I could use some orchid advice... Summary: How do I get my small, indoor, potted orchids to generate more spikes/blooms? Details: I purchased a small 6" potted orchid at a grocery store on clearance. It had 2 spikes, both bloomed, flowers dropped, and it was dormant for a LONG time. More on that in a bit. My neighbor heard me whining about the lack of flowers on mine and said she couldn't get flowers on ANY of the 5+ that she had in the house and foisted them upon me (they're green, so not horrible to look at, but no flowers in many months). I had read that trimming the tops of spent spikes and putting cinnamon on the ends would spur new growth. I also heard that trimming them back to the base (with no cinnamon) was the way to go. I also heard putting ice cubes around the base of the plants weekly (mostly bark, actually) was a must. So... after having these dormant plants taking up space and only looking semi-lovely, and thinking "if ice is good, prolonged cold should be better", I tossed all of them into my refrigerator for several hours the other day. Today, I have 2 plants showing new growth. A new spike on one plant (and another looks like it's ready to show), and some new growth on old spikes (2 plants). Did the fridge actually cause this or is it just interesting timing? What else can I do to get these suckers to start pushing out blooms? These are all indoor plants, all in 4" to 6" pots, all have lots of roots (too many?), all get watered and iced weekly, 3 are in a south facing window at any time (I rotate them periodically) and the rest are in darker parts of the house. No fertilizers used. Any and all advice offered is appreciated.
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