Flowering Question
 

I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

Okay, this is a Phalaenopsis (can tell by the name). Please tell us your
growing conditions: where you are, where the plant is, what the temps are,
etc. Then we can help, and will be glad to do so.

Just as general information, however, Phalaenopsis do not like very sunny
locations, and it is quite normal for them to lose old leaves as the new
ones grow.

Diana

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

I live in New Jersey and keep it on the window sill and it gets about 5 or 6
hours a day we have central air condition and it is cool in the house it is
in orchid soil which doesn't look like soil but it is orchid soil as per the
packaging we use orchid food according to packaging again it looks very
healthy but no flowers.
Thanks Again


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Okay, this is a Phalaenopsis (can tell by the name). Please tell us your
growing conditions: where you are, where the plant is, what the temps are,
etc. Then we can help, and will be glad to do so.

Just as general information, however, Phalaenopsis do not like very sunny
locations, and it is quite normal for them to lose old leaves as the new
ones grow.

Diana

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

I sometimes wonder if the new dual pane windows aren't the culpret in these
plants not flowering. All that low e glass cutting down on the wave lengths
of light that allow blooms. Because otherwise, if you are giving it that
amount of light (light is usually the limiting factor, poor light = no
blooms), you are doing OK as far as I'm concerned. Does it get a 10 degree
change in day/night temperature? It wants that too. Otherwise the feeding
is OK. If you get really into this hobby we can tweak feeding, but right
now, as I say, the limiting factor is light. More light -not direct light -
= blooms.

Sometimes these are really forced into bloom at the nursery and require a
few years rest before they'll bloom again, too. So that may be why it ain't
a blooming fool for you.

K Barrett

"Frankie T" wrote in message
...
I live in New Jersey and keep it on the window sill and it gets about 5 or
6
hours a day we have central air condition and it is cool in the house it
is
in orchid soil which doesn't look like soil but it is orchid soil as per
the
packaging we use orchid food according to packaging again it looks very
healthy but no flowers.
Thanks Again


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Okay, this is a Phalaenopsis (can tell by the name). Please tell us your
growing conditions: where you are, where the plant is, what the temps
are,
etc. Then we can help, and will be glad to do so.

Just as general information, however, Phalaenopsis do not like very sunny
locations, and it is quite normal for them to lose old leaves as the new
ones grow.

Diana

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

Just to clarify, low-e glass does not cut down ONLY wavelengths "that allow
blooms". The coating's primary function is to block long-wave infrared
(heat), but unfortunately has a side effect of suppressing the light fairly
uniformly accross the visible spectrum.

As an example, the earlier generations Low-E coatings, (using fluorine-doped
tin oxide at about 3000 angstroms thickness, dropped the intensity by about
20% in the wavelengths that count for plants. More modern coatings tend to
be thicker and of different chemistry, so I'd guess we're looking at
"permanent shade cloth" at least 40%-50%.

--

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


"K Barrett" wrote in message
. ..
I sometimes wonder if the new dual pane windows aren't the culpret in these
plants not flowering. All that low e glass cutting down on the wave
lengths of light that allow blooms. Because otherwise, if you are giving
it that amount of light (light is usually the limiting factor, poor light
= no blooms), you are doing OK as far as I'm concerned. Does it get a 10
degree change in day/night temperature? It wants that too. Otherwise the
feeding is OK. If you get really into this hobby we can tweak feeding, but
right now, as I say, the limiting factor is light. More light -not direct
light - = blooms.

Sometimes these are really forced into bloom at the nursery and require a
few years rest before they'll bloom again, too. So that may be why it
ain't a blooming fool for you.

K Barrett

"Frankie T" wrote in message
...
I live in New Jersey and keep it on the window sill and it gets about 5 or
6
hours a day we have central air condition and it is cool in the house it
is
in orchid soil which doesn't look like soil but it is orchid soil as per
the
packaging we use orchid food according to packaging again it looks very
healthy but no flowers.
Thanks Again


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Okay, this is a Phalaenopsis (can tell by the name). Please tell us your
growing conditions: where you are, where the plant is, what the temps
are,
etc. Then we can help, and will be glad to do so.

Just as general information, however, Phalaenopsis do not like very
sunny
locations, and it is quite normal for them to lose old leaves as the new
ones grow.

Diana

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

What direction is this window facing?

Very high light but no direct sun. The number one reason a Phal would grow
but not flower is insufficient light. Bright enough to produce light green
leaves that are never warm to the touch. Too dim and you get big dark green
leaves, but no flowers.

