The Phal abuse ends here.

[silken]

How come your Costco sells orchids and ours doesn't??

When you say your quest is for a stem, do you mean a stem with flowers? If so, sometimes giving them a bit of a chill in the fall for a month will help induce them to bloom. By a chill, I mean maybe about 55 or 60 degrees as opposed to room temps. 3 leaves on a phal is not too bad. It can depend on the Phal and its breeding. Some get lots of leaves and readily grow keikis and others don't. When you are feeding them, you could try boosting their potassium (middle number) in the fall also. Potassium helps encourage flowering. I hope that helps.

[sii]

Originally Posted by silken

How come your Costco sells orchids and ours doesn't??

When you say your quest is for a stem, do you mean a stem with flowers? If so, sometimes giving them a bit of a chill in the fall for a month will help induce them to bloom. By a chill, I mean maybe about 55 or 60 degrees as opposed to room temps. 3 leaves on a phal is not too bad. It can depend on the Phal and its breeding. Some get lots of leaves and readily grow keikis and others don't. When you are feeding them, you could try boosting their potassium (middle number) in the fall also. Potassium helps encourage flowering. I hope that helps.

Hi Silken,
yes, I'm desperate for a stem FULL of flowers. As per the degree change, in the fall I leave the window open in this room to help cool it down. Maybe it's not enough.

The fertilizer I use is Schultz. I don't know if I've ever seen any other kind of orchid fertilizer other than this one. I'll have to check again.

[Discus]

Originally Posted by silken

When you are feeding them, you could try boosting their potassium (middle number) in the fall also. Potassium helps encourage flowering.

Fertilisers list N-P-K
K is actually potassium (look at a periodic table )
P is phosphorus AKA in horticultural circles as "potash", and is actually the part of your fertiliser conventionally considered to be a "bloom booster".

Some people think the bloom boosting effect comes less from the P, but more from reducing the relative proportion of N!

(N being Nitrogen, which encourages vegetative growth like leaves).

[silken]

Originally Posted by Discus

Fertilisers list N-P-K
K is actually potassium (look at a periodic table )
P is phosphorus AKA in horticultural circles as "potash", and is actually the part of your fertiliser conventionally considered to be a "bloom booster".

Some people think the bloom boosting effect comes less from the P, but more from reducing the relative proportion of N!

(N being Nitrogen, which encourages vegetative growth like leaves).

Correct, sorry, I know that and typed the wrong one.

[CWMorrow]

Originally Posted by silken

If so, sometimes giving them a bit of a chill in the fall for a month will help induce them to bloom. By a chill, I mean maybe about 55 or 60 degrees as opposed to room temps.

I kept phals in an unheated room with the window cracked for a year or so. They bloomed quite a bit.

[Brenda Aarts]

Originally Posted by silken

How come your Costco sells orchids and ours doesn't??
.

You're funny Silken, sorry, but our Costco sells them as well for $15.99 I believe. It's what got me hooked 7 or so years ago!!!