cold and blooming

[Danica]

These two or three days we haven't had central heating, and it was very cold (freezing)
Now when ch is back I noticed new buds-spikes, but extremely young- on two phals and dendrobium. So i was wondering, does that have something to do with cold or is it just a coincidence?

[camille1585]

I think it was more likely a coincidence. For one, phals don't like temperatures close to freezing. For them, anything below 13-15°C is already too cold for them since they are tropical plants. Normally such cold temperatures would make them go into survival mode, where they pretty much shut down and stop growing. The other thing is that spike induction is not something that happens overnight. They respond to a general decrease in temperature (of a few degrees) over a period of several weeks in order to spike. This usually happens naturally in homes in the fall, unless you keep the heat up high all the time!

[RosieC]

Colder temps can trigger Phal blooming, but as Camille has said it would not be that instant.

I would guess coincidence.