P. lueddemanniana with no spikes

[The Mutant]

Hi,

I'm asking for the benefit of a member of the Swedish orchid forum I'm also part of. I hope it's okay that I do this.

She has a P. lueddemanniana that she has had for four years now and it has never spiked. At first it didn't do so well, but after she managed to increase the humidity levels it has grown several leaves and roots, but, as I said, no spikes in sight.

She keeps it in a South facing window, protected from direct sunlight. She keeps it in a clear plastic pot, planted in a bark/sphagnum mix.

My question is; what can she do to get it to spike?

I've browsed the web trying to find any tips on how to care for P. lueddemanniana, but so far I haven't gotten very lucky. She has several other species Phals that are doing fine and it would be great if she could get this guy to spike I think.

I hope you people can help us out!

[camille1585]

Strange, because mine just spiked without me doing anything special. It certainly gets less light than it would in a south window (it's under my lights, which aren't all that strong), it gets regular fertilizer, and it's kept warm (24-25°C under the lights.) The only thing I can think of is that the spike appeared a few weeks after the severe cold snap, where it was only 17°C in the room despite the heat being on max. That being said, I've only owned the plant for a year, and this is the first spike!

Here's what Orchidwiz has to say on the matter: "P.lueddemanniana blooms sporadically for no apparent reason and bloom initiators are unknown. It grows in the uniformly warm Singapore climate but seldom flowers, perhaps indicating that blooms are triggered by increased diurnal range, lower temperatures, or a sudden daytime temperature drop."

Then it says "see the discussion on under P.viridis" (Phal from same region), so I looked it up as well : "/.../The following technique is effective for them [them= other genera from the region that bloom erratically] and may work for Phal viridis when flowering is a problem. The plants are subjected to a sudden daytime cooling of about 5-6°C, such as the temperature drop associated with a cool summer shower or with misting in a warm greenhouse. /.../ There is no assurance that this method will initiate flowering, but experimenting with it will not harm the plant."

Why wouldn't you be able to post her picture? There's nothing wrong with getting information for someone else!

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[The Mutant]

Thanks for your answer Camille, I'll forward it to her and hopefully it'll prove helpful.

Well, since I don't own the picture, I'll have to ask for her permission first before posting it. I was a bit unclear in my previous post (everything is always crystal clear in my mind, but I tend to forget that people can't read it ).

[camille1585]

Hopefully others with more experience growing this Phal can chime in as well.

[Paula Frayne]

Thanks for starting this thread. I own one of these as well (bought it about 4years ago), and it has not spiked either, but it has grown leaves and roots every year (putting out a leaf right now). It is located in a shaded west/south window, watered and fertilized along with the rest of my phals, but no spikes. Like the others have indicated, any help would be appreciated from you more experienced growers out there.

[The Mutant]

I have now received the owner's permission to upload her picture of the P. lueddemanniana in question. I hope it will help you guys somehow.

[quiltergal]

I'm in Camille's camp. I bought one less than a year ago. It already had a small spike on it when I bought it. This fall with cooler temps it initiated a new spike that is quite a bit larger than the first one. I keep it with the warm growers in a southwest facing window and under lights. Watered and fertilized weekly with MSU.

So now that it has spikes can someone tell me how to get them to bloom? The spikes have been just sitting there doing nothing for months!

[camille1585]

Oops, nevermind what I previously wrote, I was replying to the wrong thread!! That's what happens when you have too many tabs open at once...

My lueddemanniana's spike seems to have stalled too. I'm not too worried, my Phal pallens stalled in October and just got going again last month. Maybe this one will do the same.