No growth from plant - what can i do

[us@grady.club]

I have a beloved orchid that has been sat on my desk for 6 months now, ungrowing.

The stem bloomed a numer of times over a couple of years and produced a number of lateral growths, but it had become disfigured so I cut it off, hoping for a new stem.

It was repotted a year ago, gets watered once a week and occationally we spray it with an orchid spray. The roots seem green and healthy-looking. Was kept in a light kitchen where it seemed to flourish, and have now tried it in a number of rooms.

I would love it if it grew another stem, but it just seems to sit there. Occationally I play it some Jamiroquai but to no avail. Any other suggestion?

[estación seca]

Search for images of Phalaenopsis. Do you have that? Is it growing new leaves?

[Ray]

Warm, more water.

[SouthPark]

Originally Posted by us@grady.club

Was kept in a light kitchen where it seemed to flourish, and have now tried it in a number of rooms.

For that particular kitchen - assess the temperature and amount of light ----- and duration of the lighting. If it was flourishing in the kitchen area - then it would be good to find a growing area that has similar conditions ---- temperature, lighting, humidity, air-flow etc.

[estación seca]

At first I didn't see the photo attached. It is a Phalaenopsis. That kind of medium dries rapidly. I agree, water more often.

[aliceinwl]

Water whenever the roots start to look silver in the pot or the bark you can see through the sides of the pot starts to look dry.

Also, look at increasing the light level. Phalaenopsis like bright indirect light. For my recalcitrant bloomers, moving them to a brighter location has worked for almost all of them. It may take a year after the move to see a spike depending on when your plant wants to bloom. I think with mine exposure to natural photoperiods and seasonal temperature fluctuations also play a role in triggering blooming but if the light level is low, they’re often not enough.

[Roberta]

First, Welcome!

I also found that duration of light- the number of hours - makes a difference. When I was first starting out in orchids, I had my Phals in a room where they got good morning light, for about 4 hours a day and then the sun shifted and the light was very indirect and much reduced. I got very little in the way of new spikes. I added a fluorescent light on a timer, 12 hours a day to supplement what came in the windows, and started to get about 80% reblooming. (LEDs are more efficient, you'd get similar results I think) So consider supplemental light as a possibility.

[camille1585]

Welcome to Orchidboard!

The most common reason a Phal won't reflower is not enough light. You say you kept in in a light kitchen, but what is the orientation? And how far from the window was it? While a spot away a couple meters from the window may look bring to our eyes, light levels drop off dramatically the further you get and for a plant it's like sitting in darkness.

Find a spot for it that is near a bright window, take good care of it, and then comes the hard part : patience! I'm assuming that your plant is one of the usualy winter blooming types, so don't expect to see a flower stem until september or october at the earliest.

I'd also recommend switching to a liquid orchid fertilizer that you add to the water regularily (many people fertilize with a week dose nearly every watering). An occasional misting with a foliar feed doesn't sound like much, and with their thick, hard texture, most orchids don't readily absorb nutrients via their leaves.

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