Guilty of Orchid abuse... APPARENTLY :)

[varjak]

Hi,

My name is Tony and I'm a newbie. My friend Stargazer997 called me to tell me about her 20 new orchids she had bought. I mentioned I had some orchids...

"What kind do you have?"
"Pretty ones? 3 little pretty ones, 5 medium pretty ones and one BIG pretty one."
"You don't know? Where are the tags!?"
"I threw them away."
"You threw them away! (gasping, spluttering noises). You don't do that! How do you take care of them?"
"I don't know. I water them. Some like it in the sunroom and some seem to like it a little darker. I just move 'em around till they seem happy."

She immediately sent me this url and I started to read and LEARN. I don't spritz, mist, feed, soak or poke with bamboo. I was horrified to learn all the things I was doing wrong but glad to hear I did some things right. I found out I have:

2 cymbidiums (don't know what kind)
2 phals (just plain whites)
3 dens (2 plain purple ones and one I found here was Thongai Gold?)
1 really pretty (Howard's Dream - an intergeneric hybrid I found out from here!)

I live in Nor Cal at the beach and have a nice clear eastern / southern / western exposure. I have glass sunrooms in the southern exposures and that's where I keep the cyms, dens and Howard's Dream in the winter then move them to the west in the summer. They seem to love it. Here's a pic of the big cym. I got it in November already blooming and it's still going strong with no signs of petal drop. What a trooper!

I keep the phals in an eastern exposure. One I've had three years and another one year. Both have spiked only once but continue to grow big waxy beatiful oval leaves.

I water all when dry to touch so about 7-10 day for the phals and more often for the sunnier rooms ones.

My problem / questions:

1) How do I get my phals to bloom again? It's stays in the 50-60's most of the year and then in summer 70 and barely over 80 ever.

2) I think my den's are sick or I water too much? or too much sun? Is it normal for the leaves to turn yellow and fall off?

3)My big Cymbidium.. what kind is it, does anyone know?

1 & 2 - pics of big cym
3 - My Howard's Dream
4 - Thongai Gold Den
5 - Same den as above but leaves are falling off, blooms are fine

Thank you!

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

Den leaves don't last very long, so it could be normal, it could be you get extra leaf loss while geting acclimated.

Phals need to know that the season has changed. A shorter day length, brighter light during winter, and a temperature a little lower, maybe to 50F night. Sometimes letting it get just a little bit drier before watering, Generally stress is a cause of spiking. Days are starting to get longer now, so you may have to play some games to make the plant think it is still winter for another month. Good luck. I have one that I am working on right now too.

Some people just seem to know instinctively what a plant needs and whether or not it's happy. You seem to be one of them. I'm totally jealous. Don't worry about what you're doing for them, they seem to be fine.

[junieg2]

I'm with you.... If you have a good sense of when your orchids are happy, go with that. All the fussing doesn't always work, but a good feel for what your "babies" need and when they need it is half the battle.Your orchids look beautiful so keep up the good work..... jcg

[Cynthia, Prescott, AZ]

It worked! My Phal, having been in more light, drier, and cooler for a month with no spike showing at the end, went to a brighter and cooler spot. Now, 2 weeks later, I have a spike. This guy is now back up in the warm low light spot I have for Phals.

[Ellen]

Your plants look great! As long as the phals get about a 20 degree temperature difference between night and day at the same time that days get shorter, they should bloom. If you have 50s-60s at night in winter, just keep your house at 70+ in the daytime and turn the heat off at night. A couple of weeks of this should do the trick. Even easier, just put the plants outside so that they cool down at night. Just make sure they're in a place where snails and slugs can't get them. They love phal roots.

[varjak]

Thanks everyone!! I feel better Cynthia good to know you had sucess! My phals are mobile now... we'll see.