Phal hybrid April spike
 

I have this hybrid that spent the late winter shooting roots pretty aggressively (and I was very happy to see that). I was expecting a long summer of more and more roots and suddenly a few days ago I noticed the thing was spiking!

Temperatures in LA have been cold for March but not colder than in November, December, January... I've had this plant for about a year and this is the first time it spikes for me. It is a very mature Phal that I bought without spikes but had signs to have spiked at least 3 times before.

We did move in February to a new apartment that is bigger and is an industrial building (old textile factory converted into lofts) and I believe average temperatures here are slightly colder than in my old place which was a wood building and could retain a lot of heat. Still I didn't think it would be enough of a difference to make a Phal spike, yet it did!

Depending on the ancestry blooming can happen at different times of year. And cold may have little to do with it. In the commercial world, bloom time can be manipulated with light and temperature. (The Phal that blooms a week before Mother's Day is worth a lot more than the one that blooms a week after) Where the species in the background of the various hybrids originate, they don't get cold. (Sea level in the Philippines? Cold? Don't think so...) The chill shocks them, and a shock can initiate blooming but that's artificial. That's done with the Christmas Poinsettias too... December is not their natural bloom time but with a lot of very precise effort, they're pushed to bloom when commerce wants that. For both the Phals and the Poinsettias, released from that regimen, they will revert to their natural cycle. Just for the record, my Phal schillerianas are blooming now, hybrids too. And other species will be popping in at other times.

Makes sense, this particular hybrid is 48% Phal. amabilis, 35% Phal. rimestadiana, 16% Phal. aphrodite, and 1% schilleriana.

When a warm-growing Phal gets a cold shock, likely the spiking is a "fear reaction" ... after all, if it's threatened, it "wants" to reproduce before it might die. (Chilly temperatures would be pretty scary for a tropical plant that wasn't evolved to deal with it...) Somewhat anthropomorphizing the orchid, but stress inducing blooming fits the scenario. In nature, blooming happens in the general course of life.

Makes a lot of sense. As for me, I'm happy to see them bloom with strong leaves and strong root systems. Heck it might even put a good show :)