Encouraging my old orchids

Greetings from dry-for-a-change Shoreham-by-Sea!

I have quite a few orchids bought over the years which are all alive, but only occasionally come back into flower.

This isn't surprising as they're bare-rooted in pots and their only TLC is occasional watering. There's not really a lot of room to add anything to the pots, although I suppose compost of some sort could be shaken in, and I'd rather not have to find new, bigger pots, and then bigger containers.

What do you think would be the best solution so that they might spring back to life rather more than at the moment?

 

It rather depends on the conditions that they're being kept in to be honest.

 

When my plants lost their flowers, I cut back the stem to a side shoot.I bought some
orchid soil from Wyevale, repotted up a pot size, making a mixture of the old stuff
and the new soil.
Took the plants and took them back to the roots, and repotted.
Also bought some Baby Bio orchid, when the plants had some new buds, started to use a weak
solution,I also use room temperature water.

 

They're in a north-facing bay window.

 

I think you have hit the nail on the head.

What orchids are they?

 

I don't know, to be honest, just ones I've bought occasionally from Tesco!

 

So almost certainly Phalaenopsis.
East or west window is best. Not too warm or cold. The biggest issue is usually a lack of humidity.
I wouldn't worry too much about the lack of medium in the pot as they're epiphytic in the wild. I would just soak them for 15 to 20 mins every week or two in a solution that has some feed in it if you remember.

 

Ah, that's it. Thank you! (Why didn't I think of that!)