A few questions

[fxman]

Hello all!! last August I bought quite a few phals.. Around the spring I started to get quite a bit of healthy leaf and root growth. However, only one spiked and that spike only grew about 2-3 inches before it bloomed 2 flowers. Now that it's probaly past our hot season here is North Texas how can I get them to better bloom. I'm only using one type of food. What should I use for growth and what for bloom? What causes a Phal to bloom? I know some plants and flowers bloom from light and some from temperture. Is there a way to promote a nice fall bloom?
Thanks

[Cjcorner]

Alot of growers trick their phals into blooming by lowering their night-time temps and daytime light to mimic the season they normally bloom in. Some phals just bloom whenever they want.
Connie

[Brutal_Dreamer]

...and adding to Connie's reply, it seems many of our phals do not start blooming until late January and February.

Cheers,
BD

[fxman]

Any advice as to bloom and flowering foods? Also what possibly caused the spike to flower so quick?

[Bikerdoc5968]

The debate regarding what kind of "food" to feed orchids will rage on long after all of us have become fertilizer! Most of us have read, "Don't use urea-based products on orchids because the growing media hasn't the urea converting bacteria to utilize the urea nitrogen." Maybe true...maybe not.... Some "swear" by the Michigan State University formulation. Some say that you should use a food higher in Nitrogen when you are promoting leaf growth and higher Phosphate/Potassium for flowers. Others say the micro-nutrients are an absolute must. Don't know.... I have been using the Better-Gro Orchid Plus(20-14-13) and Orchid Bloom Booster(11-35-15) products and they seem to work well. Both contain micro-nutrients and dissolve very quickly in water. The cost is very reasonable (about $3.87) and availability at boxstores make it easy to find. I've had some good growth and nice flowers. I know these products are "promoted" by the AOS but aside from their recommendation, I think they work pretty well. Bottom line is, I think we all experiment and use whatever seems to work best for our unique circumstances.....happy growing!