My little phal orchid is very slowly putting out a flower spike! My question is--do I continue weekly/weakly feeding the bloom food while the flowers are developing, or back off and just let it do its thing? Thanks!
Advice Please!
I would continue the weekly/weakly...I'm guessing it needs that nutrition to continue forming its flowers...but wait to read other people's responses because I'm not an expert by ANY means!
Once your Phal. begins to form that inflorescence, there is no need to use "bloom" fertilizer. I typically will either discontinue fertilizer or more likely will switch to a vegetative fertilizer, something like 20-20-20. Like you, I fertilize my orchids weakly-weekly and use water twice between every fertilizing. Will it hurt to continue that "blooming" fertilizer? Probably not.
Ken
OK, thanks for the advice. The inflorescence (that's the correct name for a flower spike?) is developing so slowly that I think I'll continue the bloom food until flowers actually open. As I recall, it puts out new leaves after blooming, so will start the higher nitrogen food then, try to work a re-pot in between the flowers and the leaves. My house is a little on the cool side, (58 degrees at night, 64 during the day) which may be contributing to the slow development. How long do yours take to go from first spike to actual flower? Just having this little guy still alive is amazing to me, I'm thrilled to be getting a flower again!
Yes, inflorescence is the "proper" term, but I still say "stem" or "spike" more often than not.
My growing conditions are far warmer than yours, at least in the greenhouses where the vast majority of my Phal. are growing. My heaters are set to go on at 55-60 F and will shut off at any temperature above that 60 F. The daytime temperature inside the greenhouses (and this varies a lot depending on the weather outside) will be anywhere from 70 F to 90 F. I have lots of my Dtps./Phal. with stems and some in bud. Each takes a different amount of time to flower. I would say the average time from seeing the first of the stem node to blooming will be 6-8 wks. Of course the nice thing is that those plants will be in flower from Dec./Jan. right through late spring/mid-summer. My Phal. equestris is a spring bloomer, and they were in bloom from April through October!
I think the fact that your house is cool day and night, might cause some slowing of the stem/bud/flower formation. As I understand it, Phal./Dtps. needs several weeks of cool weather (50-60 F) to initiate those stem formations but then blooms best when the temperature gets back into the 70-80's. I don't grow a lot of Phal./Dtsp. but the information I get from those more knowledgeable than I, says there needs to be a fairly consistent 10-20 degree change from low to high to produce the best flowering. Also, be sure your plant(s) get plenty of bright, indirect light for 8-12 hr. each day.
Ken
Wow, thanks Ken!!! It's really tough to keep all these growing requirements straight, but I'll get the hang of it some day. :D
I've read that longer nights (shorter days) can also be a factor in triggering flowering. It's a challenge to try to get the Arizona mountains to mimic tropical conditions! With natural gas prices down, I think I can turn up the heat a little, and I have started misting daily. With highly hybridized plants, I wonder how much they still follow the same natural cues their tropical ancestors responded to. Thanks again for the wise words, but I'm still feeling pretty lucky with this little survivor.
Very true. Shorter hours of daylight can/does trigger flowering. I am sure flowering is a complex subject and I tend to simplify it as much as possible.
Ken
Hey Ken, weakly weekly PLUS two regular waterings between each fertilization? That amounts to water just about every other day. That can't be what you mean, can it? Or maybe it can, with your higher temperatures....
No, I don't water like that between fertilizations. My comments usually are directed to what the vast majority of us do when it comes to fertilization. We fertilizer with 1 tsp. per gal. When I fertilize weakly, weekly, I am using 1/2 tsp. per gal. in the spring and summer and 1/4 tsp. per gal. in the fall and winter. I certainly do water between fertilizations, but in the fall and winter months, I don't worry about washing those salts away. The fertilizer is far too dilute to build up any significant amounts of salts.
I hope this clarifies my statements.
Ken