Three puzzling questions about my Phalaenopsis!
 

Hello Orchid Friends!

I bought a Phalaenopsis orchid last Christmas. It was halfway in bloom
and continued to bloom until February. It had 6 leaves when I bought
it (3 of them large, 1 medium size, and 2 small).

From the time the last blossom fell, it grew 3 additional large
beautiful leaves. Two of them are full grown and the 3rd one is still
growing. So, in total it has 9 healthy leaves.

Question: Is it normal for a phalaenopsis to grow 3 leaves in one
season and have 9 leaves total without any of the bottom ones dying
off?

The orchid has flowered 2 times in total. I know this from counting
where the old spikes were cut.

Question: Where do new flower spikes emerge from? Do they always come
from beneath the plant? Do they come from where the old spikes came
from? Or do they come from the next leaf up from the leaf that the
previous spike came from?

Question: My plant seems very healthy and happy. Would such a plan
possibly produce multiple spikes? It only had one spike when I bought
it.

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Mike

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Mike,

Congratulations on your Phal!

A lot of my Phals have a lot of green healthy leaves, just like yours, and
while they eventually do loose the bottom ones, they don't do it all that
frequently. My understanding is that a healthy Phal should grow new leaves
either more frequently or as frequently as loosing old ones. My impression
is that my Phals grow overall more leaves than average, and I suspect that
this is due to the low light growing environment that I have them in, but
they are healthy and bloom often twice a year or at least once a year, so I
don't think anything is wrong with that. It sounds like your Phal is doing
as well as most of mine are. Yes, 9 leaves is normal for mature Phals in
some environments (such as mine, and apparently yours too), whereas some
growers seem to have Phals that grow only 4 leaves at a time, and I think
that's normal too, as long as the plant is healthy and is not rapidly
loosing leaves, and is growing new ones often enough. I have never heard a
suggestion that too many leaves is unhealthy in Phals.

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one. If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that it's
ok.

In response to your question about number of simultaneous spikes. I have
read somewhere that the tendency to have multiple spikes or not is in part
genetic (some Phals are genetically more likely to do it), in part a factor
of maturity of the plant (older plants are more likely to have more spikes),
and in part cultural/environmental and individual plant health issues. I
have a Phal that I bought 3.5 years ago, and until now it always had only
one spike at a time (but often bloomed twice a year). Last time it flowered
I did not cut down the spike, and it remained green. Now it is both
reflowering from the old spike and it has grown a new spike that it is also
flowering from now. :-) So even if a plant has before flowered from one
spike only, it may still flower from more than one spike simultaneously in
the future -- or it may not. Another thing I noticed is that a hybrid Phal
that last year had a single non-branched spike, might develop a branched
spike at a future flowering. They are exciting plants, and full of
surprises.

Best,
Joanna

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Hello Orchid Friends!

I bought a Phalaenopsis orchid last Christmas. It was halfway in bloom
and continued to bloom until February. It had 6 leaves when I bought
it (3 of them large, 1 medium size, and 2 small).

From the time the last blossom fell, it grew 3 additional large
beautiful leaves. Two of them are full grown and the 3rd one is still
growing. So, in total it has 9 healthy leaves.

Question: Is it normal for a phalaenopsis to grow 3 leaves in one
season and have 9 leaves total without any of the bottom ones dying
off?

The orchid has flowered 2 times in total. I know this from counting
where the old spikes were cut.

Question: Where do new flower spikes emerge from? Do they always come
from beneath the plant? Do they come from where the old spikes came
from? Or do they come from the next leaf up from the leaf that the
previous spike came from?

Question: My plant seems very healthy and happy. Would such a plan
possibly produce multiple spikes? It only had one spike when I bought
it.

Thank you in advance for your responses.

Mike

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Hi,

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one. If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that it's
ok.

Why is it bad if it's a coronal growth? Does it interfere with the
growth of new leaves?

Cheers,
Xi

Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges from
the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal growth will
form, but that seems rare, in my experience,
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:5KL6d.142306$%S.8573@pd7tw2no...
Hi,

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one.
If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that
it's
ok.

Why is it bad if it's a coronal growth? Does it interfere with the growth
of new leaves?

Cheers,
Xi

Phals are starting to show spike sin my greenhouse, which means they were
initiated about 3 to 4 weeks ago. I have found hundreds of them so far.
(Last year I did not see spikes until Mid October.) I have noticed that 19
out of 20 spike between the 3rd and 5th leaf from the top as the top leaf is
maturing. This is so ubiquitous an occurrence that I think it must be in
their contract. If there is more than one spike, one of them is almost
certainly coming from this location.

