phalaenopsis taisuco kochdian
frankie t
bloomed, it grows nice leaves but not a flower.I keep it indoors next
to a window and it looks healthy. When I put it outside for a spell it
did not do well the leaves turned yellow and when I brought it back in
it turned green again.It is planted in orchid soil and I feed it with
orchid food and do not overwater it.I read today in the paper that a
cloned orchid will take up to 4 years to grow a spike. I live in the
north east thanks in advance for any input.
Steve
Some orchids take longer than 4 years to bloom, but a 3 year old
Phalaenopsis should be blooming size even if it was tiny when you got it.
The number one reason that an orchid doesn't bloom is too little light.
Beautiful healthy green leaves but no flowers can be from low light, too
much fertilizer (especially nitrogen), or both. In general, orchid
leaves become a yellowish green when they are getting enough light.
I used to put Phals outside in the summer but I concluded they are too
fragile for that. (all other orchids go out for the summer at my house)
They don't like nights much colder than 60, bugs love to eat them. Slugs
and snails too. They are easily damaged by wind. If I lived where it
stayed above 60 for weeks at a time and if I had a protected area, I
might try them outside again.
Phals are funny. Some bloom very easily and will bloom even with poor
light, dark green leaves, and constant indoor temperatures. Others may
need enough light to cause lighter green, slightly yellowish leaves AND
some don't seem to want to bloom unless they are exposed to colder
nights down to the mid 50s for several nights at the end of the summer.
In addition, don't be afraid to starve it, especially in the fall.
Either stop fertilizing or choose a very low nitrogen fertilizer for a
while. Abundant fertilizer grows more leaves, not flower spikes.
Steve in the Adirondacks
K Barrett
Additional to what Steve said, Phal Taisuco Kochdian is a beautiful
white phal which isn't as twitchy as many other phals, (or I should say
not in my hands) so if you follow Steve's advice you should have blooms
soon.
K Barrett
Diana Kulaga
"K Barrett" <morm...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:hdjurf$jko$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Just writing to stress what Steve noted, that this plant needs a diurnal
temperature range of at least 10 degrees to initiate a spike. Mine get a 20
degree differential from day to night at this time of year, and they are
already showing spikes.
Diana