Back in November, I placed 20 supermarket Phals in a cool not heated room inside the house. (50-60°F/8-14°C)
The facts and conditions:
- Different sizes of plants (large, mini, etc).
- Recently repoted in a mix of bark (80%) sphagnum moss (10%) and expanded clay (10%).
- Very little natural windowsill daylight; 2 hrs of early morning sun with shade.
- With very low extra led light; regular hardware store 13W/1600Lux = 150 direct footcandle to each plant.
- Tap water and little fertilizer every 8-9 potting-bath style for 1 hour or less.
- A ceiling fan in one level was used only on consecutive raining days. Those days were also the coolest.
The result:
- In the 1st month; tons of new roots + new leaves
- In the 2nd month 18 out of 20 with flower spike on the way and even new leave at the same time.
In the 3rd month, I'll continue the report with; the amount, size, and quality of the flowers and I compare them with the rest of the Phals in different environments; in our warmer rooms, and with more "pampering".
Why accomplished this?... No, I didn't want to kill them. Quite opposite, I want it to understand their weather tolerance and see if it was not crucial to invest in
heating, lighting, and more complicated water maintenance during the cooler months of the year.
It seems that at home we'll end up having a blooming explosion in Spring, but this year with much less complications.