One correction: When you say temperature drop to 55-60F, do you mean night
temperature drop only, or does it stay that way during the day time as well?
If it's that cold in the day, I think the temp might be the problem after
all.

(I would greatly appreciate comments/corrections from more expert members of
the group, since I am definitely not an expert yet, emerging from lurker
status, and I feel just a bit insecure :-)

"J Fortuna" wrote in message
...
Charles,
I'm also kind of new myself, having only 9 orchids (Phals and Dtps only),
but at least two of mine are re-spiking for the second time this year, so
I
must be doing some things right. That said, if someone more expert than me
replies, please listen to them instead.

-- It is my understanding that for most Phals at least a temp drop to
55-60F
at night is actually desired to initiate spiking, so I don't think that is
the problem.
-- I may be wrong on this, but a 1/4 of a teaspoon of fertilizer with
every
watering seems like a lot to me. How much do you dilute it? My
understanding
is that sometimes orchids will not spike if they are overfed. I used to
overfeed mine the first year I had them, and they did not reflower then.
-- Another thing I have read recently (while lurking here on rdo) is that
Phals require at least 12 hours of darkness at night during the winter. I
don't know how essential that is to spiking -- I suspect that mine get
less
than 12 hours -- but you might consider reducing the hours of light.
-- Also how close/far from the lights are the plants?
-- How long have you had these orchids? If it has only been a year or so,
I
believe, it is not unusual for orchids to not rebloom the following year
after they have changed environments and are still getting aclimated,
especially if the place you got them from was very different from yours.
-- Finally have any of these plants rebloomed for you since you got them?
I
have heard that some plants will just not rebloom for some people. If they
won't respike for you after several years, consider threats, move them
closer to the garbage, or give them away to friends for whom they will of
course spike immediately just to spite you.

Best,
Joanna

"Charles Peters" wrote in message
...
I'm kind of new to all this, but have about 20 orchids, mostly onc's
and phals. I've grown them outside in the summer (Baltimore, MD) and
wintered them in my basement under HID lights ( 250 HPS in the Fall, MH
in the Spring, cycling from 14 hours in October to 12 in December) with
flours to supplement. Fertilize with Dyna Grow 1/4 tsp. every
watering. But very poor results to date. Good root growth, many in
semi-hydro, but no spikes so far this year. I'm wondering if the drop in
temperature in the basement, 55-60 F at night, might be inhibiting
blooming. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Charles