Why aren't the blooms on my phals very big?

[RandomGemini]

So this question comes because I have a Phal that I purchased around Christmas that just rebloomed on the old spike.

I love the color I got this time, it's more striking, but the flowers are smaller than the ones it had when I bought the plant.

Could it be my fertilizer?

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

No, it's not because of the fertilizer.

This is why me and a few other members on the OB advise to preferably get rid of that old spike once it's done blooming on the first go.

They can produce smaller flowers on subsequent bloomings. It doesn't always happen, but it can.

Flowers always take up energy to produce.

Sex takes energy, no matter what organism we're talking about.

However, some people may not be quite so ready to part with their Phal's old spike(s), so we often say it's also up to the grower's discretion as to whether they want to leave the old spike on the Phal or not.

[Leafmite]

I have read that phosphorous can make larger, more fragrant blooms.... I haven't tried it yet, though.

[RandomGemini]

Ah ha! That makes perfect sense!

I have cut all the spikes on my mini phals and hadn't noticed any decrease in size on the blooms on those and was feeling the colors were more vibrant than they were when I purchased them in bloom, but my larger phals, I didn't bother because they dropped their blooms when I was neglecting my orchids back in January. I just didn't put that together until I read your post Philip, so thank you!

When these blooms are done, I will cut those spikes down.

[Tim P.]

I would actually like to impose a different opinion on the subject...

When you bought your phal it was grown under optimum conditions. Now that it has had a change in its culture it is still finding a happy medium between your style of growing, and what it was used to back in its greenhouse. A lot of times the flowers will not be the same size as when you bought it.

Second question... has it been repotted, if not, how is its media? If its roots are rotten it will not bloom to its full potential.

Third... it could be a matter of time until your flowers get bigger. On some of my phals the flowers will open, but then continue to get larger over the course of a week. So it could take some time for your flowers to grow to full size.

Now, your question was fertilizer. Some fertilizers are better than others, BUT as long as it is getting SOMETHING it should do better than if it had nothing. The guideline is weakly weekly. Half strength of what it says on the package.

As for the color being different there are two different things that could happen. Phal flowers fade, in some cases dramatically. I have one that blooms bright yellow, and by the time the blooms fade it is a cream color. Second, your house temp may influence color. A lot of times the way the orchids bloom will differ the next time around because the change of culture.

Hope this helps you Gemini.

[RandomGemini]

It has not been repotted. I loosened the moss that it was in and left it alone when I bought it, then forgot about the plant for a month and then tried to move it and it drooped a bit, then tried to move it again and a leaf got sunburned, so I put it back in its original place in my dining room table and left it alone to recover from those things for a couple of weeks and then these two new branches formed off of the existing spikes, so I left it alone again. After these blooms are done, I plan to repot it into bark. This one just seems to be a bit more touchy than my other phal hybrids.

I was lucky to get this plant as it was being unboxed at the store. It's a NOID Phal hybrid that I believe has some leopard prince in the background somewhere. So it didn't get time to get abused in the hardware store before I brought it home. I did look at the roots when I loosened the moss, all were pencil thick and very green in color. It's growing new roots for me now.

This is what the flowers looked like when I bought it:



This is what they look like now.



You can see a lot more yellow coming through in the background than it had before. When I bought it, the flowers had fuchsia spots on a field of bright pink. Now that field is more yellow, with pink at the edges of the petals.

[tarev]

Maybe that is the real color it should get, the one you currently have with some yellow.

I guess it was just more pink before because it was in too much shade then, needing a little more light, and at the stores they hardly get proper lighting. Then it got moved around a lot from where you bought it then to your home environment adjusting to it.

Love those colors though! Nice Phal!

[RandomGemini]

Thanks! I like the colors too, just curious about how works. It gets plenty of light here. When I moved it, I pushed it about six inches closer to the window than it is now, and the top leaf got sunburned. I think the light in this room is very bright. I have my cattleya and masdie growing in there.

[NYCorchidman]

Phosphorus does affect flowers, but it does not make flowers bigger necessarily. It will NEVER make non scented flowers into scented one.

Back to the original question, smaller flowers can occur when they are rebloom on the older spike.
I have to disagree with the energy thing.
I would think growing a entirely new spike with bigger flowers will take more energy than making flowers on the spike that is already present. It is just my reasoning and I like it.

I have only seen one phal out of so many over the years, make smaller than "normal" sized flowers on older spike.
My opinion is not energy thing ( I actually do not understand what people mean when they use the word energy to describe plants physiology), but rather simple physics.

Smaller flowers mean less weight than larger flowers of the same flower count, thus the spike is less likely to break off and lose all those flowers.

Remember that flowers are reproductive organs of plants and they need to make sure flowers have to stay on until they finish their "mission".
When my phal rebloom from the old spikes, they still makes flowers of the same usual size.
The one that makes smaller ones is the plant that makes lots of flowers. Think of this. There is this tall skinny spike from the previous season. Then a branching spike develops and make some more flowers. As the flowers develop, the weight adds on and risk breaking the spike off.
Smaller flowers, thus less weight, will solve the problems. Just a thought.

I really do not like the idea of the "energy" thing.
If a plant has enough "energy" to make flowers, it will. Plants know what they are doing given the right conditions and proper care.

---------- Post added at 11:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:23 PM ----------

Regarding the slight color change, seeing it as less red tone than more yellow would be more accurate, because phal hybrids (and some other flowering plants as well) with red tone will lose that when bloomed under warmer temperature.

That's just how red pigmentation works.
It intensifies under cooler conditions. It has to do with sugar production and storage under cooler temperature.

I would say this change on yours is very subtle. I've seen some big change in many, and I did not like it. lol

[RandomGemini]

I have a phal, (Phal. Taida Salu) that had the red turn from a bright apple red, to an almost purple color after I moved it under artificial lights. It's also warmer in that room. I assumed it was the lighting, not the temperature that made the blooms turn darker as new ones opened.

That's interesting... and it would account for the color change here too actually, because the previous blooms on this plant were opening in late November, and these are opening in May and it's definitely warmer. We keep the house at 68 in the winter. My office (where I grow most of my orchids) is warmer due to the lights and the humidity and a bunch of other factors, but I have never put this plant up there.

I'm okay with this color change. I like that it's less uniformly pink now. It gives it some character. I've got 7 more buds opening up on this phal.. it'll be interesting to see what they each look like as they open, if the color is this uniform, pink and yellow, or if some flowers open more pink.

I honestly never bothered to notice that on my other phals before, but I've never had one do something this noticeably different before either. Kinda neat.

I love this hobby. I'm learning so much!