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Phals spiking multiple times per year?

suzabanana (6b Boston/N. Shore)

9 years ago

Could it be a problem to have the same Phal (NOID, HD or Lowes rescue) bloom 2 or more times per year? I was under the impression that these are once a year bloomers in general.

Have lots of Phals - some are HD/Lowes rescues, some are from a florist post-bloom - which seem happy in my sun room. The first 2 that I got in the autumn (October-ish) had a few blooms, but were mostly done. They are both now spiking. One of them I actually left the old spikes because they had a couple of tiny buds on the old spikes. Those buds are almost ready to open AND has a new spike.

So, I'm wondering if there is any downside to this or to just enjoy the flowers? Both Phals have new leaves and lots of new roots as well as the spikes.

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Comments (2)

shavedmonkey (Harvey in South Fl.)Z10b
9 years ago
Watch the leaves frequently. If a phal over blooms itself the leaves will loose its stiffness. If this happens, at first notice, cut the blooms. On the other hand you might put a higher value on the blooms than the plant.

Down here we have a lot of what we call snow birds. Here for the coldest months then return to the north. Many phals are thrown out in April around here.
Bill
9 years ago
Suzabanana, There are a number of different kinds of Phals. Most everyone is familiar with the large "dinnerplate" flat, Big Box Store Hybrids. They are in my opinion the least fun of all to grow. There are the "novelties", which I suspect you may have one of. Their culture is basically the same as the large long line hybrids, but their growth and blooming habits are different. Novelties tend to have smaller blooms, and less blooms on the spike, but, some are highly fragrant, and some will bloom on spikes that are several years old.

If you do have one of these small blooming plants ( a lot of them have yellow blooms), do not cut any bloom spike off until it is completely dead, brown and brittle! It just might decide to elongate the stem and bloom again for you at most any time. They will also throw new spikes that will bloom petty much when they decide to. If you grow them well, they will take care of the blooming, depending on their individual genetics.

Not many down sides to these, just grow as regular Phals., and enjoy.

Bill
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Jujujojo based on my experience I only find that going a little larger every one to two years just helps prevent the mulitiple layers of roots growing around each other. At the same time I go a little bigger with each repot only to help the plant look proportional to the pot. All the phals I have are not miniatures by any stretch but I have also found that if I keep the pot to small, when I get a spike the whole plant and pot want to tip over. Now my oldest Phal is the only one with such a big pot. The rest of the phals I have are in nothing bigger than a six inch wide pot. I completely agree with Brooke in every aspect of pot size to the plant. That's how I've always raised my phals and it seems to work. I've lost my fiar share of plants over the years and its been hard to see them die. But it's a game of win and loose. I honestly would have to say aside from providing the plants with what they need to grow and fertilizing it regularly. It will continue to grow at its own pace and with years to come it will show you what it's suppose to do as it matures.
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Hey, Argus. I love talking to people with same sense of beauty. Great minds really do run in the same circles-- I think Queen Beer is the most beautiful flower I've ever seen. Simply glorious. Just drop dead, stop traffic gorgeous. In fact my son (no orchid cognoscenti) picked it out right away from about 6 other lovelies as the most beautiful, without being prompted to pick anything. Just went right for it and reached out to touch it. And I agree, photographs just can't do it justice, because the beauty is the radiant color which cameras simply dan't capture. A pity really, because lots of people must pass those pictures by in catalogs without a second glance, missing out on something really special. Maybe you can help me with a question I have about Queen Beer: The leaves on mine, except for the very newest, are cardboardish and dry-looking. The newest leaf is ordinary texture. Roots are good, and I can't figure out what is causing this. I know the doritis parent tends to have cardboardish leaves, so there's a genetic influence in it, but is this normal state for Queen Beer? Are your Qn Br leaves like that?
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Violacea (the phal you linked to) is definitely one of the species that continues to bloom off the same spike for several years. It is one of the ancestors of many of the novelty "reds" I mentioned. The light green leaves are characteristic, and so is the short spike. I would keep the spike as long as the plant looks healthy and continues to put out new leaves. I have cut the spike off a couple of this type when the roots were compromised and the leaves got wilty, but leave the spike alone otherwise. Good luck. These are my favorite type of phal. I absolutely love them. I would also like to add that I cut the spikes off phals for aesthetic reasons-- a tall spike starts to look really ugly with just one or two flowers on it. But that isn't true of short-spike plants. They look fine with just one or two flowers on the short spike. Enjoy your flowers.
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Hey, Holly. Definitely a nice problem to have.:) As the others said, you have to change something to accomodate the tall spikes. *And* check them every day or two, because they tend to bend toward the lights, and will grow right into the lights if you don't watch it. My spiking phals are under the stationary lights, which are set higher than the moving lights. As they get taller they get moved to the edges of the lights. When they are getting within a week or so of opening, they go upstairs into the south windows, which have Wonderlites suspended in them. That way I can enjoy the bud fattening up and getting ready to open more often. I haven't had any problems with bud blasting from moving them upstairs. Since I like phal spikes au naturel, and the newer hybrids tend to have orderly presentation of flowers, (also at least half of my phals are the "novelty" type) I don't worry overmuch about aligning the buds to the light. Enjoy your new problem!
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