I need help from the experts!

15 years ago

Forgive me because I am extremely new to orchids and completely lost about what to do.

I have had a phal for a couple of years now. It was blooming when I first bought it. After those blooms fell off I noticed that a new branch was growing out of the flower spike, so I cut the spent portion of the spike down to the new branch and the new branch bloomed like a champ. Once those flowers fell off, I cut the spike down at the base. I would say all of that occurred during the first 6 months of me having this plant.

Since then, the plant has been doing fairly well. It has produced tons of new roots and leaves, however I have yet to get a new flower spike. It has been years! I have tried moving it around to different locations in the house, and I even repotted it a couple of times. There will be times where I think I'm getting a new spike (a root will start coming in with a "mitten shape"), but they are always pointing downwards (like a root).

Oh mighty orchid gurus, can you please let me know how I can encourage a new flower spike?

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Comments (5)

ifraser25
15 years ago
First of all congratulations on what you did 5 years ago. Nearly everybody cuts off the whole spike. You, not knowing anything about orchids, did the right thing! Second, congratulations for keeping your orchid growing even though it wasn't flowering. 90+% end up in the trash can.
Why isn't it flowering any more? If it's any consolation some Phals are an absolute ***** to reflower. Unfortunately repotting doesn't help. In fact many orchids flower better when they are pot bound.
It sounds to me as if your plant has got too comfortable living in your nice home and it's time to wake it up a bit. 1. Give it some direct sun first thing in the morning or last thing at night. Not too much,no more than 90 minutes, Phals are easy to burn. You must be willing to risk that. 2. If that doesn't work, dump a few ice cubes on the compost during the day, then stop watering altogether. Every day repeat the mantra. "Flower you *** of a *****. If you don't you're gonna die!" 3. Give it to a friend - nearly the orchids I have given away have flowered within a year for somebody else! Best of luck - Ian.
jane__ny
15 years ago
When all else fails, increase the light. I agree with fraser, give it some direct light. Do it gradually. If you can put it out for the summer, even better. Just keep an eye that it doesn't stay too wet. If it is making tons of leaves, you might be over-fertilizing.

Phals typically make leaves during the warm months. As days shorten and temps cool, leaf growth should stop and it should start making flower spikes.

In summary: Increase light gradually and cut back on fertilizer. Late summer, let it get a temp drop.

Jane
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slflaherty
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you both for your advice (I especially enjoyed Ian's mantra!). I had a feeling that my lack of flower spike had something to do with the environment being too constant, I just didn't know what changes to make. I will try all of your suggestions and hopefully report back with some good news!
orchid126
15 years ago
If you fertilize, make sure that the fertilizer is low in nitrogen as nitrogen tells the plant to grow leaves, not flowers.
NBAMA
15 years ago
I have several phals from noid's to species and from my experience they will take alot more sun than you think as long as they are moved gradually into it. Just a little more each week.