I grow mine in a window covered with a sheer curtain to preven sunburn. What are you growing and what brand are you using?

Katie, I don't grow a bunch of inside plants, but the few I do (7 orchids and a small group of other assorted things that I have enough attachment to not to want to loose over winter) live outside on my back porch in summer, and are brought inside during winter.

Inside the plants sit on stands right in front of three 5X7 foot plate glass windows with no shade. The house is surrounded with huge Water Oak trees that are completely bare in winter, but even then the bare limbs break up what sunshine gets through them. The windows are not vertical, but the top tilts out more than the bottom. This gives additional roof overhang, so the only time of the year the plants receive any absolutely direct sunlight is mid winter, and that is coming through the bare oak limbs. Moving the sun sensitive plants up on the shelves reduces the amount of sunlight they get. Right now the sun is high enough in the sky that only the plants on the floor are receiving direct sunlight.

In summer the plants go out on the porch with no shade other than what the leafed out oaks supply. Sun demanding plants on the top shelf, and plants that prefer more shade on the deck of the porch under the other plants.

It works.

I don't have many photos of the setup, but here's one that shows some of the setup. You can see part of the three shelf tall stand on the right where small potted stuff is kept. Two Phals. in bloom on the low stand. The pure white one was purchased in Feb. 2014 by our children for use at our 50th anniversary reception. They had two plants, and both of them are in bloom again this year. I cut both spikes back (not off) after they finished blooming (early Apr.) to see if they would branch. One spike died without branching and the plant has another spike blooming now. The other spike did branch from two nodes, and is in full bloom now. Out the window you can see the yellow birdhouse on the Water Oak that supplies part of my shade.

As far as "Orchid bloom enhancement fert." I personally have never heard of it, so can't comment. I normally use a higher amount of Nitrogen when the plants are in active growth, and when they are mature and getting ready to set blooms, I reduce the Nitrogen to prevent the plants from continuing to grow instead of blooming.

Enough for now.

Bill

You do not have to make so much at once. You could make just 1/4 gallon, but just scale the recommended amount, so you'd use 1/4 tsp if you only make 1/4 gallon.

I would not recommend sprinkling it on. If the directions say x amount per gallon, it's a water soluble fertilizer (most orchid fertilizers are).

Putting how much fertilizer is recommended per gallon of water is just the standard way they write the fertilizer directions.

Plus, many pressure sprayers come in a one gallon size. You can make as much or as little as you need.

I would recommend fertilizing (generally, I'm not familiar with your particular fertilizer) once a week. Every few weeks, make sure you give your orchid a good watering without fertilizer to flush out any excess salts. People will tell you to fertilize "weakly weekly." Don't fertilize too much or you will kill the plant. Better to slightly under rather than slightly over fertilize.

You can both spray the leaves with the fertilizer solution and use the solution to water the plant each week.

I agree with nightstar. Orchids (all plants) can only absorb nutrient ions that are in solution. In nature, orchids see VERY little nutrition (about 15-25 ppm TDS), and only at the start of rain, as it washes the overhead forest canopies clean. If you were to sprinkle the powder on the potting medium, the first time you watered, the concentration in solution would be SO high that it could potentially damage the roots.

There is no problem making up a gallon and storing the unused solution. Just keep it tightly sealed to prevent evaporation, and you're good to go the next time you need it.

Also - there simply isn't any such thing as a "bloom booster" fertilizer.

When Dr. O. Wesley Davidson (Rutgers Univ.) invented what became Mir-Acid (30-10-10) - the first "chemical" fertilizer - and folks used it heavily, their plants grew tremendously, but the heavy application of nitrogen quashed blooming. By diluting the nitrogen in the powder by adding cheap phosphorus compounds, the reduced nitrogen levels ALLOWED blooming to occur naturally. Marketers saw the opportunity, and the "Bloom Booster" came to be.

The simple fact is this: give the plant the exact cultural parameters it wants, including feeding it adequately, and it will bloom to its genetically-programmed maximum. There is nothing that can boost it beyond that.