Office Phal Experiment

[Troythediver]

I couldn't resist this beauty. It's a NO ID Just Add Ice. It was still on the plastic wrapped cart when I spotted it. As usual the potting media was terrible. So I instantly repotted it into pine bark and washed it thoroughly to remove what looked like pest eggs.

Anyhow, I brought it to my office and will post updates accordingly. I know some people often wonder how well these things hold up in the office environment.

This phal has 7 open flower and 2 buds left to open as of today. It is directly under one of the ceiling lights (approx 7 feet). The lighting quality in this position is about 150 foot candles.

[Troythediver]

I should add that this is partially to test how repotting during this flowering stage may affect longevity of the flowers.

[Troythediver]

Here is a glimpse of the pot and roots.

[Leafmite]

Nice find! I have never lost buds or blooms on any orchid I have repotted unless I knock them off. It should be okay. Hope it does well for you!

[Bill U.]

Wonderful color! Although, 150fc is really low light... Might be okay to sustain the blooms for now, but for growth stage, you will probably need to increase that.

[Troythediver]

I totally agree Bill about the growth stage. After the blooms are gone, I will move it to a window. I wanted to see how well it fared in the blooming stage under such conditions. Since they never turn off the lights, does anyone know if that will be a problem?

[AnonYMouse]

Does your cubicle have task lighting? On the bottoms of the overhead cabinets? Those could supplement the ambient light.

[Bill U.]

It can pose a problem if your phal does not get ANY break in the amount of light it gets... The reason being that orchids need a dark period to process all of the energy that they stored from the day. I think that if you put it under a shelf, or heck, even under your desk to provide some sort of "dark time" for it to not be totally screwed up in terms of photoperiod timing, that would be good.

[Cactuseed]

this is a worthy experiment. You could make some shade for it (with a box ect) but then there are the weekends. and as mentioned you can up the lighting with a desklamp. I would also think about a humidity tray.

[Troythediver]

I do have a task light. That would bump it up to about 250/300 foot candles, it's not under that because the spike is too tall. I just don't know how to get it darkness periods. The only thing I can think of is to put it under my desk when I leave and then let it sit out on the desk all weekend. My cubicle is next to a window, but if I put it there then the purpose of the office experiment would be defeated.