Triggering blooming

[EmmaD]

Hey! So I rescued a phal back in July. Its root system was pretty ok looking when I repotted it, given that it had been in grocery-store-phal conditions, and it's been thriving so far (bright green leaves, new leaf growing about the same size as the previous ones). It's in a clay pot with bark chips.

It normally lives in my mudroom by a south-facing window and is watered once a week. However, I'm trying to get it to bloom so I've put it outside where it will get some cooler temps and more sun, which is what I've read will trigger a spike. The average temps here in MD right now are low of 35 and high of about 60.

My question is this: Can I leave it in full sun? The only places outdoors at my house which are shaded/protected get very very little sun and other than that it's just full sun everywhere else. I'm also wondering if it's ok for it to sit out when it rains?

Should I even try getting it to bloom this year since I suppose it's probably still recovering from previous poor conditions as well as being repotted?

[estación seca]

Phals are warm-growing orchids! 35 F / 1.5C is too cold! Cold fall rain is too cold. They don't need a drastic temperature drop. Into the low 60s is usually enough, and a lot of them will bloom on their own without a temperature drop.

Winter sun is so weak in the mid-Atlantic that it will probably not burn the plant, but you will need to be quite careful. A sheer curtain between your plant and the sun would probably be safer.

[Mtownbootgirl]

35 degrees is too cold. You do want a drop in temp but probably the lowest would be 55-60. I would try to put them in a chilly room for a few weeks. Or maybe a garage if it isn't too cold. I think 35 is just too cold though.


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[EmmaD]

Hmm. I might move it back inside in that case. I just wish it would put out a spike already!

[Cntry]

Emma for our area its just to cold now to leave them outdoors. Please take your Phals inside. Also don't let the rain get on your orchid as it will get into the crown and rot it. We also don't have a warm rain like in summer right now. So the cold rain will put your orchid into shock. Use luke warm or room temperature water to water your orchids. YOU can collect the rain water. Put some into empty milk jugs and let it sit for a few days before you water. But keep your water inside so it has a chance to warm up. Phals don't get a lot of direct light at all. They like more of a soft light or shaded a bit. With repotting your Phal it may take a little time for it to give you a spike so be patient it will reward you as it adjusts to the conditions you give it if they are right.
Shaded area, or window with sheer curtain, weak weekly feeding and watering. Air movement around your orchid and good media, which Is bark or spag or a mix. You will do fine. Good Luck neighbor.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Although my Phals do fine outdoors in a warm summer rain, I agree that a 35 F rain is not good for them.

Ideally, bring Phals inside if it will be much lower than 50 F, especially important if the weather will be wet.

[Fairorchids]

Emma,

Store bought Phals are typically young plants, which have been driven hard to produce the first bloom (with both temperature and chemical inducement).

It is common for such plants to need a 6-18 month recovery period before they will bloom again. In particular if they have had indifferent care in some store for 4-10 weeks.

[bil]

I never get excited about phal crowns getting wet, hell, if that were a problem mine would all be dead. I wash the leaves and crowns every time I water.

Much more serious would be thermal shock, so I would always say that watering with ambient temp water (and AM, not PM) is way more important than worrying about getting the crown wet. Chilling a crown, especially where there other problems might well precipitate crown rot.

[EmmaD]

I moved my phal back inside last night. The phal was my grandma's before she gave it to me and it has a couple stumps from old bloom spikes, so I know it's bloomed more than once before.

[camille1585]

Just to add to what's already been said, Phals don't even need it to be very cool (even low 60s as suggested) in order to spike. Phals respond to a general cooling down, and the transition from summer to fall is more than enough to trigger this. At my place it's 23-25C in the living room (where the orchids live) until early mid october, and then as the cooler weather sets in, it's more like 19-20C. That small difference, over a period of a couple weeks, is more than enough to induce spikes. To give you an idea, out of the 23 Phals that I own and which tend to spike at this time of year, SEVENTEEN of them are sending out spikes right now.

Mine live in a south facing window where they get full sun part of the afternoon (Dutch sun isn't very strong), an they seem to enjoy it.