Crown spikes are rare but I don't find that they mean certain death. I find
that basal kiekies will develop as often as not. The process of forming a
new crown takes a long time, so be patient if this happens to you.
Certainly a crown spike indicates a Phal with "issues" but what, exactly,
those issues are remains a mystery to me. I suspect there are a number of
unrelated problems with culture and health of the plant that, together or
alone, cause a plant to do this and it is some of these problems that are
really causing the death. But that is just a guess and my observations are
as valid as Ray's in this regard.

Emerging spikes are phototropic. They will grow toward the point of
brightest light. If they appear to be hiding under the leaves and growing
parallel to them it is probably a coincidence, or the brightest light (from
the spike's point of view) is in that direction. If the light is equally
bright from several directions it might cause the spike to grow in what
looks to a contrary direction from the obvious location of the light, but
the tip tissue of the spike is phototropic and it will head toward the
light.

(And just for fun: here is an exception to prove this rule, I have seen
spikes grow in loop-the-loop formations that make me dizzy. And here's
another exception: I have seen newly emerging spikes get impacted on a leaf
and grow all bent and twisted before finally snapping off or getting turned
around and broken free. I have also seen spikes grow up and then down INTO
the bark and then emerge elsewhere to then begin to behave like normal
spikes. It's probably those cosmic chaotic rays that the Aliens in my head
generate.)

Bottom line:
Al :-)

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges
from the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal
growth will form, but that seems rare, in my experience,
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
.
"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:5KL6d.142306$%S.8573@pd7tw2no...
Hi,

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge
from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one.
If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that
it's
ok.

Why is it bad if it's a coronal growth? Does it interfere with the
growth of new leaves?

Cheers,
Xi

Thank you for all the great responses!

Since this will be the first year that my orchid spikes in my care,
I'm just excited and nervous about the whole process. I wanted to see
if I could determine where the new spike will emerge from. But, I
guess that's not predictable. I hope the good health of my plant
produces multiple spikes!

As the weather gets cooler, the day and night temperature differences
are increasing. Last time I checked, the night temperature inside
where the phal was located was 22.6 C.

Will the phal just known when to spike? Or do I have to do anything
special to make it spike?

I was giving the plant 20-20-20 fertilizer throughout the summer. But,
now I've switched to 10-15-10 hoping to help it to spike. Would a
10-60-10 be better, or is the 10-15-10 good enough?

I am going to use 10-15-10 (or possibly 10-60-10 if you guys think
it's a good idea) throughout the spike period and blossoming period
until the last flower drops). Then I am going to switch to either a
15-10-10 or back to 20-20-20. What do you guys think? Any suggestions
on this very controversial topic?

I hope to post pictures of my happy phal for you guys to see!

Thanks again for the responses!

Mike


On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 10:23:44 -0400, "Al" wrote:

Phals are starting to show spike sin my greenhouse, which means they were
initiated about 3 to 4 weeks ago. I have found hundreds of them so far.
(Last year I did not see spikes until Mid October.) I have noticed that 19
out of 20 spike between the 3rd and 5th leaf from the top as the top leaf is
maturing. This is so ubiquitous an occurrence that I think it must be in
their contract. If there is more than one spike, one of them is almost
certainly coming from this location.

Crown spikes are rare but I don't find that they mean certain death. I find
that basal kiekies will develop as often as not. The process of forming a
new crown takes a long time, so be patient if this happens to you.
Certainly a crown spike indicates a Phal with "issues" but what, exactly,
those issues are remains a mystery to me. I suspect there are a number of
unrelated problems with culture and health of the plant that, together or
alone, cause a plant to do this and it is some of these problems that are
really causing the death. But that is just a guess and my observations are
as valid as Ray's in this regard.

Emerging spikes are phototropic. They will grow toward the point of
brightest light. If they appear to be hiding under the leaves and growing
parallel to them it is probably a coincidence, or the brightest light (from
the spike's point of view) is in that direction. If the light is equally
bright from several directions it might cause the spike to grow in what
looks to a contrary direction from the obvious location of the light, but
the tip tissue of the spike is phototropic and it will head toward the
light.

(And just for fun: here is an exception to prove this rule, I have seen
spikes grow in loop-the-loop formations that make me dizzy. And here's
another exception: I have seen newly emerging spikes get impacted on a leaf
and grow all bent and twisted before finally snapping off or getting turned
around and broken free. I have also seen spikes grow up and then down INTO
the bark and then emerge elsewhere to then begin to behave like normal
spikes. It's probably those cosmic chaotic rays that the Aliens in my head
generate.)

Bottom line:
Al :-)

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges
from the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal
growth will form, but that seems rare, in my experience,
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
.
"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:5KL6d.142306$%S.8573@pd7tw2no...
Hi,

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge
from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one.
If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that
it's
ok.

