Lots of new leaves and roots, but no spikes! Why?!

[Beatrice]

Hello fellow orchid lovers!

I've had a handful of orchids for a few years now, and they seem to be doing fine - all of them grow new leaves and roots often. But I've only had one that has flowered a second time after the blooms it had coming from the store had fallen off.

What can I do to make them grow spikes? I water once a week and give them little fertilizer sticks about every 3-4 months.

Photos of two or three plants attached.

Thank you!

[PaphLover]

My first phal didn't bloom until I put it right in the windowsill to get the most light. I previously had it sitting on my tv a foot away from window. (I have an east window and the weather and temps here are similar to yours, I believe.)

Once I did that and opened the window at night in the summer/ fall, the change in night temps has consistently initiated spikes for me. Since I sleep with my bedroom window open at night all year, I just bring the ones I want to spike in there and put them on my bedroom windowsill for a few weeks and that seems to do the trick for me. Once a spike is initiated, I put it back into the warmer living room (no open window at night) and bring the other plants into my bedroom to get them spiking. This is what's been working for me.

Hope that helps.

[PaphMadMan]

They look basically healthy so the most likely cause is not quite enough light. With some Phals a little bit of a chill in the fall may trigger flowering. Have you reported them since you got them?

[Helene]

What PaphMadMan said.
And: have you lost many leaves on them? If not: I think they dont look very big, so maybe thats why they havent bloomed yet. Sometimes they force plants to flower early, and it can take some time to flower again.

Mine have flowered both in sunny places, and in more shaded. In the sunny place there is not much temperature difference between day/night (but some, due to the sun warming in day). In the shaded place I think they got more temperature differences, but less sun.
But: those are orchids thats pretty big and has been flowering several times before.

[Beatrice]

Thanks PaphLover, your orchid looks beautiful! I live in a studio and all my windows face south, so I don't have the option of moving them unfortunately. It must be like you and PaphMadMan says - they all came with instructions to avoid direct sunlight, so I have them on a little table slightly lowered and to the side of the window (although they still get hit by sunlight part of the day). I guess I moved them too far away from the light.

@PaphMadMan: Thanks for the advice! Also, it took me a moment to catch on to your typo; I know orchids are serious business but I didn't know I had to report them! I guess I'm reporting them here! ;-P

I've repotted most of them into orchid bark (I couldn't find sphagnum moss to buy) and they seem to like it more than the moss.

@Helene: thanks! Some of them have lost leaves. I mostly buy smaller ones because they are less expensive - a necessary compromise between wanting to buy more orchids, and feeling guilty about buying so many orchids...

[PaphLover]

Beatrice,
South windows! Lucky! In the winter, with our level of heat and sunshine, it would be difficult to burn your leaves in a south facing window. In the summer, it might be a different story. I'd keep them in that window on the windowsill in winter with possibly a windowsill heat mat for warmth (or as close to as possible to windowsill to get all that great light) and in the summer, I'd probably move them back behind a sheer curtain. Still get the sunshine, but a little less intense and likely to burn leaves. Oh lucky you!!!

I put my plants on both the windowsills shown in pic above and leave them there year-round (East and East/South facing respectively). They all get some direct morning sunshine as the sun moves until about 11:30am. No burns, and they seem to love it.

[tarev]

Agree..it maybe the light aspect , just open the window blinds or curtains a bit. I am happy to see it is growing good new roots and leaves. They are low light plants, but good bright light also needed for their blooming needs. So more bright light..but not scorching direct sun.

[Roberta]

Light is the most likely factor, I agree with all on that. My experience is that it isn't the intensity (Phals like indirect light) but rather the duration. When I got started with orchids, I was using the spare bedroom as my "greenhouse". It got about 4 hours of good morning sun, then was pretty shady the rest of the day - little reblooming. I got some of the cheapest fluorescent shop lights that I could find, put them on a timer 12 hours a day to supplement what came in the windows, and ended up with about 80% reblooming! So I suggest that you supplement the daylight with a lamp - LED or fluorescent, especially during the shorter days of the year, to get more hours of good light. No need for special bulbs, any full-spectrum light will do.

[bil]

Originally Posted by Beatrice

Thanks PaphLover, your orchid looks beautiful! I live in a studio and all my windows face south, so I don't have the option of moving them unfortunately. It must be like you and PaphMadMan says - they all came with instructions to avoid direct sunlight, so I have them on a little table slightly lowered and to the side of the window (although they still get hit by sunlight part of the day). I guess I moved them too far away from the light.

@PaphMadMan: Thanks for the advice! Also, it took me a moment to catch on to your typo; I know orchids are serious business but I didn't know I had to report them! I guess I'm reporting them here! ;-P

I've repotted most of them into orchid bark (I couldn't find sphagnum moss to buy) and they seem to like it more than the moss.

@Helene: thanks! Some of them have lost leaves. I mostly buy smaller ones because they are less expensive - a necessary compromise between wanting to buy more orchids, and feeling guilty about buying so many orchids...

They need the right light levels, and with phals I use plain bark, large only (I sieve it to get all the small out.)
I really don't like potting phals in moss.

[wintergirl]

I think you may have enough light, maybe too much. All my phals are in North windows with a shear and they still bloom. Your leaves look a little dusty/filmy, maybe wipe them down. That will help the health of your plants.