I often tell people a south facing window just inside the dark shadow line
with lots of spill over light is good enough to flower a Phal. A north
window would probably be too dim and you would never see flowering. It
would get no direct sun at all and never enough ambient light to help it
flower. In both the east and west facing window you would probably have to
provide some shading from direct sun during the summer months to prevent
burning. All this supposes an unobstructed line between sun and leaf
surface.

Has it ever bloomed before? It may also still be an immature plant. Some
of these large whites get leaf spans like 24 inches across before they
bloom. You can expect that in a group of seedlings, some plants will bloom
while still quite small, like under 12 inches, and others will grow many
years and much larger before flowering even if all other conditions are met.
Some may not have what it takes genetically, for whatever reason, to ever
bloom. It happens. If you continue to do everything right but never see a
flower threaten it with a microwave. This has worked for me.


"Frankie T" wrote in message
...
I live in New Jersey and keep it on the window sill and it gets about 5 or
6
hours a day we have central air condition and it is cool in the house it
is
in orchid soil which doesn't look like soil but it is orchid soil as per
the
packaging we use orchid food according to packaging again it looks very
healthy but no flowers.
Thanks Again


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Okay, this is a Phalaenopsis (can tell by the name). Please tell us your
growing conditions: where you are, where the plant is, what the temps
are,
etc. Then we can help, and will be glad to do so.

Just as general information, however, Phalaenopsis do not like very sunny
locations, and it is quite normal for them to lose old leaves as the new
ones grow.

Diana

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance

Flowering Question
 

In article 9JS6k.20$gE.10@trnddc07,
"Al Pickrel" wrote:

If you continue to do everything right but never see a
flower threaten it with a microwave. This has worked for me.




waving pruning shears over mine has worked....

but yes--how long have you had the plant? has it ever bloomed for you?
i've got a big white NOID that took a few yrs before it would bloom for
me--and it grows lots of leaves. but then, i have a golden peoker
daughter that's *always* in bloom--but also only ever had four leaves.
that's it, that's all it wants, and it steadfastly refuses to grow more.

--j_a

Flowering Question
 

Salad shooter. Works every time.

Diana

"unknown" wrote in message
...
In article 9JS6k.20$gE.10@trnddc07,
"Al Pickrel" wrote:

If you continue to do everything right but never see a
flower threaten it with a microwave. This has worked for me.




waving pruning shears over mine has worked....

but yes--how long have you had the plant? has it ever bloomed for you?
i've got a big white NOID that took a few yrs before it would bloom for
me--and it grows lots of leaves. but then, i have a golden peoker
daughter that's *always* in bloom--but also only ever had four leaves.
that's it, that's all it wants, and it steadfastly refuses to grow more.

--j_a

Flowering Question
 

I will also throw in three more possibilities:

1) Insufficient food
2) Wrong fertilizer formula (too much nitrogen)
3) It is not seeing enough of a cool period to initiate spiking.

Many phals grow better if kept warm, but won't initiate an inflorescence
unless they see a week or so of 10°-15° cooler temps. Ordinarily, that
happens for in-home growers as Fall approaches, and the temperatures near
the window drop.

You made the comment that you " feed it with orchid food twice a month."
What's the formula of the fertilizer and how much to you mix up with water?

--

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


"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
...
Salad shooter. Works every time.

Diana

"unknown" wrote in message
...
In article 9JS6k.20$gE.10@trnddc07,
"Al Pickrel" wrote:

If you continue to do everything right but never see a
flower threaten it with a microwave. This has worked for me.




waving pruning shears over mine has worked....

but yes--how long have you had the plant? has it ever bloomed for you?
i've got a big white NOID that took a few yrs before it would bloom for
me--and it grows lots of leaves. but then, i have a golden peoker
daughter that's *always* in bloom--but also only ever had four leaves.
that's it, that's all it wants, and it steadfastly refuses to grow more.

--j_a

Flowering Question
 

Has it been repotted while in your care? If not, it's past due, maybe way
past due depending on when it was last repotted before it came into your
care, and that may explain why it will only hold 4 leaves (and may be
keeping it from having the strength to bloom).

While light is (as others have suggested) a VERY important factor, I'm
inclined to think it's more the lack of a day-night temp change, in your
climate-controlled home, that's keeping you from seeing flowers. Can you
put the plant out, in a shady location, in early fall, so that it will
experience a 10-15 degree change in day-night temps for a few days? Kenni

"frankiet" wrote in message
...
I have 1 orchid plant ( Taisuco Kochdian ) that grows leaves but never
any flowers when a new leaf grows the one underneith the new one dies
there 4 leaves total I feed it with orchid food twice a month and it
gets plenrty of sun but in 18 months it has not flowered.Thanks in
advance