Hi Kenni, I agree "re-spikes" are lacking. If I get two thirds of the
flower count I am happy. But this is the route we go for our June crop. If
I time it right and the Gods look down on me with favor, the plant will
throw a new spike about four weeks behind the re-spike making a very pretty
plant.

As for the cutting of primaries, we do break down at the nub to 4" stage.

Pat




"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Pat: Perhaps I should have been more specific. I was not considering
secondary "re-spikes" on previously-bloomed inflorescences. This is
because we don't consider these to be "prime" flowers. While there are
_always_ exceptions, we rarely see secondary blooms which are nearly as
nice as the primaries. But I can see how your practice of cutting the
primaries _before_ they bloom out could eliminate the energy expenditure
of the primary blooming so that it will come out in the re-spikes.

But it's a rare home-grower who will cut an even potentially viable spike,
foregoing flowers sooner for better flowers later ... Kenni

"Pat Brennan" wrote in message
...
We sell blooming Phals year round. To maintain inventory we force from
late spring to fall. I turned off forcing 3 or 4 weeks ago and the last
of the forced stuff will be sold in late Dec/early Jan. We force based
on Wang's research which controls high temp. In the heat of the summer
the day/night temperature difference will be less than 5 degrees. Next
summer try placing a Phal in the coolest spot in the house. It needs
some light, but the light does not need to be perfect. If you can keep
the plant under 75 degrees you should see a spike in about a month.

This time of year we do a lot of spike cutting. Rather then allowing all
the plants to come in together in Feb/March, we go through and cut some
spikes all the way down. This time of year, most will respike in 4 to 6
weeks.

In late winter we will start cutting spikes half way down and reblooming
spikes. These plants will hold us until the forced stuff comes on line.

Pat