Question
Jennifer's Orchid
Hello Wayne,
I have a Phalaenopsis orchid that almost died from over watering. I reported it and removed the 2 spikes a year ago. the plant is doing well and has 8 firm, health leaves. Its roots are strong and growing out of the pot. the plant does not have any spike or the sign of growing one.
it is sitting on a east facing window with 2 other orchid plants. I water it every 7 to 10 days and give 15-30-15 plant food once a month. the temperature of our apartment does not change often.
is there anything I can do to help the plant to spike?
thank you,
Jennifer
AnswerJennifer, first let me congratulate you on a great growing job. You didn't mention whether the leaves were a dark green or a light green. An east window is ideal for growing your plant and it is showing its appreciation with all of the new growth. A light green would indicate that it is getting enough light for flowering. Dark green would suggest that you need to find a way to increase the light intensity for flowering. This can be done by growing it closer to the window, growing it in a west window, and/or adding supplemntary lighting such as a plant light about 6 inches from the leaves. Don't be discouraged if you don't get immediate results as flowering in many phalaenopsis is day length sensitive and many phalaenopsis bloom in the spring as the day length begins to increase. You also mentioned temperature. Some phalaenopsis need a day/night temperature difference of about 10 degrees to set buds. If you have a balcony or protected outside area that might provide both the temperature difference and additional light,you could try that, but that requires more caution to protect it from critters as well as too much light. Some phalaenopsis have perticularly thick leaves as a result of having double the number of chromosomes. Leaf thickness makes it more difficult for light to penetrate the tissues to generate the flowering hormones.
There is no magic formula for flowering as each phalaenopsis hybrid is genetically unique and you will need to experiment with some of the conditions that promote flowering. In the meantime, by growing the plant well, you will get more spectacular flowering when you find the key to unlock this plant's flowering response.
