When to stop bloom fertilizer
 

I have a question for you experts out there. I generally start a bloom fertilizer a few months before I expect the orchid to flower and sometimes they will! The question I have is: at what point to switch back to a balanced fertilizer? Does one generally keep the bloom fertilizer going until the flowers are gone or stop short of that?
Thanks
Mike from Olympia

First of all, "bloom fertilizers" do nothing the enhance blooming. The optimum blooming will occur in a strong, healthy plant that has been given good overall culture, including adequate nutrition.

If you have been using a high-nitrogen fertilizer prior to that, the excessive nitrogen can delay, reduce, or stop blooming altogether, so switching to a lower-N "bloom" fertilizer will "allow" it to.

That said, I would think that if you want to stop using it, do so after the flowers have opened. Some will tell you - likely correctly - that the blooming event is set up well in advance of actual blooming, but it doesn't hurt to keep it up.