Why spiking now?
 

Hello all. I discovered today that two more of my phals are spiking. One is a very large one that I think I might have mentioned earlier in a post, but today I also discovered two of my mini noid phals are spiking as well. I am so surprised because ordinarily most of these spike in mid-December. I will admit that I haven't paid as close attention, and I have changed fertilizer to MSU. I'm just so surprised. I'm hoping that my response from you guys will be that things are just so much healthier than they've been in the past. The mini phals that I have I bought as rescues, so I have really have no idea about them. I've only had them about 6 months. Sorry to make things so blurry. But I guess my question is will phalaenopsis orchids Spike and bloom more frequently the healthier they are? Or is it simply their biological makeup.? Environmentally I am doing nothing different other than paying closer attention, meaning that I have small fans keeping the air circulating, and as a hover, I am making sure they are getting adequate water and nutrients. Probably more so than last year. Or even the year before that.

Have they experienced temp drops at night, I mean more than the usual?

Where I live, the weather can be crazy and I have had Phals spike in the middle of summer after a cooler period. They were perfectly healthy but the temperature changes had instructed them that it was time to start the flowering process.

I found when I grew Phals, that the quickest way to get them to set spikes was to repot them in late summer and put them outside with temps down to 48F to 50F at night, no lower. They immediately went into spike when I brought them into the greenhouse. I guess I scared them to death!

If my phals are happy they can spike in summer. Usually this happens after i change the thermostat to around 70 degrees.

Phals can have a variety of different species in them so it is to be expected that there will be variety in flowering habits. For example, mini phals can have phal equestris in them which bloom frequently from what i hear.

I keep my Phals inside year round and dont have AC, so spiking is induced by the natural seasonal temperature changes. So if the cool weather starts earlier, my Phals spike earlier. This year summer ended mid august here, so rather early even for the Netherlands, and I'm getting spikes much earlier than usual. Strong healthy plants are more likely to bloom of course, but at least for me I see more correlation with the start of the cool weather than with quality of culture.

Thank you all for your replies. It's really difficult to say that there's been temp drops here because if there has it's only been a few degrees. It's true I haven't had to use my air conditioner for about a month but I did yesterday as the temp outside throughout the day was 88 f. In the next week we will be getting cooler days in the mid-seventies and the 50s at night which is normal but I guess what I'm trying to say is I really don't or I'm not sure that the early spiking is due to Temp drops because there's been such a minimal degree of that so far. But you guys know better than me!

Not all phalaenopsis spiking is temperature-related.

If we look back to the species, you'll find that many with white/pink/mauve flowers are, while those in the red/orange/yellow range are not. That's not a hard and fast rule, but it generally applies.

When referring to hybrids, the genetic background plays a role, but it's anyone's guess. They may be doing well, so just decided "it's time."

If temperatures were an impact, it happened six-, to eight weeks ago...

It's almost mind boggling how much there is to learn! Camille, I also grow indoors only. One group under led track lights, and another group in an East window. Ray, the large phal that is putting up double spikes puts out pure white flowers with maroon spots starting from the center and going left and right across the pedals. The too many fouls that are spiking I really don't remember their colors. I'm going to start marking them with tags.

I think I only have a handful of Phal that don't spike in autumn. Most are species, and one is a red flowered hybrid. One thing that is consistent over the years is the order in which they spike. I have a few which are always first, and then I know that a second group will follow within a month, and then there are the late ones that spike a month after that. My early ones are early this year, we'll see about the rest! For those spiking groups to stay the same year after year, it must be largely genetic. Either the hormonal signaling in some is more sensitive, or the thresholds to set off the signaling cascade are different.

Phals do whatever they want to do... seasonal spiking is more of a "trend" than an absolute. So don't argue with success, enjoy...

I'll take your advice 🤗😊

I ran my air from May? And it's still running. My phals spike with seemingly no rhymn or reason. Like you, I did switch to MSU and I switched to Imperial phal mix. I have never seen as many spikes, or the growth as this year. I think the temperature thing is over rated for these noid hybrids. Why do we worry when things go right...? Greenpassion, enjoy.

Will do 😄

I also have some phals spiking now, much earlier than usual. I'd like to think that it's because I'm taking better care of them than I have in the past--I repotted them all this summer, have been better about fertilizing them, and they spent a few weeks outdoors. We're in the same state, so maybe the weather here has been conducive to early spiking, too.

Did you guys get the MSU fertilizer from repotme? I've been using Miracle Gro fertilizer and it works fine, but this MSU stuff sounds great! I also looked on the the repotme website and it says you can get it as a dollar deal. The fertilizer shows up free? Is that right?

I don't know about any deal but, I like it. Don't get it as liquid, get the granular. I also use cal-mag once a month

Wow. I am so happy to hear that someone from Vermont actually grows orchids too. I feel so lonely in my passion for phalaenopsis orchids, and no one to actually share it with. Please don't take this as a slight from my OB family. I wouldn't know what to do without youl.True. But I was just saying to a friend the other day that I don't know a single human being personally other than online that grows orchids. I'm very islolative and on my days off from a psychiatric hospital, I don't do much but tend to my plants and my dogs. Not sure where I'm going with this but, as far as the fertilizer goes I love the MSU, and I also use recently kelp Max, fromFfrom First Rays, and it has turned things around to a wonderful surge of growing.

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And I use Cal Mag also with every feeding very weakly.

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CJ green like you I would like to thank that this early spiking is because I'm taking better care of them!

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I got the MSU fertilizer from Kelly's Korner from the recommendation from Ray.

Do you live anywhere near this?
Twin State Orchid Society

Worth doing a bit of driving to find other orchid lovers to talk to.

Also you can go to the forum section and pm people. You can add them as friends or chat privately. Thank you for your work.

I'm in the same boat--I don't know anyone personally who grows orchids. Vermont's a small state but for me the Twin State Orchid Society is more than an hour away. The Amherst, Mass., orchid society is a bit closer but still too far to make it practical to join, although I go to their shows. There's a good florist in a town nearby me, though, and the people there are great for having orchid conversations. (But of course, it often leads to buying an orchid!)

For the people who use MSU fertilizer--did you test your water first, or is that not necessary?

I've tested my water several times. It falls into good parameters but, I filter it. MSU comes for well water or rain/ro water, I believe. Most orchids aren't super picky but, my water for some reason, binds up essential minerals over time. So, I started using cal-mag. My tds is 120-140 range (I forget) and my pH is slightly south of 7.

I also use cal-mag. I feed the MSU at a quarter teaspoon per gallon. Every time I water. In that I also use 1/4 teaspoon of Cal Mag, and very recently with wonderful results, I've been using kelp Max very weekly as well. my phalaenopsis have never been healthier except for these weird things that go on every now and then.

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I'll have to Google that Roberta. I don't know where it is. But that won't stop me!

just trying to practice sending some photos from my camera instead of a document. I just tried to send like five to the growing under lights forum and nothing came through. But when I uploaded photos from documents two of them came through. So I'm trying to keep up with the topic of this posting I'm going to try to send a pic of one of my double spiked phalaenopsis

Ahhh! It came out upside down!