Why is it bad if it's a coronal growth? Does it interfere with the
growth of new leaves?

Cheers,
Xi





Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Thank you for all the great responses!

Since this will be the first year that my orchid spikes in my care,
I'm just excited and nervous about the whole process. I wanted to see
if I could determine where the new spike will emerge from. But, I
guess that's not predictable. I hope the good health of my plant
produces multiple spikes!

As the weather gets cooler, the day and night temperature differences
are increasing. Last time I checked, the night temperature inside
where the phal was located was 22.6 C.

Will the phal just known when to spike? Or do I have to do anything
special to make it spike?

I was giving the plant 20-20-20 fertilizer throughout the summer. But,
now I've switched to 10-15-10 hoping to help it to spike. Would a
10-60-10 be better, or is the 10-15-10 good enough?

I am going to use 10-15-10 (or possibly 10-60-10 if you guys think
it's a good idea) throughout the spike period and blossoming period
until the last flower drops). Then I am going to switch to either a
15-10-10 or back to 20-20-20. What do you guys think? Any suggestions
on this very controversial topic?

I hope to post pictures of my happy phal for you guys to see!

Thanks again for the responses!

Mike


On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 10:23:44 -0400, "Al" wrote:

Phals are starting to show spike sin my greenhouse, which means they were
initiated about 3 to 4 weeks ago. I have found hundreds of them so far.
(Last year I did not see spikes until Mid October.) I have noticed that 19
out of 20 spike between the 3rd and 5th leaf from the top as the top leaf is
maturing. This is so ubiquitous an occurrence that I think it must be in
their contract. If there is more than one spike, one of them is almost
certainly coming from this location.

Crown spikes are rare but I don't find that they mean certain death. I find
that basal kiekies will develop as often as not. The process of forming a
new crown takes a long time, so be patient if this happens to you.
Certainly a crown spike indicates a Phal with "issues" but what, exactly,
those issues are remains a mystery to me. I suspect there are a number of
unrelated problems with culture and health of the plant that, together or
alone, cause a plant to do this and it is some of these problems that are
really causing the death. But that is just a guess and my observations are
as valid as Ray's in this regard.

Emerging spikes are phototropic. They will grow toward the point of
brightest light. If they appear to be hiding under the leaves and growing
parallel to them it is probably a coincidence, or the brightest light (from
the spike's point of view) is in that direction. If the light is equally
bright from several directions it might cause the spike to grow in what
looks to a contrary direction from the obvious location of the light, but
the tip tissue of the spike is phototropic and it will head toward the
light.

(And just for fun: here is an exception to prove this rule, I have seen
spikes grow in loop-the-loop formations that make me dizzy. And here's
another exception: I have seen newly emerging spikes get impacted on a leaf
and grow all bent and twisted before finally snapping off or getting turned
around and broken free. I have also seen spikes grow up and then down INTO
the bark and then emerge elsewhere to then begin to behave like normal
spikes. It's probably those cosmic chaotic rays that the Aliens in my head
generate.)

Bottom line:
Al :-)

"Ray" wrote in message
...
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges
from the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal
growth will form, but that seems rare, in my experience,
--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
.
"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:5KL6d.142306$%S.8573@pd7tw2no...
Hi,

I don't think there is a rule about where exactly new spikes emerge
from,
except that they generally emerge somewhere under a leaf or next to one.
If
a spike grows out of the center crown, that's bad, but other than that
it's
ok.

Why is it bad if it's a coronal growth? Does it interfere with the
growth of new leaves?

Cheers,
Xi





Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Ray wrote:
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges from
the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal growth will
form, but that seems rare, in my experience,

By 'it will end up dying' I assume you mean the plant, not just the
inflorescence. If one were to catch this early and cut away the forming
spike, will that save the plant?

Cheers,
Xi

Ray wrote:
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges from
the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal growth will
form, but that seems rare, in my experience,

By 'it will end up dying' I assume you mean the plant, not just the
inflorescence. If one were to catch this early and cut away the forming
spike, will that save the plant?

Cheers,
Xi

In my experience, the only thing that will save such a plant is the
formation of basal keikis. I would guess that cutting off the spike might
preserve more of the plant's energies so it can put it to that...

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Xi Wang" wrote in message
news:zFW6d.148499$%S.16826@pd7tw2no...
Ray wrote:
Yep. In the vast majority of occurrences, if an inflorescence emerges
from the crown of a phal, it will end up dying. On occasion, a basal
growth will form, but that seems rare, in my experience,

By 'it will end up dying' I assume you mean the plant, not just the
inflorescence. If one were to catch this early and cut away the forming
spike, will that save the plant?

Cheers,
Xi