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maidinmontana

Using a bloom booster for orchids...

16 years ago

Hi I have two orchids I got from my local grocery store. One is a phal (pinkish purple flowers, the other one I'm not sue) The phal has been blooming for over a month and looks as tho all the buds will open. The one I don't know the name of is due to the tag they put in the pot, it hs several varities and I don't remember what the flowers looked like when I bought it, they were yellow I do remember that much. It hs the spikey foliage rather than the leaves like a phal.

Can I use a bloom booster to try to encourage flowers? It lives where the phal lives, why it won't bloom.... is beyond me.

Heres a pic of my phal.

{{gwi:161174}}

Comments (8)

  • 16 years ago

    Bloom boosters won't do anything. You should read up on light and temperature requirements for orchids to produce new flower spikes. It may need more light, or different temps. To encourage spikes, the temp should be 10F-15F lower at night than during the day.

    Orchids don't normally bloom all the time - they would exhaust themselves and die if they did. Its usually good to have several different ones that bloom at different times, so that when you are waiting for one to spike and flower, you already have a few others to enjoy :)

  • 16 years ago

    can you post a picture of the plant in question?
    could help with ID so we can help you with its culture

  • 16 years ago

    How long have you had both these orchids? If you bought the Phal in bloom, I've found that it will continue opening all its buds and look fine for a while, even if it doesn't have enough light. If you've had it for a while (6 months or more) and this is a rebloom, then it probably really does like its conditions.

    Whatever the other one is, it sounds like it would like more light. Most commonly available orchids you might find in a grocery store (besides Phals) need more light than Phals, so the fact that your Phal seems happy isn't an indicator that the other one would be happy. Also, if it's just finished blooming, it mostly likely won't bloom again until next year anyway. A lot of orchids are once a year bloomers. Which actually isn't that unusual, I guess... my lilies, for example, are once a year bloomers.

    I think the important questions are: What is the mystery orchid? Where are both of these orchids right now - in which window and how far away from the window, and is anything blocking the light in any way, like trees, curtains, etc? How are they being cared for (watering, etc)? And finally, what are they growing in (bark, sphag, etc)?

    So, basically, the long-winded version of saying, I don't think bloom-booster is your answer : )

  • 16 years ago

    Spikey foliage to me sounds like a cymbidium. If that's the case it will want quite a bit more light than your phal. I put mine outside in an almost unshaded southern exposure in the summer to get it to bloom. Google cymbidium and see if that's what you have. Other posters have also asked great questions.
    ~Jem

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks all,
    Quinn ~ I have had the orchid in question since last June. Up until recently it sat in an east window sill. I have since moved it to a different room, but it is still getting east light, just not as close. Maybe I should move it back.

    After reading the F&Q's, I cut off the wrinkled leaves as it said they wouldn't recover, and the cause was lack of water. It is growing in orchid bark w/spagnum moss on top. It has good healthy looking roots. I sets on top of pebbles in a saucer w/water.

    Aesir ~ I guess I didn't realize different orchids bloomed @ different times. Now I know.

    Jenn ~ I did google cymbidium, it could be, but there are several different shapes and colors of flowers. I will spend more time later to see if I can figure it out.

    Heres a few pics. Hope this helps and thanks to all.

    {{gwi:161175}}

    {{gwi:161178}}

  • 16 years ago

    It looks to me like an Oncidium intergeneric hybrid (like Beallara, for one). Or just straight out Oncidium. These definitely like more light than Phals. Mine respiked in a south window, right up against the windowsill, with a white mesh curtain in the window. However, the buds blasted (probably my fault - underwatering). I'll give it one more year in that spot to see if it will bloom again. If it doesn't, or is lackluster, it will start spending summers outside.

    Point being, it grows well enough in my south facing window, but while it did spike, it left something to be desired. I'm hoping it was my fault, but I'm suspecting it wants more light, as the spike was very small, with only three buds, compared to the 12 or so flowers it had when I got it the year before.

    Did you cut off the wrinkled leaves on this one? I don't really think you need to, unless they'd gone brown and dried out. Wrinkled or not, it still uses those leaves for energy, as long as they're still green. I have wrinkled leaves too. They just look, well... somewhat embarrassing, banners in the wind proclaiming, look, I've been underwatered! But they're still growing and useful.

    My focus isn't Oncidium types, but this is my experience with the few I have. Two are in south windows, one is in a very bright west window. Your Phal will probably enjoy the east window, but I suspect it won't be enough for the Oncidium type.

  • 16 years ago

    That does look like a beallara. I just got one with foliage exactly like that.

  • 16 years ago

    Wrinkled leaves can be a sign of not enough water. Oncidiums not only need more light than phals, but they need more water than phals, so you either water more often or adjust the medium to hold more water. Once wrinkled, the leaves don't straighten out, but future leaves should be okay. As Quinnfyre says, the leaves may be unsightly but they're still contributing to the well being of the plant and shouldn't be cut off.

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