blooming cycles

[stacey8989]

Assuming a phal is healthy and has the proper growing conditions-
If I bought the plant in full bloom in May, when should I expect to see a new spike? I've had 2 new leaves and several new roots on this plant in the past 6 months.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Assuming a phal is healthy and has the proper growing conditions-
If I bought the plant in full bloom in May, when should I expect to see a new spike? I've had 2 new leaves and several new roots on this plant in the past 6 months.

There is no exact science, but if the plant was in full bloom in May, it could have been blooming since February or earlier. I suspect you should see a spike starting in December or January. It all really depends on the care. Does this phal need a temp drop to initiate spike? I gave my mom a beautiful white phal with a yellow center that always bloomed amazingly well for us. She grows indoors and for two years, she did not get a spike. I finally convinced her to put it out in her storage shed so that it would get cold (not frozen) and within three weeks she saw the first signs of a spike. It blooms in April and the blooms last for six or seven months at a time.

Best of luck.

Cheers,
BD

[stacey8989]

Thanks BD. It's a NOID phal, but I assume a temp drop would help. The temp drops shouldn't be a problem since S. CA has wild temp swings during the winter. If I put the plant outside during the day, it's low 70s. Inside it will be low 60s since we're too cheap to use the heaters in the house. lol. Outside temps at night are low 50s, but I was told this is generally too cold for phals and they should be inside. What do you think?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

We don't let our orchids get below 55 in the gh. We do let some cymbidiums get much cooler though. I would keep the orchid in the house if it is going to get below 55.

Cheers,
BD

[flyfishdoc]

I am growing my orchids in the sun room. It gets down to 61-63 at night now, depending. It goes up to mid to upper 70s in the afternoon, provided there is sun and I close the doors. Is it beneficial to get the temp up that much in the winter? I think I see my spikes grow better when it gets the warm days. Do temperature swings in winter affect the plants adversely? I have phalaenopsis, cattleyas, 1 oncidium and new additions of rescue dendrobiums

[nyortiga]

Hi,
Will a phal bloom at temperatures of high 70's to high 80's considering there is also a 10 deg drop at night?

[smartie2000]

Now that it is spring and with increasing daylength, I think that it will bloom soon.

I see that you are in the Phillipines so you don't get the same winter temp drops (which are not neccessary but maybe helpful.) Do your daylengths also increase at this time?

Your temperatures seem fine to me. Night time temperature drops are very helpful. Good luck!

[Becky15349]

It really does help a phal to have a temp drop at night, for a period of about 2-3 months. My phals get down to roughly 55° at night from October through January, and I usually see spikes begin in December.

Make sure you have sufficient light also - all the temp drops and fertilizer in the world won't help a phal bloom if it doesn't have enough light.

Hope that helps!
~Becky

[nyortiga]

Thank you for your replies. Yes days do get a bit longer now, but maybe only an hour total per day.

I dont know if anyone here in the city has successfully bloomed a phal, most of the ones I've seen were grown in mountainous areas where temperatures are lower.

Anyhow will try to see how mine will thrive.

[orchid_killer]

Hi Nancy, my mom has Phals in Cebu. Her phals are not in pots though. They're mounted. And I don't know what kind they are. She has them in shade surrounding the fish pond which is under the roof of the house (front porch kind of thing) all year long. They bloom for her only an average of once a year around the typhoon season (October/November). I never thought of the temperature drop as an incentive for bloom. But now, it kinda makes sense because during the typhoon season, it is hot and humid during the day and then the showers cool everything down in the afternoon.

She did say that lately, her phals and dendrobiums are always getting eaten by some aphids or something. She's always having to treat them for bugs! Which is wierd because her vandas don't get them. But then the vandas are out in the open and watered daily - so maybe the aphids can't live on a plant that is always rained on or watered? Dunno.