Hi Xi,

To get a healthy Phal to bloom requires a period of about a month where the
high temperature does not exceed 75 degrees. It is not exact and there are
exceptions. For a mature plant that has not been in bloom for a few months,
I do not thing it is a matter of the plant being ready, but instead it is
just a matter of when the trigger is pulled. I spike them in all phases of
leaf growth and do not think it is a factor. Until the trigger is pulled
the very very happy plant is going to just keep growing and getting happier.
I see it all the time. People will come to me and ask why their plant has
not rebloomed in years. For a healthy plant it is almost always one of two
things; the plant is not getting enough light or it is in a room that
occasionally warms to above 75 degrees (kitchens were people use the oven,
bathrooms with people who take long hot showers, bay windows, rooms with
lots of southern exposure). If we determine light is not the issue, I tell
people to move the plant to a cooler room around Thanksgiving until they see
a spike coming. For the people that report back, this almost always works.
The plants that have not bloomed for a couple of years often put on real
shows.

Pat

"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:SVllf.57509$Eq5.13018@pd7tw1no...
Hi all,

Being the season that it is, I have a question about spiking. I know that
most orchids can be "forced" to spike through careful control of temp,
light, fertilizer...etc. However, the term "forced" has always made me
wonder: are we saying that these are plants that would normally not be
ready to spike? If we had a very very happy plant, and we just let it be
and did not manipulate anything, would it spike on its own eventually just
by virtue of the fact that it has all this extra energy around? Or would
it always put its energy into making new leaves/roots...etc?

Cheers,
Xi Wang