a newbie with a question....
 

My sister and I are new orchid addicts (wonderful addiction). I gave her a
blooming moth orchid in Sept 2004 and the plant blossoms continuously (it is
still in full flower). None of our other orchids do this. We call it the
"special orchid." Is this a common phenomenon? Thanks in advance. I'm happy
to be here in orchid heaven.
Gail

Gail,

Moth orchids (otherwise known as Phalaenopsis, or Phals for short) will do
that. Not always, and not even most of the time, but often enough. I've got
a Phal that has been in bloom since early August, and is still blooming, and
I have heard of ones that have been in bloom for over a year. My
mother-in-law has a Phal that is almost never out of bloom for long -- it
seems like it will either start a new spike or continue growing an existing
one, whenever it's prior flowers have wilted.

One thing to watch out for with a Phal that is continuously in bloom for a
long time: Be sure that the plant remains healthy. Blooming takes energy,
and some Phals may bloom themselves to death if you don't observe the health
of the plant (leaves and roots).

Do its leaves continue to look healthy? Has it grown a new leaf at all
during this amount of time? If it has lost more than one leaf without
growing a new one, that would be an alert that it's not well. Usually if
the leaves look healthy, the roots are likely ok, unless the plant wobbles
in the pot as if it did not have enough root system to sustain it. If the
leaves start to look unhealthy, it is a good idea to cut off a flowering
spike all the way at the bottom to allow the plant to concentrate on its
leaf and root growth. Repotting in such a situation to look at the health of
the roots and trim away rotten ones would also be a good idea.

However, as long as a Phal looks healthy, there is no reason to not let it
continue blooming for as long as it is willing to do so, especially if it is
also growing new leaves occasionally (every few months).

Hope this helps. Enjoy your Phal! And welcome to this group.

Joanna

"Gail" wrote in message
ink.net...
My sister and I are new orchid addicts (wonderful addiction). I gave her a
blooming moth orchid in Sept 2004 and the plant blossoms continuously (it
is
still in full flower). None of our other orchids do this. We call it the
"special orchid." Is this a common phenomenon? Thanks in advance. I'm
happy
to be here in orchid heaven.
Gail

Thank you, Joanna. All of your info was very welcome!!
Gail
"J Fortuna" wrote in message
news:AAS7e.15308$H_5.6984@trnddc01...
Gail,

Moth orchids (otherwise known as Phalaenopsis, or Phals for short) will do
that. Not always, and not even most of the time, but often enough. I've
got
a Phal that has been in bloom since early August, and is still blooming,
and
I have heard of ones that have been in bloom for over a year. My
mother-in-law has a Phal that is almost never out of bloom for long -- it
seems like it will either start a new spike or continue growing an
existing
one, whenever it's prior flowers have wilted.

One thing to watch out for with a Phal that is continuously in bloom for a
long time: Be sure that the plant remains healthy. Blooming takes energy,
and some Phals may bloom themselves to death if you don't observe the
health
of the plant (leaves and roots).

Do its leaves continue to look healthy? Has it grown a new leaf at all
during this amount of time? If it has lost more than one leaf without
growing a new one, that would be an alert that it's not well. Usually if
the leaves look healthy, the roots are likely ok, unless the plant wobbles
in the pot as if it did not have enough root system to sustain it. If the
leaves start to look unhealthy, it is a good idea to cut off a flowering
spike all the way at the bottom to allow the plant to concentrate on its
leaf and root growth. Repotting in such a situation to look at the health
of
the roots and trim away rotten ones would also be a good idea.

However, as long as a Phal looks healthy, there is no reason to not let it
continue blooming for as long as it is willing to do so, especially if it
is
also growing new leaves occasionally (every few months).

Hope this helps. Enjoy your Phal! And welcome to this group.

Joanna

"Gail" wrote in message
ink.net...
My sister and I are new orchid addicts (wonderful addiction). I gave her
a
blooming moth orchid in Sept 2004 and the plant blossoms continuously (it
is
still in full flower). None of our other orchids do this. We call it the
"special orchid." Is this a common phenomenon? Thanks in advance. I'm
happy
to be here in orchid heaven.
Gail

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 17:35:33 GMT, "Gail"
wrote:

Thank you, Joanna. All of your info was very welcome!!
Gail

As Joanna said... Be careful. I have a beautiful white Phal.
that boomed for 18 months and died. I was not paying attention.
It had not grown a new leaf in 18 months. I assume that you
know to keep the crown (center point) dry. You would not have a
lovely plant for this time if it had gotten wet. But you can get
a damp rot in the crown (crown rot) if water sits there. That
will kill the growth point and the plant if not cured.

Welcome to RGO. Try to join us on ABPO
alt.binaries.pictures.orchids to share pix of your plant and to
see what others have in bloom. I am sure by now you have read
the "do not post pix to this newsgroup" note. This is chat only
the other is pix. Most of us read both groups so you will often
see a reference that "my pix is posted on ABPO"


SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

Phals are notoriously long-lasting. But Paphs, and even mature Dendrobiums,
can rival them in flower longevity. A couple of our largest Dens are
generally in bloom roughly 11 months out of the year. And the others have
other charms ....

And at the risk of sounding repetitive, I second (or "third" or "fourth")
the warnings about allowing Phals to bloom themselves to death. One thing
that can help is truly _religious_ feeding, if you are going to let a Phal
go beyond its primary inforescences for the season. It takes energy to
produce those flowers ...
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com

"Gail" wrote in message
ink.net...
My sister and I are new orchid addicts (wonderful addiction). I gave her a
blooming moth orchid in Sept 2004 and the plant blossoms continuously (it
is
still in full flower). None of our other orchids do this. We call it the
"special orchid." Is this a common phenomenon? Thanks in advance. I'm
happy
to be here in orchid heaven.
Gail