Phal and blooming

[denvervet]

I have two questions, I have an unidentified Phal which looks typical and had beautiful moth-like violet colored flowers last year. I have never seen a Phal grow like this one, its incredible. It just put out a flower spike two weeks ago, how long before that spike becomes a flower usually?

Secondly, I have a Dtps. Joy Green Bee which I rescued from Lowe's last year which is doing incredible also. Can't believe its growth! I have never seen it flower, does anyone know this species and what time of year it flowers? Any tips with it? Its under a huge skylight on a flat roof and just gets very bright lite, along with my Phal which love it there.

YOu guys are awesome, thank you so much for saving me time looking all this stuff up. I barely have time to write this! LOL

[Gage]

Congrats on the spike! I haven't timed my Phals, but I want to say it's about a month from nub to buds opening, but it varies. Others I'm sure will tell their experience. Dtps stands for Doritaenopsis, which is cross between Phalaenopsis and Doritis. But now they reclassified Doritis as Phalaenopsis, so whenever you see Dtps, it's really just Phalaenopsis. Personally, I like Dtps because it tells me it has Doritis in it. Doritis grow a bit different from Phals, a bit more light, more vertical growth habit, upward growing spikes, more blooms than some Phals. I digress...

I don't have any exact info about your Dtps, but just to clarify, that is a hybrid not a species. Species are what are found in nature. When we cross species with one another we get hybrids. Most Phals found in regular nurseries and big box stores are hybrids, although I have spotted Doritis pulcherrima a few times at Home Depot. If the parents of the plant are both species (and not also hybrids) then we call it a primary cross because it comes from 2 species rather than a vast lineage of hybrids. I know this isn't the info you were asking for, just clarifying for future reference.

Again, congrats on the spike! Right now I'm tapping my feet for spikes on my Phals.

[denvervet]

Thank you Gage for taking the time to clear all that up, I really appreciate it.

[WhiteRabbit]

In my experience - it's usually about 3 months from start of spike til blooms, tho depends on the individual plant and growing conditions - but gives you an idea.

I don't know about your specific Dtps, but mine usually spikes in spring.

[Gage]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

In my experience - it's usually about 3 months from start of spike til blooms, tho depends on the individual plant and growing conditions - but gives you an idea.

I don't know about your specific Dtps, but mine usually spikes in spring.

There you have it, 3 months. Yikes, I thought mine were more like a month, but geez maybe I was off. This is the first year I'm actually watching and waiting for mine to spike, so I just need to be more patient.

[WhiteRabbit]

Originally Posted by Gage

There you have it, 3 months. Yikes, I thought mine were more like a month, but geez maybe I was off. This is the first year I'm actually watching and waiting for mine to spike, so I just need to be more patient.

LOL! or perhaps mine are exceptionally slow ?
Tho I used to frequently read where someone would say another could expect blooms in a month, when at the time, spike was still quite small, and I always wondered what orchids they grew that went so fast, or how they grew them ... But even in warm weather, it seems to usually be about three months for me (of course, this is when I spot the spike very early on) - during cool weather, it can be even longer ... Plants with ginormous spikes can take longer as well - in my experience anyway ...


ETA:
ginormous - interesting that spell check is ok with this 'word' but doesn't accept 'bifoliate'

[Gage]

Originally Posted by WhiteRabbit

LOL! or perhaps mine are exceptionally slow ?
Tho I used to frequently read where someone would say another could expect blooms in a month, when at the time, spike was still quite small, and I always wondered what orchids they grew that went so fast, or how they grew them ... But even in warm weather, it seems to usually be about three months for me (of course, this is when I spot the spike very early on) - during cool weather, it can be even longer ... Plants with ginormous spikes can take longer as well - in my experience anyway ...


ETA:
ginormous - interesting that spell check is ok with this 'word' but doesn't accept 'bifoliate'

Now that I think about it some more, I think it was more like 3 months from nub to buds opening. And what's funny is I remember seeing someone's post telling another user that their Phal's spike (quite short spike) would have blooms in 3 weeks or so, and I responded with something like "wow mine take more like 3 months". My memory is getting fuzzy. 3 months it is.

On a more serious note, watching my orchids grow and bloom continues to inspire me to not only look forward to the things to come, but also wait patiently. I think in the past my tendency has been to not look forward to things, and only enjoy something once it is present. Anhow, I digress...

[denvervet]

Thank you so much for your responses......

[Pilot]

Mine too take about three months and begin to spike in November and December, which is nice so that I have to a of blooms at the ready for the last stretch of winter!


Ryan

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[NYCorchidman]

I believe it depends on the temperature. My phals usually spike in september or october and I see the opening of the first flower in february. So mine take a long time, but then again, I keep the tempareture under 70s even during the day and it seems to affect how slow they grow.

Doritis are heavily interbred with phalaenopsis. I'm not sure if yours is a species or a hybrid, but it is a cute one! and they should grow well with phals.
I have a few doritis*phals cross and they seem to flower whenever they want throughout the year.