasn’t that hard. It just took the right conditions and a lot of patience.

There’s a lot of conflicting—and sometimes confusing—information out there about how to care for orchids and how to get them to re-bloom. I know this, because I had an orchid once before and did some research in hopes of helping it thrive. The informational tag that came with the orchid talked about watering it with ice cubes once a week. Online I found articles that said to keep it in “bright, indirect light” and to put it in a cool, dark place like a closet once the blooms faded away.

I made a valiant attempt, but that orchid never stood a chance.

A few years later, I was perusing blogs about houseplants and came across a podcast episode featuring an interview with an orchid expert who grew all different types of orchids. His advice: Treat orchids like succulents. Give them lots of light, water them thoroughly, and let them dry out for a while before watering them again. Treat them this way whether they’re blooming or in their dormant phase. That’s it.

They’re tropical plants, which makes sense now that I remember where they’re located at the local Botanical Gardens. That’s why they really shouldn’t be watered with ice cubes. They prefer warm (or room temperature) water like they would get in their natural, tropical home. They like lots of sunlight (not being put away in a dark room when they’re dormant.) In the wild, they often grow on the trunks of trees, which is why they like to be planted in bark and avoid sitting in water.

The guy on the podcast made it sound so simple.

In March of 2022, I brought home this little mini orchid. It was so cute, and it would fit perfectly on the sunny window ledge in my kitchen, so I just couldn’t pass it up. Armed with new, straightforward orchid care guidelines, I was ready to try it again.

Once orchids bloom, they keep their flowers for quite a while—like, months! After they finish blooming, the flowers die off and the plant goes dormant for several months. Putting out flowers takes a lot of energy, and the plant needs to rest after blooming. Eventually, under the right conditions, a new flower spike will show up and eventually produce buds and, ultimately, new flowers.

That’s exactly what happened! After a few months, my orchid lost its blooms, but I just left it on the sunny windowsill and continued to water it periodically (maybe once a week, or whenever the leaves started to look wrinkly.)

For months, it did nothing, but it eventually did start growing some new roots and then a new flower stalk. New flowers appeared on my mini orchid in the middle of February, and they’re still there! I’m really excited that I managed to keep my orchid happy. They’re such pretty plants and the flowers last such a long time. I also love that this one bloomed in February, right around the time I really needed a little touch of springtime after a long, Indiana winter.

I referenced succulent care in here, so here’s my post on caring for succulents if you want more information from me on that.

And I believe this is the podcast episode where I got all my orchid tips: Bloom and Grow Radio, Episode 30: Orchid 101