Phals flowers dont last!

[jhonc12]

Hello everyone,

Someone gave me two phals 2 months ago, one of them is a regular one and the other one is a mini. The flowers in both of them don´t last more than 2 weeks. Then the flower spikes start growing and developing more buds and flowers opens one by one and die before the second bud is fully opened and so on. The main spikes (2) in the regular phal is growing 4 more sub-spikes and the spike in the mini phal is still growing and developing buds. I have them indoors.

I live in Bogotá, Colombia and the weather here is cold, but I have had phals before and the blooming longs till 5 months. Why do you think the flowers are dying so fast?.

Thanks!

[rbarata]

Genetics maybe.
BTW, welcome!

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by jhonc12

The flowers in both of them don't last more than 2 weeks. Then the flower spikes start growing and developing more buds and flowers opens one by one and die before the second bud is fully opened and so on.

Did the previous owner mention how long the flowers lasted in those phals? (Assuming they've flowered before that is).

the weather here is cold, but I have had phals before

A temperature monitoring and temperature logging unit should probably be used to get some indication of what the minimum temperature drops to - in the growing area.

If the general growing requirements are met, then the phal is expected to stay in bloom (not drop flowers) for longer than 2 weeks - unless it's a trait thing.

If you happen to buy a couple more different phals later (blooming size) and they exhibit similar behaviour, then the behaviour will likely be due to growing conditions.

[rbarata]

The lower the temp, the longer flowers last, unless it's below the min required temp.
In that case, I think it won't even bloom.

[aliceinwl]

Check the root health. Pretty much all the Phalaenopsis I’ve had that dropped flowers prematurely or blasted a lot of buds have had unhealthy root systems. Once they developed good roots, the blooming issues resolved.

[camille1585]

Welcome to orchidboard!

The fact that it's happening to both Phals suggests that it isn't genetic. To add to what has already been suggested, is there there a draft where the plants are? This could be either cold air from the window, or warm air from the heating if they are next to a radiator /vent. Do you have ripe fruit near them? The gases released by ripe fruit can cause flowers to age prematurely.

[ArronOB]

Welcome to the orchid board. You have a very fortunate cat.

[jhonc12]

[QUOTE=SouthPark;911136]Did the previous owner mention how long the flowers lasted in those phals? (Assuming they've flowered before that is).

They were bought in different nurseries. Temperature there is warm and orchids do great!. I think dropping flowers is due to temperature, early in the morning temperature reaches 0 degrees, at 12 PM gets to 20 and at nite gets 6 degrees aprox.

Thanks for replying.

---------- Post added at 08:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 AM ----------

Roots are good in both of them. New roots are growing actually.

Thanks!

---------- Post added at 08:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 AM ----------

[QUOTE=camille1585;911156]Welcome to orchidboard!

The fact that it's happening to both Phals suggests that it isn't genetic. To add to what has already been suggested, is there there a draft where the plants are? This could be either cold air from the window...

yeah, I open the window sometimes and they get cold air drafts. Maybe that´s the problem ;S

Thanks for answering.

[SouthPark]

Most welcome!

For the quoting feature to work, just edit your most previous post by putting this following code-word (including the square brackets) [/QUOTE] straight after somebody else's text.

For example,

(Assuming they've flowered before that is).[/QUOTE]

Best regards!

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by jhonc12

yeah, I open the window sometimes and they get cold air drafts. Maybe that´s the problem ;S

Thanks for answering.

I'd say you may have figured it out with the open window and drafts. Move plants before opening window. And Welcome to Orchid Board!