"Sacha" wrote
This thread prompted me to read up on Phalaenopsis again and I am doing
everything (almost) wrong. They need a period of cool surroundings and
mine are in the kitchen, on a window sill and beside the Aga! I'll remove
them to somewhere a lot cooler, feed them and re-pot them and hope all that
prompts them into flowering.


Yes, if you keep them too warm they will not flower. Again they need a drop
in temperature to initiated flower spikes but usually they get a decent drop
at night even in a heated room but not with an Aga nearby.
The growers that win the International Orchid competitions have
Phalaenopsis with, say, 50+ flowers on them ( I think I once saw one with 78
flowers)and they get that by constantly moving them from warm to cool and
back. The cool bit prompts flower spike extension so they have huge long
spikes. The real secret is how they keep all the flowers on the plant and
all looking superb.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a photo on the net of an award
winning one for you.
--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK