Reblooming Paphs and Phrags

[jrfehon]

Hello everyone! Some of my paphs and phrags have bloomin size growths on them but haven't yet put up spikes. Could this be something with my growing conditions? I grow under lights during the winter as you can see in one of the pictures (I live near Philadelphia). The lowest shelve where all my paphs and phrags are gets down to around 57 at night and up to 75 during the day. Humidity is an issue for me but it is around or above 50% for most of the day. The lights were on for 12 hours per day but I just bumped it up to 14. I've attached a picture of a phrag Longifolium x Grande and a phrag Longifolium X Warscewicsianum. All of my phrag caudatum types I bought blooming two years ago but have yet to rebloom for me. Am I doing something wrong that's preventing them from blooming?

[Kmac]

I only have a couple of paphs, but would be interested in seeing any responses. I have increased mine's light, and am waiting to see if it helps.

[cakedaddy]

I'm with Kathi here. I only have mottled leaf paphs and a single "strap leaf". The mottled bloomed as expected. I am interested to see the responses here as well, as I would like to get into more "difficult" paphs and phrags as well.

[catttan]

First off I must say I've no experience at all growing under lights or growing Phrags (though I would very much like to). I used to grow mostly Brachy paphs outdoors 24/7 as these are well suited to the climatic conditions here. But 4 years ago, after having seen a Paph rothchildianum 'live', I have started to collect other paphs. For us here, we may be able to flower the warm to intermediate types in the lowlands but not the cool to intermediate. Last August I had to send my P rothchildianum to a friend in the highlands after trying unsuccessfully for 2 years to bloom it. During the recent Chinese New Year (early Feb) when I went up to the highlands I saw the first blooms - nearly kissed my friend for blooming it for me. My P philippinense (warm) is budding now and I expect my P stonei in a few weeks. So I think it is mostly a matter of the right temperature to initiate blooming.

[jrfehon]

I'll let you all know what happens. Hopefully I can figure it out. Paphs and Phrags are my favorite orchids so it would be a bummer to not get them to rebloom. Most of them though I bought blooming at the end of March (Longwood Gardens Orchid Show) so maybe they'll start putting up spikes soon. I have been moving them to a cooler spot in my house at night, which gets down to 52 degrees so maybe that will help.

-Jason

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Jason, if you just got them last March, they are probably getting ready to start the blooming cycle again. Your conditions sound good for these slipper type orchids. I grow in a greenhouse, but the conditions you are supplying should produce blooms. I think you just need a bit more patience. You have new growth and that is where you will get new spikes. The old growth doesn't rebloom. It is there to support the new growth and blooms. Your plants look very healthy and as long as you are also feeding them, everything else sounds spot on. Good luck.

Cheers,
BD

[jrfehon]

Thanks for the response BD. I think some of them I am getting impatient with. The phrags I posted pictures of I actually got two years ago and they haven't rebloomed since so I wasn't sure if there's something you have to do to induce blooming. I've been fertilizing my paphs once a month with a 30-10-10 fertilizer and my phrags once a week, weakly with a 20-20-20 and every fourth week without fertilizer to rinse out salts. Does that sound right?

[Brutal_Dreamer]

Thanks for the response BD. I think some of them I am getting impatient with. The phrags I posted pictures of I actually got two years ago and they haven't rebloomed since so I wasn't sure if there's something you have to do to induce blooming. I've been fertilizing my paphs once a month with a 30-10-10 fertilizer and my phrags once a week, weakly with a 20-20-20 and every fourth week without fertilizer to rinse out salts. Does that sound right?

It sounds fine to me. Most often when an orchid is old enough to bloom and it is not blooming, it is due to light levels. Are the lights you are growing under full spectrum? I can't think of any thing else that is missing. If the light is not the correct wave type, then that could be the issue.

Cheers,
BD

[jrfehon]

They're full spectrum T5 bulbs. The phrags are getting around 2000-2500 foot candles and my paphs get around 1000-1500.

[Brutal_Dreamer]

They're full spectrum T5 bulbs. The phrags are getting around 2000-2500 foot candles and my paphs get around 1000-1500.

Phrags can bloom at that light, but prefer to get between 2.5K and 3K foot candles. The paphs are getting exactly what they need. If possible, increase the relative humidity from 50% to 70% and give it some time. You should see blooms with these conditions.

Cheers,
BD