Neofinetia - what conditions to get larger spikes?

[camille1585]

It's that time of year again, and I see some spikes on my Neos. As during the past 2 years where I've had Neos, the spikes are rather small, with no more than 3-4 buds. Yet I frequently see photos here an elsewhere of much larger spikes. Is this due to them being still relatively young plants (most have 3-4 growths), or is something lacking in my culture?

If it's culture related I'm guessing it might be related to winter conditions. I grow them under lights in the winter, on the shelves with my other orchids (so 18-20°C). I know that in the wild they get a lot of light in the winter and it can be rather cool, but I recall reading that the cool temps weren't mandatory.

[Shoreguy]

Mature plants with multiple growths have more spikes and more productive spikes in general. Some plants perhaps do to genetics don't. Culture comes into play. You mention growing under lights in the winter. I believe in natural sunshine but if you must grow under lights, look into the quality of the source as I am sure those designed for plant growing are better than those that are not, and there must be quality diffferences between those that are so meant for plants.

My nighttime winter temperature is 67 and daytime 74.

As far as phosphate, the middle number, it’s unclear to me whether it helps initiate spiking or number of buds and flower robustness or even whether it’s really necessary to increase for either. I use a balanced plant food year round as it’s too complicated to be switching back and forth different proportions with a large number of plants at different stages. This is supposed to be fun and such considerations would interfere and result in the whole process being unpleasant.

[Hakumin]

There's a lot of factors.

Firstly, make sure you compare like plants. Different varieties can have differing capabilities in flowering. Furthermore, in seed propagated varieties, flowering habits can also be different from plant to plant within the same variety too.

That said, while it's not mandatory for healthy vegetative growth in Neos, one of the best encouragers for prolific flowering is a long, cool rest in the winter for at least 2 months, especially one with a gradual cool down in the fall and a gradual warmup in the spring. For this kind of rest, it's best to keep the temperature lows consistently between about 40F/5C and 60F/15C. Also it's best to keep the between 50% and 70% during this time and the plants provided with only light waterings.

While many plants will flower well even without it, this sort of winter rest will typically increase the flowers per spike as well as number of spikes, and also helps time the spikes so that you get one big bloom of many spikes rather than sporadic spikes throughout the year.

One thing to keep in mind as well is to make sure that the plant is kept sufficiently hydrated during the winter. If the plant is in full dormancy, which will only happen at temperatures below 60F/15C, less water should be provided. However, if you grow your plants in higher temperatures during the winter, keeping them too dry can cause them to abort future spikes and even lose leaves.

Beyond that, also make sure that the plant is well hydrated early in the growing season and especially during early spike development. If the plant stays too dry or experiences excessive stress during spike trigger and development it can cause the spike to develop fewer flowers.

Fertilizing regularly does help as well too.

[camille1585]

Thanks for your input!

Believe me, I'd love for them to get natural light in the winter, but even sitting in a south facing window I can't do anything about the very dark and cloudy/rainy Dutch winters. That's why they are supplemented with LED lights (yes, they're lamps meant for plants).

There's not much I can do about their winter temps unfortunately since I live in an apartment, and my choices are inside with the other orchids, or out on the balcony where it will be too cold (and not enough light). So if this is the cause of low flower count, I'll just have to live with it.

I will try to be more careful about watering next year. I'm so scared of rotting out the roots in the winter (I lost my first plants that way when I first tried Neos 10 years ago) that I might not be giving them enough, particularily in the early growing season. They don't look dehydrated, but I may have been stressing them out too much.

[EmoryG]

What kind of containers are you using? I found that I much prefer clay pots since I'm more likely to over water than let my plants dry out. If you're worried about root rot, that may help. Granted I am in a totally different environment where there is a constant breeze and constant humidity.

Wishing you all the best, and I know that those 3 flowers per spike still smell amazing!

[camille1585]

I'm using net pots, with the traditional sphag mound potting method. I chose net pots so that there would be sufficient airflow into the hollow core of the mound since normal plastic or clay pots don't have big enough botttom holes.