Whatever time of year I visit the store, they sell blooming orchids.
But all mine seem to bloom at the same time. Is there a way for me, by
controlling micro-climates or something, to affect the timing? It would
be great to always have at least one of them flowering.

These are mostly phals, but this topic needn't apply exclusively to
them as I'm considering adding other types to the collection too.

Thanks!

-Munir

Munir,

I too have mostly Phals, and I always have some that are in flower.

This is what I do: I buy additional Phals in flower at different times of
the year, since Phals tend to reflower at approximately the same time each
year, this will help ensure that you have something in flower at different
times -- both because you are always buying something that is in flower, and
also because when they reflower it will be at different times.

The caveat to this is that vendors can and do cause orchids to flower out of
season, so just because an orchid is flowering when you buy it, may not be
its natural season after all. The way to solve that, especially during the
summer when fewer Phals are naturally in blooming season is (a) buy from a
good vendor whom you can ask for advice as to which of the Phals he or she
is selling are summer-bloomers; or (b) read up on summer-blooming phal
species, and buy either these species or hybrids that contain them -- for
example for the summer you could buy Dtps that are close to doritis
(including Dtps Kenneth Schubert or Dtps Talitha's Gem, for example), phal
violacea or phal bellina (plus their hybrids), and many yellow Phals are
also summer blooming. Doing a bit of research on which phals are
summer-blooming will turn up more.

Some Phals have longer blooming periods than other Phals, and then having a
few of those can help ensure that there is something in flower at all times,
since these orchids can cover most of the year either on their own or two or
three of them if they bloom for a long time at different times. Again,
either ask a good vendor or do some research on which Phals are longer
blooming.

There are some phals like phal equestris that do not have a set flowering
season, and thus are more likely to reflower at different times of year.

Also mature healthy Phals may well flower twice a year, in both the fall and
the spring. Adjusting one's environmental conditions to make spiking more
likely in both the fall and the spring (especially providing the night and
day temperature difference) is a good way of trying to get more than one
season out of these Phals.

Mainly however if you just go ahead and buy more Phals, you are much more
likely to have something in bloom all the time with a lot of them than with
just a few. :-)

Hope this helps.

Best,
Joanna

"Munir" wrote in message
ups.com...
Whatever time of year I visit the store, they sell blooming orchids.
But all mine seem to bloom at the same time. Is there a way for me, by
controlling micro-climates or something, to affect the timing? It would
be great to always have at least one of them flowering.

These are mostly phals, but this topic needn't apply exclusively to
them as I'm considering adding other types to the collection too.

Thanks!

-Munir

Adding to Joanna's advice, it is also possible that the plants have been
"forced" into different flowering periods by exposing them to day/night
temperature differences of about 10°F-15°F for about ten days, as that often
kicks phals into spiking.

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Artwork, Books and Lots of Free Info!


"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:hkG9f.2557$0d.1639@trnddc03...
Munir,

I too have mostly Phals, and I always have some that are in flower.

This is what I do: I buy additional Phals in flower at different times of
the year, since Phals tend to reflower at approximately the same time each
year, this will help ensure that you have something in flower at different
times -- both because you are always buying something that is in flower,
and
also because when they reflower it will be at different times.

The caveat to this is that vendors can and do cause orchids to flower out
of
season, so just because an orchid is flowering when you buy it, may not be
its natural season after all. The way to solve that, especially during the
summer when fewer Phals are naturally in blooming season is (a) buy from a
good vendor whom you can ask for advice as to which of the Phals he or she
is selling are summer-bloomers; or (b) read up on summer-blooming phal
species, and buy either these species or hybrids that contain them -- for
example for the summer you could buy Dtps that are close to doritis
(including Dtps Kenneth Schubert or Dtps Talitha's Gem, for example), phal
violacea or phal bellina (plus their hybrids), and many yellow Phals are
also summer blooming. Doing a bit of research on which phals are
summer-blooming will turn up more.

