No Patience for Phals

[JerseyGirlBecky]

Well, a couple of weeks ago I was thinking of rehomeing these Phals. I only have 7 of them. They have not bloomed in a year. None of them! I even thought to just chuck them ( I could no more do that, than throw a puppy out into the cold). Well, guess what, five out of the 7 have spikes coming. Guess they are staying.

[Olivia]

I suspect it was the threat of eviction that worked

Congrats!

[tucker85]

Congratulations on all the new spikes. That's very exciting. This is the time of year when many phals start to spike and bloom. The nice thing about phals is that the flowers often last for a long time. On the other hand my cattleyas bloom once a year and only last for about four weeks.

[Daethen]

Many of us have had luck with threatening.

[Gage]

This reminds me of when I'm trying to drive somewhere, it seems I often think I have passed my turn or destination just before getting to it. I always know that when I start saying "Did I pass it already?" I'm probably about to get there. Funny, right?

[Ray]

Actually, I think it's exactly what we might have expected.

The attached chart is the average daily temperature in Philly, January through November of this year. The red line is a 2-week moving average.

Dr Y-T Wang (then of Texas A&M) showed that phals generally need about two weeks of an average temperature about 15° lower than where they had been growing in order to initiate spikes about 6-8 weeks later.

Our peak was mid August at about 85° average for two weeks, but we didn't reach a 2-week average of 70° or less until about 60 days ago. Yeah, it's been coming down steadily over that time period, so it's impossible to nail it down perfectly, but it's in the ballpark.

[Merlyn]

The nice thing about phals is that the flowers often last for a long time. On the other hand my cattleyas bloom once a year and only last for about four weeks.

FOUR weeks, Tucker ??? Most Catts bloom once a year and only last TWO weeks !! Count yourself as lucky !

[Judi]

I agree with Olivia and Jonada, threatening always works, at least for me it does. Can't point to any scientific studies, but somehow it works. I haven't tried it on my orchids though.

[JerseyGirlBecky]

Ray, I am sure you have it right on the nose. and I kept thinking it is time. But, I swear the spikes seemed to appear overnight when they decided to come. they are itty bitty now, but that's O.K.. My Mom always said a watched pot never boils. And I inspected them
EVERY day.

[greenbean]

Congrats on the spikes! Sometimes you just have to be patient, no matter how long it might seem.

Funny how things don't seem to change much when you look at them every day. I have the same problem. I inspect my plants at least once daily. I'd probably repot them daily to look at the roots, too, but I have mounted orchids for that.