Producing show phals in Asia.....

[tucker85]

I thought this was an interesting piece of information. Robert Fuchs gave our orchid society a presentation this month. He just returned from an international orchid show in Malaysia. He told us that when growers in Asia want to produce huge flower spikes on phals, for shows, they keep the plants warm, day and night, for two or more years. This inhibits blooming and apparently builds up flowering potential. The plants don't bloom for a couple years. Then they drop the temperature to induce spiking and they get huge spikes with many more flowers than normal. He didn't give us any of the actual temperatures he was talking about.

[silken]

Very interesting. But I don't think I would want to wait two years for my Phals to bloom, so I'll have to live with what I get for blooms Of course none of mine will be in any big shows either!

[Call_Me_Bob]

if i had a way to control temperatures, i might try this on some, but i dont have a way to regulate it.

thanks for posting this!! its really interesting, ive always wondered how they get so many flowers on such long spikes!!!!!!

i agree with silken though! i dont know that i could wait 2 years! but eventually when i have a commercial greenhouser and 2 million plants, ill be able to have enough at different stages that ill get a portion blooming each year while some are resting

[Gage]

I also found that very interesting. I remember he said that they cut off any branches that try to develop along the spike, so that they get one big long spike.

[Call_Me_Bob]

Originally Posted by Gage

I also found that very interesting. I remember he said that they cut off any branches that try to develop along the spike, so that they get one big long spike.

good idea!!!

[Paul Mc]

Well, that makes me wonder just how far down they actually dip the temps.

With phals being warm growers you probably can't dip it too much without them getting cold and die.

[Paul Mc]

Yeah, just wondering if they have an unconventional approach to this as well.

My Noid that just finished blooming last August promptly initiated a spike in October when I brought it from the main level with about 23-25 celsius at that point(around September) to the basement with about 17-18 celsius.
I didn't have any intentions to do it, just needed to free some space. That new spike only had two buds, one of them wilted before blooming.

[camille1585]

I remember reading some papers online about Phal blooming, and had found that blooming is totally inhibited with temps above 28-29°C if I remember correctly. (but not much higher than that, or else heat stress kills the plant). Aside from waiting 2 years for blooms, I don't want to know how much it would cost to keep up those temps year round!