Some Phals have longer blooming periods than other Phals, and then having
a
few of those can help ensure that there is something in flower at all
times,
since these orchids can cover most of the year either on their own or two
or
three of them if they bloom for a long time at different times. Again,
either ask a good vendor or do some research on which Phals are longer
blooming.

There are some phals like phal equestris that do not have a set flowering
season, and thus are more likely to reflower at different times of year.

Also mature healthy Phals may well flower twice a year, in both the fall
and
the spring. Adjusting one's environmental conditions to make spiking more
likely in both the fall and the spring (especially providing the night and
day temperature difference) is a good way of trying to get more than one
season out of these Phals.

Mainly however if you just go ahead and buy more Phals, you are much more
likely to have something in bloom all the time with a lot of them than
with
just a few. :-)

Hope this helps.

Best,
Joanna

"Munir" wrote in message
ups.com...
Whatever time of year I visit the store, they sell blooming orchids.
But all mine seem to bloom at the same time. Is there a way for me, by
controlling micro-climates or something, to affect the timing? It would
be great to always have at least one of them flowering.

These are mostly phals, but this topic needn't apply exclusively to
them as I'm considering adding other types to the collection too.

Thanks!

-Munir

In the home environment, it would be very difficult for you to do this.
E.g., the 10-15 temp change referenced in one of the other posts will often
induce a Phal to spike, but if the spike matures and makes its buds in
warm-hot conditions, it usually won't produce many flowers.

From your reference to "store," I'm gathering that you've been buying your
orchids at a Home Depot, Target or the like. All those chains buy from
gigantic farms which do force their orchids so as to have flowers
year-round. If not re-forced, they will go back to their natural blooming
season. Forcing is also hard on the plant itself, especially if done
repeatedly.

The better way to go would be to visit your local growers, and buy a plant
or two each month which is blooming in its natural season. Look in your
Yellow Pages under Orchid Growers. If there are none convenient to you,
then check www.orchidmall.com for some not too far away, for mail order..

Phals can keep you in bloom for 6-8 months of the year, but you probably
will need to diversify to have truly year-round flowers. If you have enough
light, consider Dens. They are also long-lasting, and most will bloom
several times a year. Kenni

"Munir" wrote in message
ups.com...
Whatever time of year I visit the store, they sell blooming orchids.
But all mine seem to bloom at the same time. Is there a way for me, by
controlling micro-climates or something, to affect the timing? It would
be great to always have at least one of them flowering.

These are mostly phals, but this topic needn't apply exclusively to
them as I'm considering adding other types to the collection too.

Thanks!

-Munir

"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
Phals can keep you in bloom for 6-8 months of the year, but you probably
will need to diversify to have truly year-round flowers. If you have
enough
light, consider Dens. They are also long-lasting, and most will bloom
several times a year. Kenni

Kenni, sorry to disagree with you, but Phals can keep one in bloom all year
round. While it is certainly a good idea to diversify and have other orchids
as well, but if someone wanted to have only Phals, it is certainly possible
to have blooming ones all the time, even in the home environment.

I looked at my records, and there are 5 Phals of mine which have covered the
entire time period since March 2003 to the present, so that if I had only
those 5 Phals I would still likely have at least one Phal in bloom at all
times:

March 2003-September 2003 ---- Phal Zuma Confection
July 2003-December 2003 ---- Dtps Talitha's Gem
late November 2003-end of February 2004 ---- phal equestris
January 2004-May 2004 ---- No ID yellow Phal (nicknamed Canary Twin)
March-August 2004 ---- Phal Zuma Confection
May 2004-July 2005 ----- No ID white Phal with pink lips (nicknamed Ruby
Lips)
August 2004-April 2005 ---- phal equestris
September 2004-December 2004 ---- Dtps Talitha's Gem
September 2004-July 2005 ---- No ID yellow Phal (nicknamed Canary Twin)
December 2004-July 2005 ----- No ID white Phal with pink lips (nicknamed
Ruby Lips)
July 2005-(still in bloom in November) ---- Dtps Talitha's Gem
end of October 2005-(just starting to bloom) ---- phal equestris

now (November 2005):
+ No ID white Phal with pink lips (nicknamed Ruby Lips) is currently in
medium high new spike
+ Phal Zuma Confection is currently in low new spike
+ No ID yellow Phal (nicknamed Canary Twin) is showing continued activity on
an old spike

