Is my phal schilleriana sulking?

[SaraJean]

Another year with no signs of a spike. Boooo.. This was a seedling/nbs one that I purchased from Hausermans in 2015. I’ve had some good root growth this year and the newest leaf is the second one it has put out since this spring, so it’s growin but it just ain’t bloomin. I had read that they can bloom on pretty young plants and I’m sure mine is old enough, so I don’t really know what’s going on. Now, admittedly, my winter care was pretty poor last year (let it get down into the lower 50’s for a month and kept forgetting to water it), so could it just be sulking and get back on track next year? It’s growing in between my b. vaginatum and b. fascintor, which have both bloomed, so I don’t think insufficient light is an issue. Also gets MSU fertilizer with every watering at a rate of 35-50ppm N, with the exception of days with heavy morning rains, and watered every day. Now it’s in my little pop up greenhouse that I keep for my heat loving orchids that stays between 65-80 degrees F.

Anybody have any pointers for this thing?

[SaraJean]

Here are some pics. These were taken right before I watered it in the morning so it may look a bit more dehydrated than it actually is

[Manu]

Your largest leaf looks like a decent size to bloom, but does it have only 2 leafs? I'd think it needs to build 3 4 leafs before it pushes out a spike.

I keep mine on the warmer side, winter around 24C daytime, never less the 22C. I don't let night temp drop lower then 20C.

Summer gets much warmer. Around 27-32C for daytime, few (5) degrees less at night.

I also fertilize with a weak solution at every watering which is every day or other day. They are mounted. Get 1500 to 2000 FC and bloom really easily. Based on my leaf colour, I'd say mine gets much more light then yours, but that doesn't mean yours isn't getting enough. I like to give the maximum light they can handle. I have 2 and they are both pushing out spikes at this time.

I'd say keep it warm, try not to neglect them as much and build a 4-5 leaf plant and you should see spikes emerging soon!

[SaraJean]

Right now there are 4 leaves on it, there was a 5th one but it fell off about a month ago. The two oldest leaves are significantly smaller than the largest mature leaf and hiding somewhere in the photo. I know I had a light issue the first year and a half it was in my care, it did not grow well at all prior to fixing that.
I will definitely keep a closer eye on the temps, along with the water, this winter and hopefully it’s just that simple. I am a little embarrassed to admit as to how much I have been struggling with this and my phal bellina. All of my other species dens and bulbos, and my gaggle of catasetums, are doing fantastic and yet I feel like I can barely keep these two phals alive. Im trying to look at the positive; at least this shilly is finally growing even if I’m going to have to wait another year or two for a spike
Thanks for the response!

[Manu]

Shilleriana and bellina are 2 phals that like warmth... I think you have your answer :-)

---------- Post added at 11:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:12 PM ----------

Give it some warm weather. Good light. Water and food. They will bloom reliably!

---------- Post added at 11:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------

And just a word of encouragement. Not a year or two.. I'd say a few months to a year MAX

[Manu]

More encouragement lol. 14 month (since out of flask) old shilerriana of mine with dual spikes emerging. Longest leaf is maybe 13-14 inches long and not as wide as yours, only 4 leaves. Restore ideal conditions and you'll have spikes sooner then you think ;-)

[SaraJean]

Originally Posted by Manu

Shilerriana and bellina are 2 phals that like warmth... I think you have your answer :-)

That’s actually the part that kind of had me stumped with these two. A good portion of my 150 or so orchids are warm-hot growers like these, so you would think I’d know how to take care of a couple of phals. Now I am figuring out just how sensitive the schilleriana is to the cold, and it was moved to my little warm/hot greenhouse with the bellina (which had been kept warm the entire winter) and some of my bulbos after I realized I overlooked the poor orchid. The first year I had it though, it never went below 65 degrees F (18.3 Celsius) and was usually right around 68 F for night temps (20 Celsius). It does sound like that one month was what set the schilleriana back, I just hope I’m not missing something else. I should mention my local is tropical, high temps, high humidity almost year round, our winter lasts for approximately 3 months with normal day temps in the 60’s (15-21 Celsius), and haven’t experienced a freeze in 5 years. I thought those two species would be ‘no brainers’ in my climate. The schilly seems to at least be on the road to recovery

my bellina, on the other hand, looks like it is circling the drain and has never experience a significant drop in temp since I bought it three years ago. Each new leaf is smaller than the last, minimal root growth, and just dull looking. I might try another when this one finally heads to the trash pile after I lick my wounds... I think I need to read up on these two some more

---------- Post added at 10:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:52 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Manu

[/COLOR]And just a word of encouragement. Not a year or two.. I'd say a few months to a year MAX

Oh now THAT would make me happy!

Originally Posted by Manu

More encouragement lol. 14 month (since out of flask) old shilerriana of mine with dual spikes emerging. Longest leaf is maybe 13-14 inches long and not as wide as yours, only 4 leaves. Restore ideal conditions and you'll have spikes sooner then you think ;-)

Wow, maybe there’s hope yet. Thank you!

---------- Post added at 10:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:57 PM ----------

[QUOTE=Manu;858928]

[Dollythehun]

I also got mine from Hausermann's the same time you did. Mine is still building up steam. Just now attaching to the mount. It'll be awhile yet.

[Manu]

Originally Posted by SaraJean

3 months with normal day temps in the 60’s (15-21 Celsius), and haven’t experienced a freeze in 5 years.

I grow everything indoors and it never gets colder then 20C night and 23C day, even in our brutal winter. Others might be able to chime in as to how low you can go, but I feel like if you have day temps of 15, night must be close to 5-10 and I think that is way too low for these warm growing Phals. If you have 3 months of "winter", then as temperatures start rising again they will brake their dormancy, might take a month or 2 to resume growth, which will be slower at first, you just lost a half year of growing. You might only have a few months of optimal temperatures. I think if you are able to fix that portion, you'd probably be a lot more successful with those species!! My bellinas grow like weed too, I wouldn't write it off as a loss yet! Fix your temps and im sure it will strive. Maybe others can provide more insight based on the type of conditions you have..

[JScott]

I got mine from Hausermann last May, and it has a spike on it now. I was surprised that it bloomed already because it's still small. The newest leaf is only about six inches long, and the leaf before that is about four inches. I kept mine outside until sometime in October, when the night temperatures started dipping into the upper 50s. I guess maybe that's cooler than it prefers, but it didn't seem to mind. Maybe the cooler nights helped it bloom. It gets morning sun (until about 10) on my porch in the summer in Oklahoma, and now that it is inside by a south window, it gets several hours a day of direct sun and it's happy.