On 31 Jul 2003 16:53:06 GMT, 13 (Ebthtr) wrote:

I'm new to this as well and have a similar question about our two phalaenopsis.
We were told that after the flowers were gone to cut the stem down to above the
second node (about a 1/4" with a sharp clipper) We've done that, and now I
notice that the complete stem has over the past two weeks turned brown. One of
the plants has those....um...can't think of the word at the moment... roots,(?)
where they store water (?)....coming out of the plant...the other one doesn't.
Will the plant bloom again next year?
Thanks for your help.
Linda

Some plants want to rebloom on old inflorescence, some want to
rest. IF the inflorescence turns brown. Cut it off at the base.
The plant is saying I need to grow then I will bloom again. That
is much better than one that continues to bloom and suddenly dies
on you.

Now. If it is growing y9ou should see new leaves push up from
the center. Growing out to cover the old. You should also see
some roots (arieal) growing out side the mix. These will be
silver until you get them wet when you water. When wet they
should turn green for their length. As long as they stay plump
and silver or green they are healthy. As long as you have new
leaves coming your plant is healthy.
So the question is how do I get it to bloom again.
That is the easiest part. Just keeping it happy and healthy is
the hard part. It will take a difference between day and night
temperature of approximately 10 degrees. Yes, 15 degrees is OK.
The plant wants cool nights to tell it that winter is coming on
and it should start blooming inflorescences so that it can bloom
late winter early spring. Now this is a fairly normal phenomenon
in most of North America. If your not getting that differential
because you heat the house to a greater extent, just set the
plant next to a window and open the window a bit each night so
that the immediate area is cooler.


SuE
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