flowers dont open all the way

[cruz]

I have 4 Phalaenopisis that seem to be doing well,and are in great shape..they seem normal,exept for one.the flowers never completely opened all the way..It has 2 stems on it,one stem is doing great.it has 8 flowers on it.all opened..but the other stem ,on the same plant ,has five flowers on it,and none of them completely opend all the way,none of them.there only 2/3 opened..when i bought the plant over a month or two ago.it had two flowers on that stem..and they still look the same..2/3 opened...they never opened completely.and all the other new flowers, on that same stem are identical...2/3 never opened either.the new flowers are now 3 weeks old..the leaves stand on there own and look good..but I have a feeling those flowers are never gonna open all the way..and wondering what causes it...or if its just that plant.....all the other flowers opened on my other orchids...its just that one stem,on that one plant...I use 11-35-15 better-gro fert 1/4 strenth with distilled water once every other week or every other watering...should i dose up the fert?....this plant only gets water once a week or less...and it seems the pot holds more moisture than my others do"stays heavier longer than others i have" moist all the time".its rare when it needs water.......looks like bark and dirt in the plastic clear pot..got it at miejer..grown buy Costa farms Goulds...its just that one stem thats doing it..it sits on a south side window ,out of direct sunlight..does anyone got any idea's of what causes it...?..cause I dont have a clue...and i'd love to learn something today.....Inguiring minds want to kno

Thanks
Cruz

[kid a]

it sounds like they will not finish opening. It could be because of the changes in its environment. When you bought it was the other stem's blooms already opened? If they were it could be because it was from a greenhouse (and then a store if thats where you bought it) and then at your house. It a few different reasons. I think the other members might be able to give you more info on other reasons. Hope that helps!

[cruz]

when I bought it,there were two buds on each stem ready to open within a week or two.the one stem all opened up fine,but the other stem didnt...all the flowers...are identical..2/3 opened...Im thinking something is up with the one stem,,,kinda puzzled about it..half of the plant is doing great...but the other half?.....hmmmmmm!!!!...I think it was like that at the green house as well...before it was shipped out...can they open up complete...(then)get stressed out and close?..all 5 on that stem are like that...ill take some pics.

[brookn]

Hi, could you get a pic of your plant? My suspicion is that it's peloric.

[brookn]

Have you repotted this plant?

[cruz]

no!...I havent repotted it yet.but I will be soon if you think it might be the problem...the others i have to water evey other day or so..which I think its a good thing.im trying to get the pic up...((AARRGG))ill get it figured out...im a newbe!!!

[articuno75]

I think Brookn might be right on this one. There was another member that had a similar problem and the Phal was peloric. Was it Sandra?

[brookn]

Okay you have 5 posts, so now you can post a pic. Let's see a pic. I don't know if you need to repot just yet, just a question I need to know on the way to helping you. Oh and

[FLaCo]

Cruz, you need more than 4 posts to attach a jpeg file .

Put that picture up...lets see it.

[cruz]

Im trying (SOOOOO HARD)to get this figured out on how to put a pic up!!..HA!..brb!!...ill get it figured out!!..IM NEW!!!!!!!

[cruz]

[cruz]

I sure hope this worked!!

[cruz]

the flowers on the stem on the left all opened....but the one on the right didnt open all the way.....total of 5 flowers on the right stem...the others are facing back

[articuno75]

It's not peloric, but they look stuck. Pretty Phal Is it Kalaidescope?

[cruz]

it dont have the exact name on it...so im not sure..it dont say on the tag...I have seen some on here that looks identical to it..im sure someone on here will kno..it does say indirect sunlight...I thought it may not be getting enough light....but when i bought it...it had a few already like that....on that stem.

[brookn]

Yeah, hmm, I have a thought, but you will have to dig around a little in the pot. Check to see if the normal spike is actually attached to the plant.

[fred]

I think the they are stuck also having said that you can very gently spread the stuck petals.
just do that gently and they should come apart without doing any damage.

as I also look at your pic the top spike is taking most of the light.
try turning the pot around slightly so the second spike receives more light.

[cruz]

the one stem is connected well right above the first leaf..its not down in the soil."just above it..I did open one slighty more buy hand..ill try one of themI might do a little at a time each day...and also...while i was doing that..I noticed that all the leafs that are stuck,have way more purple in them than the rest of the plant..almost all purple..very little yellow...there are two buds that are starting on it...but i think that could be months away...its not growing fast now..

[brookn]

Is the other stem down into the medium?

[articuno75]

One side is peloric and one side is normal. Brookn, you got that link to that other thread?

[kmarch]

How long have they been half open like this?

[brookn]

http://www.orchidgeeks.com/forum/orc...oric-phal.html

[kmarch]

It's not a peloric phal brookn. If it were, all the flowers would be consistently peloric. ActuallyI'm not convinced that Sandra's phal pictures in the link you supplied is actually peloric either. I'll be interesting to see what happens the next time it flowers.

The reason I asked how long the flowers have been as pictures is because I suspect cultural/environmental factors.

[cruz]

nope...it also has a leaf right below it as well..both 1/2 inch above the soil..there straight acrossed from each other..and the leafs are in great shape..and the roots are a green color...looks as if theres alot of thick root in there...it does looked pretty packed..but they look solid..not weak

[cruz]

Kmarch...there were 3 already like that on that stem when I bought it..and since i had it...the two new buds come out the same way..just on that stem....the other stem had two un opened buds on it as well..but they come out normal.

