On 2014-08-23 18:24:39 +0000, Spider said:

On 23/08/2014 16:29, Pam Moore wrote:
On Sat, 23 Aug 2014 12:31:26 +0100, "Bob Hobden"
wrote:

"Sacha" wrote

I bought one of these some time ago and it has bloomed from around March
until a week ago, when the flowers started to wither and drop off. Pretty
good value, I'd say. BUT having transferred it to the 'hospital' window in
the kitchen, I glanced at it the other day, wondering if the stem was dying
back, To my surprise and pleasure, one withered flower was still clinging
on but further up exactly the same stem, new buds are forming. I've never
seen this happen before on any of my other Phals.

Quite normal. It's why you should never cut the flower stem off a Phal
unless it goes brown and dead. The show experts use this trait to enable
them to produce lots of flowers by changing the temperature at which the
plant is kept so extending the flower spike a number of times. You may find
the spike branches onto a number of extended spikes before flowering, I
think that is when they are at their most beautiful.

I have 5 plants. One did just this, made new stems of buds after the
previous lot died off. However, the buds have failed to open, having
veen there a few months. Then the buds started dropping.
Could this have been the very hot weather? They are in the same place
where I always keep them. One has had a wonderful spray of flowers,
also for a few months.
Sometimes the old stems go woody and then I cut them down to the base.




Buds can abort if the plant is turned to face a different direction.
They are unable to turn with the stem, so drop off. This is why
orchids are invariably bought with flowers open. Drought and dryness
can also have the same effect.

That's interesting, Spider. I bought one recently from Morrisons, a
double-stemmed one with flowers open and with buds. Three buds have
dropped off andI was about to write here, asking why! I assume there's
nothing I can do to prevent this?

--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
www.helpforheroes.org.uk