5 new roots on phal, no flower spike

[meraki]

Hi all,

I bought this phal in April 2016 and it's been doing pretty well. It's been dormant and growing new leaves since it stopped flowering and looked healthy enough so I moved it to a cooler place last month to try to and stimulate a flower spike.

About a week or 2 in its spot, FIVE new roots starts coming out of the base/crown, above the medium. None of them have that "mitten" shape at the end and at least 2 of them have grown a lot and headed into the medium. Since I took the photos I attached, 2 more started to grow out between the leaves (like in the picture with the red circle) but neither have that mitten tip.

I'm just curious if anyone has any clue why I have 5 roots and no spike. I don't believe I recall ever reading that putting a phal in a cooler spot stimulates root growth? I could obviously be wrong.

I could also just be super impatient and a spike could be coming eventually but I wanted to ask the experts first!

[MrHappyRotter]

You're just being impatient. Often times when you buy orchids in bloom, they take some time off to rest, recover, and adjust to your growing conditions.

Additionally, sometimes the mass produced orchids are "forced" into blooming before they're ready via temperature drops, special fertilizers, and even hormone treatments so that the turn around is quick and so that the plants all bloom at the same time, on schedule.

At home, dropping the night temperature for Phals isn't really necessary. The plants will bloom when they are ready. Of course, in some cases you can induce blooming by dropping night temperatures into the mid-50s F for a period of time (I've heard conflicting info on how long), but it's no guarantee and you're almost certainly not going to be able to do this with the same kind of precision as a commercial grower.

The more important factors for getting regular and reliable blooming are all geared towards giving the plant good care rather than trying to trick it into performing. If the plant is mature and fails to rebloom, you can slowly increase the amount of light it is getting, since that's one of the more common reasons an otherwise healthy plant fails to bloom.

Also, as you probably know, many of these mass produced hybrid phals can bloom at almost any time of year. Just because you're seeing a flush of roots right now, doesn't mean that in the coming month, there won't be a flower spike. Complex phal hybrids are not as seasonal as many other common orchid genera.

[rbarata]

I might be wrong but the one in the red circle it's a spike...let's see what others have to say.

[jkofferdahl]

First, I'm going to disagree with rbarata about the red circle - and I do so with great respect and my apologies. I think it's a root. It's rounded like a root while a spike would be pointy and probably darker. And that said, I'd be glad to be proven wrong!

A lot of emphasis is put on the flowers of our orchids, and I agree that, in the end, it's what we're growing for. As a Phal Phreak I've watched these plants for decades. The more hybridized the plant, the less predictable is the blooming time. And yes, mass vendors do everything they can to quickly ship out blooming plants, with little to no regard to the longevity of the plant post-sale.

What excites me, especially this time of year, is the emergence of new roots. A healthy root system is, to me, the key to growing a Phalaenopsis. A good spurt of root growth such as you are seeing is your plant's way of saying that it's getting ready to get to work. As it develops healthy roots it will then be able to absorb plenty of nutrients, enough to store some for later. Healthy roots thus lead to healthy leaves, and a healthy system will lead to flowering. By the way, especially cool nights aren't important to a Phal, what matters is that there is a consistent drop between the daytime high temperature and the nighttime low.

Let your plant do what it wants to do. When it's ready it will bloom.

[Dollythehun]

Sorry, rbarata, I agree w John, it's a root.

[estación seca]

It only has a few leaves. I think it needs to get bigger before it blooms again.

[MrHappyRotter]

I didn't really pay close attention to the photos, but I'm inclined to think the circled thing is a root as well. Though I've been fooled before, so maybe it's a spike.

One more suggestion for you, if you're looking for some instant gratification and you have a little extra spending money, why not head over to your favorite vendor's nursery (or website) and buy another plant in bloom, bud, or spike?

It's easy to diminish your impatience when you're having to split your attention among multiple plants, and frankly, many common orchid hybrids thrive on a little bit of neglect.

[meraki]

Thanks for the responses!

@estación seca Yes, it only has a few leaves but in the year I've had it, it grew 3 new leaves and hasn't grown any new ones in a few months, which is why I thought it was ready to bloom since it's sort of been hanging out for a few months without doing much.

@MrHappyRotter This isn't my only orchid, I have a few that have been in bloom for a few months. The reason I started the thread because this one is only one that puzzled me with the quick burst of new roots in such a short period of time, seemingly triggered by the cooler location.

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by jkofferdahl

First, I'm going to disagree with rbarata about the red circle - and I do so with great respect and my apologies. I think it's a root.

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Sorry, rbarata, I agree w John, it's a root.

I said it's a spike just because of my intuition, which is of little value 'cause I'm no expert. Another thing that has contributed for my judgement is the location, between the leaves. Roots also grow from there.
Let's see what comes out of it, I'm sure meraki will update us if that's the case.

[estación seca]

The hybrid Phals with big, usually pink or white flowers tend to form flower spikes in late fall or winter, and bloom in the spring. As mentioned above, if they were forced to bloom early, it can take them a year or two to recover and bloom again. But they will bloom again.

And I'm curious about Bohata's comment regarding leaf number. I am not a good Phal grower. I work a lot so sometimes I can't water them when I should, and they get wrinkled leaves. Sometimes they drop flowers early because I didn't water enough. Almost all my amabilis type hybrids have more than 4 leaves. Some carry up to 9 from time to time. The healthiest ones I have are in semi-hydroponics.