So as you see, it looks like with just these few Phals I could have Phals in
bloom all year round.

However, there are some caveats to this:

(1) I did not know that these particular Phals would be the ones to ensure
that I have something in bloom all the time, it happened by chance since I
have a total of 32 Phals by now and these happen to be the ones;

(2) note that two of these are No IDs that rebloom frequently and are in
bloom for a long time, just very lucky with those;

(3) I happen to own 2 Dtps Talitha's Gem, and the other one has yet to
reflower for me -- it seems to believe that producing many new leaves is
sufficient -- and these two were bought from the same vendor and I believe
both come from the same seed pod, and yet one of them is a reliable bloomer
and the other is not.

So, I think in order to replicate similar all year round blooming coverage,
you could acquire only Phals, but you would need to buy more than just 5
Phals to achieve this.

Best,
Joanna

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
"Kenni Judd" wrote in message
...
In the home environment, it would be very difficult for you to do this.
E.g., the 10-15 temp change referenced in one of the other posts will
often
induce a Phal to spike, but if the spike matures and makes its buds in
warm-hot conditions, it usually won't produce many flowers.

From your reference to "store," I'm gathering that you've been buying your
orchids at a Home Depot, Target or the like. All those chains buy from
gigantic farms which do force their orchids so as to have flowers
year-round. If not re-forced, they will go back to their natural blooming
season. Forcing is also hard on the plant itself, especially if done
repeatedly.

The better way to go would be to visit your local growers, and buy a plant
or two each month which is blooming in its natural season. Look in your
Yellow Pages under Orchid Growers. If there are none convenient to you,
then check www.orchidmall.com for some not too far away, for mail order..

Phals can keep you in bloom for 6-8 months of the year, but you probably
will need to diversify to have truly year-round flowers. If you have
enough
light, consider Dens. They are also long-lasting, and most will bloom
several times a year. Kenni

"Munir" wrote in message
ups.com...
Whatever time of year I visit the store, they sell blooming orchids.
But all mine seem to bloom at the same time. Is there a way for me, by
controlling micro-climates or something, to affect the timing? It would
be great to always have at least one of them flowering.

These are mostly phals, but this topic needn't apply exclusively to
them as I'm considering adding other types to the collection too.

Thanks!

-Munir

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

I don't think I ever had something in bloom at every time of the year
until I diversified my collection (from all paphs to a mix of different
genera) and increased the size. About 200 plants of mixed genera was
sufficient, if I recall. Of course now I have a lot more than that...
And some seasons are better than others.

Personally I think the trick to achieving 'everblooming' is to follow my
rules. And go shopping at least a couple times a month. Try to avoid
getting too many plants of one type, and always buy plants in bloom or
spike. Preferrably ones that have been bloomed or spiked 'in house'.
You pretty much have to go to an orchid specialist (or many!) for that,
the big-box stores aren't much help.

Assume that most plants are seasonal and will bloom once a year. More
often is a bonus, but don't count on it. Some plants are everblooming.
For example, I have an Slc. Tiny Titan "H&R" that has been in
continuous bloom for forever now. It just doesn't stop... Those are
good plants to have. A lot of phrags will bloom for a long time on a
spike. Get some sequentially blooming paphs (Pinocchio is a good one),
those will bloom continuously as well.

Rob
--
Rob's Rules: http://littlefrogfarm.com
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

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