Any chance of a spike?

[Erce]

mayonnaise!


I use skinny-milk

[johnblagg]

great looking plant and sooo clean and shiney ....wish mine looked as good.

It looks like it should bloom for sure but they are on their own schedual at my hoiuse.Lat year around jan this year they are all in spike right now.They did stay. 0ut longer this year and cool temps set them off I guess.

[RosieC]

Originally Posted by Nic100

But last year I had a phal in bloom at Christmas and it respiked in spring for summer blooms.

I had one that did the same. It started spiking during a cold spell in the later summer and was in flower for Christmas, then started again in the spring and flowered in the summer.

[RenéeS]

It seems like phals don't really have a blooming schedule . You said that the leaf is new. I think you could expect a spike relatively soon, but it's hard to tell with these plants really . I've got a couple of phals but their blooming time is soooo hard to predict! One of my Cattleya is so regular, it blooms every december.. right now it's got a huuuge bud ready to open in the next few days, right on schedule ...
Oops, trailing off.. My point is... be patient when it comes to to your phal and keep your fingers crossed (and the good work since your phal looks really healthy! not a spot to be seen on its leafs.)

[Orchid126]

It's not so much that a phal needs cold to make it bloom as it needs a 15 degree drop in temperature from day to night for about two weeks. In the fall they get it naturally as some days can be as high as in the low 80's and nights at 60. So it's a 15 degree drop.

Also, use a fertilizer with low nitrogen. Nitrogen tells the plant to grow green leaves. You need a fertilizer with more phosphorous and potassium, which tell the plant to bloom. You might also up the light a bit, as 9 times out of 10 if a plant doesn't bloom it's because of low light.

[en3rmax]

Hi again, my post seems to have started a mini discussion.

I was using baby bio orchid fertilizer on my phal's from april but it said on the bottle only use in the growing season and stop using this in october. is this right? as i only use tepid water now with no fertilizer

[RosieC]

I've always used ferteliser all year for Phals. I know some types of orchids need a break but I've never done that for Phals.

I've not tried the babybio orchid ferteliser, although I've seen it in the shop - it's the pink bottle version of babybio right? It may be that the levels of nutrients in it make it better to give a break. Do you know what they are, that might help someone (with more knowledge than me) to know how it's best to use it.

[en3rmax]

Hi RosieC,

The baby bio orchid is the pink one

Here is what's in it

compound fluid fertilizer
5.3 - 2.2 - 0.85
nitrogen 5.3%
phosphorous pentoxide
p205 total 2.2% p0.95% p205 soluble in water 2.2% p0.95%
potassium oxide k20 0.85% k 0.7%

Can you make sence :-D

[Blueszz]

Originally Posted by en3rmax

Hi again, my post seems to have started a mini discussion.

I was using baby bio orchid fertilizer on my phal's from april but it said on the bottle only use in the growing season and stop using this in october. is this right? as i only use tepid water now with no fertilizer

I fertilize my plants all year, at least most of them. I don't fert the colder growing dens this time of the year (they are spiking) and don't know why I don't feed them. Maybe I should once the spikes are clearly visible.

I fertilize year round with the same concentration. During the spring and summer, when plants grow faster, I also have to water more often. More water = more fertilizer. In the fall when growth slows down for most of my plants I still use the same concentration of fertilizer, but watering is reduced with maybe 1/2. They still get nutrients this way but because I water less often, they get less fertilizer.

I use Pokon (5-6-7) and use about 1/10 of advised strenght each watering. In the spring I switched to Pokon for green plants (can't recall composition). I was was shocked to see there is no Mg in this brand of fertilizer and now I ad Epsom salt every now and then.

Nicole

[johnblagg]

Originally Posted by Blueszz

I fertilize my plants all year, at least most of them. I don't fert the colder growing dens this time of the year (they are spiking) and don't know why I don't feed them. Maybe I should once the spikes are clearly visible.

I fertilize year round with the same concentration. During the spring and summer, when plants grow faster, I also have to water more often. More water = more fertilizer. In the fall when growth slows down for most of my plants I still use the same concentration of fertilizer, but watering is reduced with maybe 1/2. They still get nutrients this way but because I water less often, they get less fertilizer.

I use Pokon (5-6-7) and use about 1/10 of advised strenght each watering. In the spring I switched to Pokon for green plants (can't recall composition). I was was shocked to see there is no Mg in this brand of fertilizer and now I ad Epsom salt every now and then.

Nicole

I do the same with my phals and dens fert is always used its just my watering amounts that I change.

but I always fert anything while it is actively growing a spike even if its just by misting leaves with fert solution.

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