Phalenopsis won't bloom

[dnewell007]

Hello Orchid Lovers,

My name is Dawn Newell and I am a beginner orchid grower. I own 7 and I am sure they are all Phalaenopsis. I have a different one but lost the tag for it.

Two of the plants will bloom but the others haven't in the last 3-4 years. I live in Northern CA in Alturas where it is dry.

My plants getting plenty of indirect light. Temps are between 65-80 depending on the time of the year it is. We have a wood burning stove that is constantly going for about 8 months of the year.

I am thinking of gettting a humidifier going for them to help bring in the humidity. I feed the plants once a month if I remember too. Miracle Gro for Orchids.

Your suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say.

[rbarata]

I believe humidity is not the issue here. My phals grow and bloom vigorously in spite my humidity is about 20% during all summer, and depending on the years, spring and autumn (to give you an idea, today my humidity didn't went over 20%).

I susect the problem is "We have a wood burning stove that is constantly going for about 8 months of the year."
Phals need a drop in night temps to initiate blooming (a drop to the 16-18ºC at night).

As a side note, regarding "My plants getting plenty of indirect light."...Phals do not need plenty of light. They need indirect light but not too bright, maybe the necessary for you to confortably read a book one meter away from the window.

BTW, welcome Dawn. We are glad to "meet" a new orchid grower.

[camille1585]

Welcome to Orchidboard Dawn!

Usually if I Phal has not bloomed in many years, light is the first thing you should look into (see my reply to rbarata below). Bright indirect light is actually perfect for Phals, but it also depends what direction your windows face, and how far from the windows the plants are. Fertilizer is not likely the issue as Phals aren't big feeders and even a once per month feeding should be sufficient. What's the NKP ratio of the fertilizer, and how much are you giving?

Originally Posted by rbarata

As a side note, regarding "My plants getting plenty of indirect light."...Phals do not need plenty of light. They need indirect light but not too bright, maybe the necessary for you to confortably read a book one meter away from the window.

I disagree somewhat, partly because I wouldn't call 'plenty of indirect light' as being too bright. Bright indirect light is what you should be aiming for with Phals. They will bloom with less, but I find that my Phals are more vigourous and have a higher bud count and more branching with good light. Once I moved from France to the Netherlands I even started giving most of them 3-4 hours of direct sun per day, and they are very happy.
I did that because bright+indirect up here is not the same as bright+indirect 900km south where I lived in France.

So I think to determine if Dawn's plants are getting enough light, also need to know what direction the windows face, and how far from the window the Phals are located.

[Dollythehun]

Dawn, please post pictures of your plants and growing area, or better describe it. Where do you live?

[rbarata]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Dawn, please post pictures of your plants and growing area, or better describe it. Where do you live?

Please tell us also the direction of your window (south, north, etc).

Camille, you're right. We don't have enough info.

[Ray]

Stand back, here comes Mr. Curmudgeon.

1) Phalaenopsis are deep cover plants, for the most part, so their light level requirements are minimal.

The very best blooming phals I have ever seen were in a greenhouse that was SO covered in algae, that almost no light got in. One had to stand around for a few minutes to adjust to the low light level when entering from outside.

2) Initiation of flower spikes does not, strictly speaking, require a day/night temperature drop. What is required is about 10-15 days of a 10-15F reduction in overall average growing temperature.

Granted, for home growers, that happens when nighttime temp is seasonally reduced, but it's not really the the day-to-night drop that's important.

[jkofferdahl]

I'm going to be Ray's assistant, Mr. Humbug. I've grown Phals for close to 40 years, so have tried many things with growing conditions, and feel I've gotten a pretty good feel for the genus. If you want an expert, though, I recommend contacting Peter Lin (a member here) of Big Leaf Orchids, who has forgotten more about orchids than I'll probably ever even learn. (He's a wonderful source for good, healthy plants, but also a person I've always found willing to share his knowledge and experience without purchase from him.)

Phals don't need high light at all, though some like higher light than others. The best way to tell, from the plant, if the light is too bright is from reddening of the leaf edges or the leaves. Hold your hand about 6 inches from the plant. If the shadow is sharp the light is on the too high side, but if the shadow is faint and fuzzy the light is probably good. In lower light Phal leaves are a darker green, but with more light they get a lighter shade. When a Phal won't bloom it's usually due to the light being too low. Now, I truly respect and adore my friend rbarata, but I don't agree with her assessment of the humidity. Mine do best when the humidity level is over 50% - when my furnace is running the air in my house drops to about 18-20% and so I run humidifiers with my plants to keep it about 60%. At lower humidity levels the roots really struggle to retain enough moisture, and can dry out. Phals, like most orchids, don't need a lot of fertilizer. I espouse the fertilize weekly, weakly approach, using my fertilizer (20-20-20) at about 10% of the label recommendation. Of course, for me this is less a practice than a suggestion; almost all orchid growers use too much fertilizer.

As a side note, and NOT as an ad or plug, I highly recommend a product Ray sells, KelpMax. A good, healthy orchid begins with root strength and growth. My orchids were fine before I started using KelpMax but since I began, only about 3 or 4 months ago, I've gotten tremendous, vigorous root growth. It's the one fertilizer I now use religiously.

[estación seca]

Here in Phoenix we put them outside in the shade as soon as fall night temperatures start dropping, and leave them out until nights approach 50 F. As Ray said, an average temperature drop can trigger spike formation for most of the commoner Phal hybrids.

Are your nights already under 50 F / 10C? That would be too cool for Phals outside - but if it's not that cold yet, and days are still fairly warm, put them outside in the shade.

[gary710]

after making sure that

• the media is still good not broken down
• the plant is healthy
• exposure to good light of no more than 4 to 5 hour
• do let the surface surface somewhat dry before get it soaking wet and air dry

make sure you expose the plant to decent amount of darkness and coolness at night. excessive strong light exposure not enough temperature variation is got good for flowering.

what is sufficient temp difference during bright and dark in 24 hour cycles?
that varies between plant type and location. however if you can about 8 F or more it will like work unless it's way too cold

I found growing by east facing window works great with minimal sun filter from my location( max summer temp 30 C but mostly below 25C; min 12-20C mostly 18C.

by south windows works too if there is a sutiable tree outside or suitable filtering with shade in the late morning and the rest of the day.

I hope that above helps