[brookn]

Kevin, I was just going on a hunch, thinking that possibly it was 2 plants. One leafless with a spike, and one with leaves with a spike. I had not declared it peloric for sure, I was asking questions and stuff . I also noted the color break on the one flower that is "normal', and was considering virus.
Ask Jenny, we have been in heated discussion about it .

Now it is confirmed that it is two spikes on the same plant, gotta think about it. Probably a humidity issue, but I still was thinking about the color break.

[articuno75]

I remembered the Phal that Sandra had, but couldn't remember the link. I thought this was considered peloric as well since the petals are mimicking the lip regardless of color. Now did I insert foot in mouth for the day and really mess up on this one? But we both did notice the color break and thought maybe that could be an issue as well, causing this.

[cruz]

Fred...I was thinking the same thing as you...not getting enough light ...now is it important for the flowers themself...to get light?..and not just the leaf?..I do have MH 400 watt and hps sittin in the closet..after realizing that they wernt going to open..I was thinking of giving it a blast of light for a week just to see if they would open...just a thought!!

[kmarch]

No one has messed up anything Jenny, I think we're just discussing it and sorting it out.

The "colour break" is interesting because first off it appears to me to be not really a colour break as much as an additional "blob"of colour; secondly it also is misshapen. Even more interestingly, it is misshapen in a way that suggests a very slight degree of peloricism. The misshapenness suggests to me the sidelobe of the lip. It's in about the right position to be that and its about the right colour too.

Now havign said that, I still don't think the flowers are peloric. I think this mild peloric "suggestion" is just that, a one-off deformity that probably is getting its genetic misinformation form the lip. And as we know that's the difference between peloricism and a deformity, the peloric flower is always and consistently peloric while the random deformity is not.

In both Sandra's plant in the other thread and in this plant inthis thread, none of the closed petals bear any of the lip's characteristics: they're not solid in colour or even mostly solid, they're not lobed like the lip. In fact just the opposite, they're ovoid in shape like we'd expect a petal to be and they appear to be yellow/gold-ish overlaid with reddish markings in both cases.

All of this leads me to believe it is something environmental/cultural. Such a cause could also explain why some flowers are affected and others not on the same inflorescence.

One thing that will give us a great deal of information regarding both Sandra's and cruz's plant is what it does on the next flowering. Everyone get out your patience caps and put 'em on!

[brookn]

Oh crap Kevin, we wanted to CSI it and know the answer in an hour or less . Now what are we going to get up to Jenny?

[articuno75]

I have tears in my eyes,,,,I hurt.

Okay now.

Can she still separate the petals? (We are now going to E.R )

[brookn]

Nah Grey's Anatomy. Kevin can be Dr. McDreamy and Fred Dr. McSteamy. Now what about the surgery Dr.'s can the petals still be separated, and the patient saved?

[fred]

hehehe brookn I may come up with something lol
let us use patience or is that called the waiting game until it blooms again


Quote Jenny]Can she still separate the petals?
I would myself

then rush myself to the ER

Fred Dr. McSteamy I am getting warm


maybe Dr Who can help also

[articuno75]

Okay I'm going to hide now

[brookn]

Oh I love that show Dr. Who. Jenny needs the rock Fred, she is going into hiding. LOL

[kmarch]

I'm with Jenny, I love ER (a friend of mine was even an assistant to one of the writers and I even got to visit the set and see an episode being filmed) and I think it's definitely the way to go. I would just wiggle the petals gently to see of they are indeed stuck. If they are I might apply a little more pressure to unstick them. If my examination of the patient reveals that they are not stuck then mechanical manipulation would be contraindicated and a less invasive approach would be advised, possibly sun and humidity.

[articuno75]

I concur with the procedure.

Back into hiding now

[fred]

hey Jenny
Jenny koooooo weeeeeee down here look here I am I have heaps of room




I agree with the advice from Kevin

[cruz]

[cruz]

the petals have stems kinda on them...second pic..and there cupped to much to go into shape like the other ones are,theres no way it will flatten out..the and if ya look close where the pedals join ,there something there thats not like the the other normal flowers on the plant..,,kinda hard to see on the pic..the top leafs have more purple toO!!!..almost seems like two plants into one...this plants getting sick of me taking its picture...hahaha!!so hard to get close up shots!!

[articuno75]

With the petals being just a purple as the lip I'm still going to have to argue that it's peloric. Or at least trying to be.

[kmarch]

I see the dramatic narrowing of the petals as they join with the rest fo the flower at the base fo the column and I can now clearly see the more lip-like colouration of the petals. Based on this additional information I have changed my mind. These flowers are definitely peloric to a certain degree. Yet the question remains: why are only some flowers peloric and not all? And I really don't know. Now I'm really keen to see how this plant blooms out next year. Maybe all fo the flowers will be peloric, maybe none. I actually think it sould be cool if it continued to flower some normal flowers and some peloric. I dont' think I've ever seen a plant that does that consistently.

[articuno75]

I'm subscribing to this thread because I want to know how this plant turns out for the next blooming.

Inquiring minds want to know.....