Phal- New spike/When? - Orchid Board

chips · #1 08-09-2009, 01:42 PM

I was just wondering from others and their experience, is their a certain season/month when phals tend to shoot off new spikes. From my newbie experience which is limited, I found new leaves comes first, usually in the spring and then new spikes. Anyone else care to share??

RosieC · #2 08-09-2009, 02:02 PM

I find Phal spikes tend to start when it's colder. So mine will start over the winter and flower in spring.

I've heard that they need a temperature drop for most of them to start new spikes.

Breezy · #3 08-09-2009, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chips

I was just wondering from others and their experience, is their a certain season/month when phals tend to shoot off new spikes. From my newbie experience which is limited, I found new leaves comes first, usually in the spring and then new spikes. Anyone else care to share??

Really it depends on the natural growing season of that particular Phal and depends on the environment. I have a species Phal that has a spike over a foot long and will be blooming in November/December (its normal blooming season), it is also growing a new leaf and roots at the same time. Because of the unusual cooler weather we have been having here, I have a Phal that started blooming in May is still blooming (only have lost 4 of its 12 total flowers) and currently forming 2 new buds, AND just started putting out a new spike. I have another Phal that should not be spiking until the end of this month or next but already has a spike an inch long. All of my Phals are putting out new leaves and roots right now. Including the 3 that are spiking.
All of mine are just doing what they want when they want evidently. And I don't mind at all.

chips · #4 08-09-2009, 04:13 PM

My phals are all putting out new leaves too right now, all except one. I have one that just surprised me with a spike. So I was just wondering what other people found was a common pattern. Leaves/spikes/flowers???

Malagasy · #5 08-09-2009, 04:42 PM

If you post hte name of your plant, it would be much easier to say specifically. Many of the hybrids start spiking in the fall--they are busy growing roots and leaves now. You can help them along by having a 15-20 degree temp difference between day and night starting in September or October. I see you are in Canada, so I don't know when it starts to get really cold. Here, I just leave the windows open when the temps start falling to the mid to low 60s at night. The plants can handle colder, but it always makes me nervous that the weather man might be slightly off, so I set 60 as my personal bottom limit. Then on sunny fall days it can easily get above 80 in the greenhouse, so they spike like crazy.

If you have a summer blooming species--like bellina, violacea, leudemannia, etc etc or a hybrid heavily influeced by them, then the plant will natrually bloom in the summer. So once again, the name of your plant, or even a picture would be helpful. From the name or probably the picture I can tell you if it is a summer bloomer.

If it is not a summer bloomer, just sit tight. They plant is busy growing so that it is ready to go this fall.

chips · #6 08-09-2009, 05:14 PM

Thanks Malagasy but I have many Phals. Impossible to post a picture of them all, I was bitten by the bug for over a year now. I was just curious if anyone found that Phals generally follow a certain pattern. I have one white phal that has literally never stopped producing leaves, roots and spikes. She has been in bloom for over two years now!! She has over 10 leaves. My other phals dont seem to like her because they dont act the same, (LOL) so I was just curious what other orchid lovers have found.

Cuttlefish · #7 08-09-2009, 05:25 PM

chips,

Mine are just NOID grocery store phals, but they all seem to put out leaves in the summer, spikes in the fall, flowers start opening Dec.-Jan. and towards the end of flowering, the roots take off (Apr.-June) then they do it all over again.
I'm in the south, and it's been a cool summer with night temps in the 50s every night... no early spikes yet though.

Malagasy · #8 08-09-2009, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chips

Thanks Malagasy but I have many Phals. Impossible to post a picture of them all, I was bitten by the bug for over a year now. I was just curious if anyone found that Phals generally follow a certain pattern. I have one white phal that has literally never stopped producing leaves, roots and spikes. She has been in bloom for over two years now!! She has over 10 leaves. My other phals dont seem to like her because they dont act the same, (LOL) so I was just curious what other orchid lovers have found.

Gotcha. I have a couple hundred phals myself. I misunderstood teh question. I thought you were talking about a specific phal. Sorry--my response was probably entirely redundant for someone like you. I will have to think about your question, my off the cuff response is that mine grow seasonally, leaves and roots in the summer and spikes in the winter, but that isn't entirely true. So I'll go wander the greenhouse and consider your actual question.

Ray · #9 08-10-2009, 10:25 AM

If you want to REALLY generalize, realizing there will be a lot of exceptions, phalaenopsis in the white/pink/purple colors tend to have species in their background that respond to a lowering of the temperature, so those tend to be winter bloomers. Those with red/orange/yellow flowers tend to be more summer bloomers.

However, with the complexity of modern hybrids, and the huge variation in growing conditions, those generalizations get blurred very easily.

RosieC · #10 08-10-2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray

If you want to REALLY generalize, realizing there will be a lot of exceptions, phalaenopsis in the white/pink/purple colors tend to have species in their background that respond to a lowering of the temperature, so those tend to be winter bloomers. Those with red/orange/yellow flowers tend to be more summer bloomers.

However, with the complexity of modern hybrids, and the huge variation in growing conditions, those generalizations get blurred very easily.

Wow, that's interestng to know. All off mine in the past have been white/pink/purple and they all seemed to be triggered by colder temps.

I have some new ones which are more red/orange/yellow so it will be interesting to see how they react (they are in flower now but then I bought them like that and the nursary probably controls temps to get them to bloom when they want).

Of course I'm bound to have some of those which are exceptions