Growing, not blooming. Light? Fertilizer? Water? Humidity?

[maelstrom mike]

Alright, I'm hoping for the sake of my orchids that somebody can help me figure out what to do to get these babies back into action.
I have been growing orchids for a few years... well trying to, haha. I have had no luck ever getting them to bloom. I have a huge big on orchids by Ortho that doesn't seem to help me figure out what to do right so I'm open for anything. I'll even take pictures and attach them.

So where do I start. I have an indoor greenhouse- 6'T x 3'W x 1.5'D. This has a plastic cover and shelves, you'll see it in the a picture. I use four GE Plant & Aquarium Ecolux, Wide spectrum 20W Hg bulbs. I started upping the hours a couple months ago. They're at 14 hrs a day right now, on at 8AM, off at 10PM. There is a tupperware tub in the bottom filled with water and a small ultrasonic mister in it that runs from 8AM to 10AM each day. It keeps the humidity relatively close to rainfall, I'd say. I only recently started spraying them with fertilizer water about twice a week. The thing is they all keep growing but none bloom! I don't know if they're not getting the right kind of light or enough fertilizer or what! I'm a poor college student so I'm trying to save some money. I'm seriously thinking about spending the cash just to get some semi-hydro medium, that primeagra that Ray sells (I think that's what it's called). Hopefully that would help with the shrivelled psuedobulbs. I'm not sure what's wrong. Maybe I have the fertilizer/ watering/ and lighting off for correct seasons... it's been such a mystery.

If anybody has any ideas or think they know what the problem could be, please help! Plants are listed below:

-Sedirea japonica
-Angraecum Florulentum (The Easy Blooming Angraecum) -Oh the Irony
-Oncidium "Gower Ramsey" (something like "rising sun")
-(noble) Dendrobium "Dream Ace"
-Unknown hydribd Dendrobium

If you need to know anything else if you're onto something, let me know.

Okay... can't attach pictures, they're too big.

Thanks,
Mike

[maelstrom mike]

I forgot to mention the light readings... I have a little light meter and when I put it near the top where the Angraecum and Sedirea are, it reads only 250 candles. Near the lower areas with the other orchids it's only at 100 candles. It seems like it should be reading more, what's up with that? I know that's certainly not enough light for orchids.

[dr_frnkblck]

How far are the plants away from the lights? You probably want to bring either the lights closer or the plants higher if 250 foot candles is an accurate reading.

[cirillonb]

a cautionary word about S/H. It should probably not be used as a "rescue" method. Ray says plants should be showing early root growth to institute it.
Also, are your lights old or have you a way to check your meter. Those readings seem wrong.
Nick

[Ross]

Mike, as for blooming, the only two (from your list) that I have are the Sedirea and Angraecum. I'm still working on a system to get them to bloom. The florulentum is just past seedling stage so might do something soon. The Sedirea is big and mature and grows lots of leaves, but notta on the blossoms. I have a mounted Sedirea that bloomed last year, but nothing this year.

Having said all that, I'm pretty sure you need high light for both of these. The Sedirea sits in a south-facing window with dappled sunlight. Light measures 3000+ foot-candles. The florulentum is right under a bank of 48" t5 tubes and light measures above 1800 foot candles.

[maelstrom mike]

Thanks for the help everybody, please KEEP IT COMING. Everything I can get will help.

I am going to see if I can get another meter to check the one I have... or perhaps just take it somewhere and compare it. That's the road to figuring out the lighting I guess, then I'll know if I need to get new bulbs... I'm thinking I'll get two HID spotlights (if I can find such things), one MH and one HPS so they'll grow and bloom.

The other thing is they are actively growing, roots and all. So when I get some money saved up I'll try to switch to S/H. Actually, I'll probably do this all at once.

College is such a pain right now. Need to get a job!

I checked out your blog Ross, it's great. If it came down to it, I could just deliver my orchids to you. You don't live too far away.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by maelstrom mike

Thanks for the help everybody, please KEEP IT COMING. Everything I can get will help.

I am going to see if I can get another meter to check the one I have... or perhaps just take it somewhere and compare it. That's the road to figuring out the lighting I guess, then I'll know if I need to get new bulbs... I'm thinking I'll get two HID spotlights (if I can find such things), one MH and one HPS so they'll grow and bloom.

The other thing is they are actively growing, roots and all. So when I get some money saved up I'll try to switch to S/H. Actually, I'll probably do this all at once.

College is such a pain right now. Need to get a job!

I checked out your blog Ross, it's great. If it came down to it, I could just deliver my orchids to you. You don't live too far away.

Mike, before you do anything rash, like buy hot lights, come on up and lets discuss. I think there are several cheaper alternatives for you. PM me if interested. A couple OB members have taken me up on my offer.

[cirillonb]

Mike,
You may be new but believe me, if I weren't 600 miles I would take Ross up on his offer.
Nick

[camille1585]

I understand what you mean about being on a tight budget, I'm a poor student too!
Someone already asked this, but how far from the lights are the plants? Foot candles drop very quickly as distance increases. If the problem is not the meter, one good and fairly cheapish solution would be to invest in a full spectrum cfl. Ross knows a good website to get those. I can't remember it.

Aside from light, fertilizing weakly at every nearly every watering is a good idea. Well fed plants are more likely to bloom, assuming all other conditions are good as well.

[SheilaJ]

How many of these 20w bulbs per shelf? How old are the bulbs?